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INTERVIEW with Composer, Stephen Dankner
Facts about Stephen Dankner, composer American composer Stephen Dankner was born Nov 5, 1944, in Brooklyn, New York. His musical studies began at age 10 with the study of piano followed by his first composition at age 15. His college studies have included attendance at the New York College of Music, which later merged with New York University, where he studied composition with Vittorio Rieti and Paul Creston. Subsequently, at Queens College where he received his Masters Degree, he studied with esteemed opera composer Hugo Weisgall. He later obtained his Doctorate in 1971 from The Juilliard School where he studied with Roger Sessions and received his most influential guidance and inspiration from composer/teacher Vincent Persichetti. After his teaching fellowship at The Juilliard School he spent two years teaching at Brooklyn College and almost seven years teaching and performing (1973-1979) at Williams College in Massachusetts. He relocated to New Orleans, Louisiana in 1979 and taught at Loyola University’s College of Music and was also a teacher at NOCCA|Riverfront (New Orleans Center for Creative Arts) for twenty-one years. His long tenure in New Orleans lasted until 2005 and was interrupted by the severe destruction of Hurricane Katrina. His close associations with the former New Orleans Symphony, now the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, and his tenure as faculty with New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts have been productive with more than 75 compositions. He was appointed composer-in-residence with the LPO in 2004. At the August 2007 National Flute Convention, his newly commissioned work Lyric Fantasy for flute and piano was premiered by flutist, Patti Adams. Jim Atwood, the husband of Patti Adams, commissioned the work from Stephen Dankner as a Valentine gift. Ms. Adams expressed her wishes to Mr. Dankner that she wanted a composition dedicated to the people of New Orleans and their resilient spirit. Included below are some words from flutist Patti Adams (our current NFA President) about her commissioned work Lyric Fantasy… “I asked Stephen to write a piece for me
that would share the beauty and joyousness of life in New Orleans:
our life of the senses, a requiem to what was, and what is to be.
The piece exceeded my wildest expectations! Stephen Dankner has
an instinctual gift for writing naturally and quite beautifully
for a solo instrument AND for the unique person playing it! The
piece fluctuates between a variety of keys, particularly my favorites
D-flat Major and e-flat minor and has plenty of technical challenges;
not only does it require finger dexterity but there are rhythmic
and metric challenges as well. What I admire most is his humility,
high standards of excellence and integrity, his lyrical gifts,
and his fierce devotion to his music. He has developed many great
friendships with musicians and in that knowledge writes accordingly;
it almost seems like a conversation with Stephen when I play his
orchestra solos. In his orchestral works I where I am playing the
piccolo, he understands the spiritual attributes of the instrument
with its hauntingly lyrical qualities. He never hesitates to take
me up into treacherous third octave territory, ppp, for long sustained
passages!!! It is always a challenge and joy to play his music.
I am thrilled to have one of them all my own with Lyric Fantasy. “
While interviewing the composer I asked him if he had any particular intention with regards to his method and the end result of such a successful reception at NFA. Below are some excerpts from our conversation. Stephen Dankner: “It has always been meaningful to me to work with a performer who is asking me to write a piece…to get into the nitty-gritty of what someone wants, what style they like, what favorite keys the performer might have, what ethos, and once I understand that, I absorb that information and let the piece write itself. I’ve also done this with the cello player and the concerto I’m presently doing. As a composer I get into the head of the player and I strive to understand what they want. I look for specific things - timing, certain techniques they like, if any. In a way, I feel like a potter, I can shape the piece once I know what it needs to be.” AFG: What specifically did you enjoy about writing this piece? Stephen Dankner: Actually, I was not focused on any New Orleans themes per se. I was not trying to resurrect an image, only the emotion that was conveyed to me. That was enough to get going. I basically channel the emotion of the person I’m talking to…in this case Patti Adams. When I collaborate, I try to discover what they like to do or what they do best on their instrument. It’s practical and I believe that it makes the performers feel like they have ownership. It’s also good politics. AFG: How long did it take you to write Lyric Fantasy? Stephen Dankner: At first, I didn’t know where it was going to go, but 25 measures into it and I was ‘there’. I wrote the piece in 10 days. AFG: That seems quick. Do you write the melody first or play with various themes…or do you write out a harmony first and then a melody? Stephen Dankner: I tend to think contrapuntally and if I have a melody it does not exist independently…I hear everything together. I sketch out 30 to 80 bars at a time. Felix Salzer, a student of meta-theorist Heinrich Schenker, who was one of my teachers, taught me to think in big blocks. Then in the 2nd phase of composing I go back and fill in inner voices and perhaps the bass lines. Whatever instrument is featured, I don’t let other instruments get in the way. In this case I don’t let the piano get in the way. AFG: Do you use the synthesizer or did you use the synthesizer to help compose or play back what you have written? Stephen Dankner: Not using the synthesizer forces me to be 100% sure that it’s exactly what I want. I used to use a synthesizer, but it’s better to be free of it. If I didn’t have the imagination to be sure, than it wasn’t worth it. For me, using the synthesizer puts an obstacle in my path …not using it makes me more accountable. This is something students find hard to understand…the synthesizer can easily take over and control you. So no, I didn’t use it while composing the piece. Some people think that music is about sound, but really it’s about philosophy. AFG: For me it is exciting to see your music evolve over the years I have known you. I remember your very rich Flute Sonata. I still love to take it out and play it. And I have appreciated your other chamber works and symphonies that you have shared. Stephen Dankner: That flute sonata was a turning point in changing styles for me. It was a pivotal piece about getting back into tonality…it was always lyrical but more dissonant. I wasn’t aware that I was writing something neo-Romantic. It was somewhat reminiscent of Alban Berg. AFG: This new piece, Lyric Fantasy… it has a romantic quality with the haze of other impressionistic and stylistic nuances. I thought it was fabulous. Every note had meaning and the textures of the harmonies and melodic lines were so balanced and yet quite improvisatory in nature. Listening to the piece was akin to a harmonic photograph. I know you said you weren’t particularly trying to convey a New Orleans image, but I just felt the music captured the vibe of the people and the city. It had a saunter, with a backdrop of cathedral bells with an almost Dies Irae intro. Though elegant, you still managed to include a dancing lilt and defiant “Anything Goes” irreverence all in one musical snapshot. The slower section reminds me of a nostalgic Boston-style waltz …almost a flashback of the old New Orleans and the fast section was like a Creole tarantella. The audience was quite moved by it. Even if they didn’t know whom it was written for or what the inspiration was or even about the people and location, I believe it still would have had the same effect. It’s just well written for the instrument and a great new piece for the flute repertoire. The piano part seemed almost orchestral in nature. Perhaps you will consider orchestrating all those beautiful harmonic colors! Stephen Dankner: As a matter of fact, I am considering orchestrating it for the LPO. AFG: It would make interesting programming with your “Hurricane” tone poem that you wrote in the 90s. The tragic irony is very apparent to me with the musical prophecy of that piece. What other new compositions are you currently involved with? Stephen Dankner: The last 10 years I have composed mostly orchestral works. I’ve had 4 commissions from the Albany Symphony in New York and I have a 5th in the works. My new Cello Concerto will receive its premiere performances in December 2007 and will be performed in Minneapolis in January, 2008 and then in Los Angeles in May, 2008. I’m also working on my 9th Symphony and my 9th String Quartet. AFG: How long have you been Composer-in-Residence with the Louisiana Philharmonic? Stephen Dankner: Since 2004. I’m also working with a librettist about a couple of stories I have in mind for an opera. AFG: I know you’ve written a lot of other chamber music as well. And your Biblical Symphonies are unique. Are any other symphonies performing your works, or any other Concertos? Stephen Dankner: By the way, the 5th and 7th Biblical Symphonies have very extensive piccolo solos that were written for Patti Adams. I’ve composed about 60 works since 1985. My chamber works include 3 piano trios, 8 String Quartets, a Saxophone Concerto, a Piano Quartet, and other miscellaneous pieces like my tone poem - The Apocalypse of St. John, which was commissioned by the Nürnberg Symphoniker in 2006. I’ve also written 3 Song Cycles. As for performances of my works elsewhere…I’ve had performances in Europe and Germany as well as other symphonies here in the U.S.A. like Nashville Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Kansas City, Eugene Symphony in Oregon, and the Laredo Philharmonic in Texas. AFG: It’s very exciting and inspiring to see the extent of your beautiful music and that it is getting performed. Has anyone done a study or written an article about you and your music? Stephen Dankner: There have been 4 Ph.D. dissertations about my music: two at the University of Maryland, one at the University of Texas in Austin, and one on my vocal music at Baptist Theological Seminary in New Orleans. AFG: Do you feel it helps a composer these days to have the web as a tool for sharing music? My concern is how can people who are not necessarily educated about music know where to find it if stores like Tower Records are closed and purchases have to be done more and more online. Stephen Dankner: The greatest composers in the history of classical music are, unfortunately, dead. The virtue of having the web it that it’s like a library, so all of music literature is available there. If you have a hunger, it’s available. One just has to look for it. It’s just a different medium. AFG: Did you have a musical hero or idol when you were growing up? Stephen Dankner: George Gershwin! He was my inspiration. His parents’ names were the same as my parents and I used to think of that. He was also born in Brooklyn and he was Jewish, too. I used to listen to him every single day while walking to school - the Concerto in F on a tape recorder! I wanted to be a composer because of him. AFG: Well, you’ve accomplished your life’s goal of being a composer. My best wishes for your future compositions. I’ve always been a big fan of your work and I am very happy to introduce more people to you, your music and alert them to the wonderful premiere of the piece written for flutist Patti Adams, Lyric Fantasy. How can people get a copy? Stephen Dankner: They may order it from the publisher Ries & Erler on the web at www.rieserler.de or from Flute World at www.fluteworld.com To contact Stephen Dankner or learn more about his music please contact him at: sdankner@earthlink.net
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