Prairie Fire! is a remarkable achievement for The University of Kansas’ most recently formed musical ensemble. The premiere recording by the Prairie Fire Chamber Ensemble and its conductor (KU’s Director of Orchestral Activities Creston Herron) includes works by four contemporary composers—most notably a premiere recording of a work by Libby Larsen, one of the leading American composers of the last half-century.
The digital-only recording by the Lawrence based studio Post Haus Acoustic is available this month on streaming platforms. (See thepost.haus for more information.) The collection takes its title from the ensemble, but it also carries a larger metaphorical meaning of a sweeping “burn” that, when controlled, renews the landscape and prepares it for something new.
The group assembled here includes some of the University’s best string players, with contributions from harp and percussion. The result is exceptional—and thank heavens they chose to go beyond the overly familiar works for strings by Elgar, Dvořák, Tchaikovsky, and Holst.
The group sounds compelling from the outset, in Shining Echoes by Yukiko Nishimura, a Japanese-born composer based in California. This five-minute piece presents an alternation of lush string sections, which show the ensemble to good advantage, with lively passages of pizzicato. A march-like second section and a return to the opening theme round out the piece. The composer has called this “a vivid celebration of life’s milestones … that captures the exhilaration of accomplishments and the warmth of reflecting on one’s journey.”
Have a Great Day, Jessica Lee! by Texas-based composer and conductor Gabe Musella is written in a more relaxed style, with nods to Copland and other open-prairie sounds. It is a sort of day in the life of a young girl—“a vibrant and playful snapshot” depicting “the boundless energy, curiosity, and rhythm of a child’s daily routine.” There are scenes on the school playground (with busy string sounds evoking recess), a scene in the classroom (depicted with serious solo passages), and moments of quiet reflection on the day’s activities.
The ensemble commissioned Kansas City composer Kirt Mosier to write Prairie Fire! a brash musical depiction of the fear and upheaval of a fire—“the pops, crackles, and energy of a prairie fire,” as the composer writes, “infused with a modern, intense jazz influence: the driving intensity of something ‘new’ being ignited.” Fiddle-like string solos introduce a more reflective middle section, followed by a return to the busy opening theme.
The real treat here is Libby Larsen’s Six or Seven Dances, so-called because the first two dances of the seven can be played continuously, thus bringing the “movement count” to six. This commission by Michael Isadore and the Consortium for the Advancement of String Orchestra Repertoire demonstrates the composer’s strong, sensitive command of string textures.
She is an unabashed tonalist with a gift for arching melodies. The harp also plays a significant role in this alternation of quick dances (the Bartókian “Slip Jig,” the German-inspired “Slap Dance”) with deftly colored adagios. “Slow Dance at Star Rise” presents a clear night sky “when Stars that are with us in daylight, unseen, now are seen,” the composer writes.
—Paul Horsley
