The Year Without a Summer
for piano trio
(2009)
duration: 15’
GRT • 148
score available soon
from
Australian Music
Centre
program note
I: 1815
– And then the Sky
was filled with Ash
II: 1816 – The Year
Without a Summer
The eruption in 1815 of Mt. Tambora on the
Indonesian island of Sumbawa was over four times as big as
the eruption of Krakatoa later that century but perhaps not
as well known. The ash and dust thrown up into the earth’s
upper atmosphere further resulted in ‘the year without a
summer’ in 1816. This was by all accounts a devastating
ecological event that caused unseasonal cold temperatures
and widespread famine.
The first
movement of this trio is short and fast. It imagines a dark
cloud of dust approaching from the distance, not knowing
where it came from. Did it seem a premonition? How long did
they think it would last? The longer second movement shifts
forward to 1816 and contemplates the upheaval of people’s
lives – of having their world turned upside down in one way
or another and having to regroup and adjust to new
circumstances.
reviews
“The Year Without a
Summer, a new
commission from Australian Stuart Greenbaum based on an
1816 volcanic eruption and its effects, promised a contrast
to the preceding works. The fast, spidery figures of the
opening aside, the work wears Greenbaum’s pop influences on
its sleeve and is marked by an economy of material. There
are some decidedly beautiful moments, none more so than the
solo that opens the contemplative second movement, ably
handled in this performance by cellist Ashley
Brown.”
Samuel Holloway, The Lumiere Reader (NZ), April 2010
“The trio had worked with
Stuart Greenbaum in the formative stages of the second
commissioned work, the very topical The Year Without a Summer
which depicts a volcanic
eruption and the ominous approach of the ash cloud, then
its catastrophic aftermath. The work was full of energy and
emotion, haunting lyricism and dramatic effects, executed
with a passion and skill that left the audience amazed and
applauding enthusiastically.”
Anne Bovett, Taranaki Daily News (NZ), April 2010
"Stuart Greenbaum’s
The Year without a
Summer appeared
topical as the inspiration of the work was a volcanic
eruption in 1815. The opening was explosive, pithy and full
of energy, with darkness encroaching. The cold is captured
well by the richness of the harmonic language and the
melodic lines capture the melancholic moods as winter
establishes itself. A lovely work; the NZTrio’s performance
captured the essence. The piece should become standard trio
repertoire."
Andrew Buchanan–Smart, The Waikato Times,
April 2010
“The second piece, The Year without a
Summer, by Stuart
Greenbaum attempted a portrayal of the huge volcanic
eruption in 1815 of Mount Tambora in Indonesia which dimmed
the skies in the following year around the world. Though it
sounded often like the work of a gifted improviser, its
meditative character suggested some musical inspiration.
Without attempting to relate its phases to the event and
its effects, the music was better constructed, stood on its
own feet without the need of its narrative, and revealed a
composer of considerable sophistication.”
Lindis Taylor, Middle C Classical Music Reviews (NZ), April
2010
“For me, the most challenging
piece on the programme was Australian Stuart
Greenbaum's The
Year Without A Summer. Its theme was so topical - the eruption
in 1815 of Mt Tambora in Indonesia, more than four times as
big as the eruption of Krakatoa in the same century. The
resulting ash cloud was so suffocating there was no summer
the following year.
The first movement rose to a huge
crescendo - full of ominous descending scale passages,
pedalled vibrations from the piano, and devastating
agitation. One could imagine the terrifying approach of the
ash cloud. Then came a dramatic moment of crushing silence,
with an unreal resonating rumble from within the piano,
Watkins scraping her fingernails along the piano strings.
The second movement was introduced by the cello. A response
of desolation and hopeless reflection on the powers of
planet Earth. The piece ended with an eerie stillness and a
stunning unresolved chord.
Congratulations, New Zealand Trio. A meaningful combination
of contemporary and traditional chamber music.”
Margot Hannigan, The Nelson Mail (NZ), April 2010
“The other new piece, Stuart
Greenbaum's The
Year Without a Summer, benefited from the ongoing trans Tasman
Composer Exchange Programme, which has allowed close
contact between performers and composer. The first part of
the work had the NZTrio showing its mettle in a driving,
rhythmic style, while the more reflective music that
followed was transparently simple in its conception and
delicately rendered by the musicians.”
William Dart, New Zealand Herald, April 2010
"Stuart Greenbaum's
The Year Without a
Summer gives us,
in music, the 1815 eruption of Mt Tambora, in Indonesia,
starting with the eruption and, in its second movement,
giving us the "year without a summer" of 1816. It has some
effective moments"
John Button, Dominion Post, Wellington (NZ), April 2010
“Australian composer Stuart
Greenbaum's The
Year Without a Summer was on a topical theme inspired by
volcanic eruption. The piece was given a convincing, highly
expressive and committed performance which had immediate
audience appeal and clearly summed up the composer’s
written description of the music.”
Peter Williams, Hawke’s Bay Today (NZ), April 2010
“The second commissioned work
comes from Australian composer Stuart Greenbaum.
The Year without a
Summer describes
an eruption in Indonesia 200 years ago which devastated
land and people. A scene of panic, of either dashing
figures or falling fiery rock, rhythmically disjointed yet
focused, is interrupted by the cataclysmic event - here a
rasp of nail on the lower piano strings left to resound
till a cello solo sounds a lament. The work is less than
foreboding, but beautifully lyric; it’s themes folk-like
and highly memorable.”
Marian Pool, Otago Daily Times (NZ), May 2010
“The other recent, but
interesting work by Australian Stuart Greenbaum,
The Year Without a
Summer is a
pictorial piece in two parts, referring to the huge 1815
eruption of Mt Tambora in Indonesia. Part 1, 1815, depicts
the roar and rumble of the eruption and the fast
approaching ash cloud in the sky and, Part II, 1816,
reflects on the effects on people and the environment in
the subsequent year when there was no real summer. There
were some interesting ideas, in a filmic, picaresque
way.”
Garth Wilshere, Capital Times, Wellington (NZ), May
2010