Tina Davidson: Barefoot

I am sitting in my music studio, a few days into a month residency at MacDowell in New Hampshire. Outside is icy cold; the snow leans up against the studio and icicles hang off the small moss-covered shed roof.

I sigh and drum my pencil on the blank score paper. All morning I have been procrastinating, unable to move forward in composing my next work. I am caught in the bardo of creation – between not knowing and, at the same time, sensing the direction of the piece.

I wait and close my eyes, thinking about summer and soft warm dirt between my bare toes, the colour a milk chocolate. In my mind’s eye, I turn and spin, remembering that Moses, as he approached the burning bush, took off his sandals to stand on holy ground.

Of course! Barefoot. The sound of the new work wells in my ears; I am flooded.

Barefoot is the one of five compositions on my new album released this week by New Focus Recordings. Performed by the incomparable Jasper Quartet and the amazing pianist Natalie Zhu, these works are part of my lifelong love affair with the string family.

I grew up as a pianist in a household of strings. My mother was an avid amateur violinist and my sisters played violin and viola. I envied their ability to play with others, while I was continually on my own. In college, I took up cello in addition to studying composition and piano. I studied with Michael Finkle, who was mustached, quirky, and full of joy. We gathered weekly to play cello quartets and octets late into the evening. Then, turning off the lights, we improvised in the dark.

My ear is always bending towards the sound strings produce when I compose. The instrument itself is an ingenuity of construction – as one plays, the open strings resound, building up a deepening of sound – like a piano’s sustaining pedal, but discrete and selective. The resonating strings respond like ghosts to a call, building up overtones and harmonics, even different tones.

I love the immediacy a string player has between themselves and the sound they produce. Pressing the flesh of their finger into string, they bow to bring the pitch to life. With this comes the unique ability to bend a note easily through a glissando. This is a slide between notes, not a fast get-away, but a way of directing energy from one note to another. Sometimes I want to pierce through a note cleanly, like an arrow through the heart. Other times, I move between two notes, creating a slow-motion tension, where the departing note comes so close to the next note that union is magnetic and unavoidable.

The string instrument is a master of getting to the kernel of sound by varying the way a sound is made. Pizzicato and tremolo are most common, but, for me, ponticello (playing close to the bridge to make a scratching, buzzing sound) and col legno (reducing the sound to a bare shadow of itself by playing with the wood of the bow) gets closer to what I experience in a single note or tone – an outer shell-like-flesh with a soft inner core.

I am always composing towards the centre of sound, to get as close as I can. And always, in a stream of movement, a consciousness liquid enough to become something else at any moment. Lean and snake-like, my music is continually circular and linear, transforming in a seamless continuity.

String writing in Barefoot

Tremble for violin, cello and piano, has no end of movement – we shiver in delight or quake in fear. We shake in anger or pulse in love. We tremble in the act of knowing and not knowing.

Barefoot for violin, cello, viola and piano is cold and full of fresh snow, and always a longing for bare feet on green forest paths and creek beds. The dashing out and tasting life with little protection, the dancing before the burning bush – barefoot before God.

Wēpan for string quartet and piano is full of slippage from one note to another – glissandos between note to note; weeping, endless weeping.

Hush for violin and piano is quiet and reflective – a sweet calming of our child, ourselves and those around us – a stillness so that life can be experienced, cascading around us.

Leap, for violin, cello, viola and piano, was written during the pandemic when we found ourselves having leapt into a world unrecognisable. Restless and often sudden, the strings echo each other, searching and slightly out of tune.

Tina Davidson’s new album Barefoot, featuring the Jasper Quartet and pianist Natalie Zhu, is released on New Focus Recordings on July 26, 2024. Learn more here

— Tina Davidson, 7.24.2024

— Michael Tangen, 7.24.2024

The the Swedish-born American composer Tina Davidson describes the works on this recording as a search to understand herself. The pieces are therefore about personal thoughts and feelings. She explores words, including Old English ones, and what they mean to her. The moment also plays a major role.

Barefoot describes the urge to be outside and in contact with the ground, but also the movement of dancing. Tremble is the physical feeling of excitement, fear or love. Leap, a short jump or one into the unknown, was created during the Covid pandemic. Hush, silence, is the memory of calming a child. Wēpan is crying, endless crying.

In small ensembles ranging from duo to piano quintet, Davidson thus shows her moving feelings and thoughts in her current life situation. Her works are highly emotional and lyrical. She thus offers atmospheric music that largely caresses the ear without becoming arbitrary.

The Jasper String Quartet and Natalie Zhu at the piano know how to portray these emotions very effectively, without making it their own. With a clear disposition of the individual voices, they shape the collective sound. Rhythmically concise passages suit them just as well as floating surfaces or richly detailed narrative moments. Their interplay is characterized by the equal performance of the participants, which gives each player enough space. In this way, they succeed in creating an expressive interpretation of these works, each lasting around ten minutes, which effectively emphasizes the appeal of the music.

Die 1952 geborene amerikanische Komponistin Tina Davidson beschreibt die Werke dieser Einspielung als solche der Suche danach, sich selbst zu verstehen. Die Stücke handeln also von persönlichen Gedanken und Gefühlen. Dabei erforscht sie Worte, darunter altenglische, und was diese für sie bedeuten. Dabei spielt auch der Augenblick eine große Rolle.

Barefoot, barfuß, beschreibt den Drang, draußen und im Kontakt mit dem Boden zu sein, aber auch die Bewegung des Tanzens. Tremble, Zittern, ist das körperliche Gefühl von Aufregung, Angst oder Liebe. Leap, ein kurzer Sprung oder auch einer ins Ungewisse, entstand während der Covid-Pandemie. Hush, schweigen, ist die Erinnerung daran, ein Kind zu beruhigen. Wēpan ist Weinen, endloses Weinen.

In kleinen Besetzungen vom Duo bis zum Klavierquintett zeigt die Komponistin also die in ihrer aktuellen Lebenslage bewegende Gefühle und Gedanken. Dabei gestaltet sie ihre Werke hochemotional und lyrisch ausgeformt und bietet sie stimmungsgeladene Musik an, die sich weitgehend dem Ohr anschmeichelt, ohne beliebig zu werden.

Das Jasper String Quartet und Natalie Zhu am Klavier verstehen es sehr effektiv, diese Emotionen darzustellen, ohne sich diese selbst zu eigen zu machen. Mit klarer Disposition der einzelnen Stimmen prägen sie den gemeinsamen Klang. Rhythmisch prägnante Passagen liegen ihnen genauso wie schwebende Flächen oder detailreich erzählende Momente. Ihr Zusammenspiel ist vom gleichberechtigten Auftritt der Beteiligten geprägt, der jedem Mitspieler genügend Raum lässt. Damit gelingt ihnen eine expressive Ausgestaltung dieser jeweils etwa zehn Minuten langen Werke, die den Reiz der Musik wirkungsvoll hervorhebt.

https://www.pizzicato.lu/personliche-gefuhle-in-tone-gefasst/

— Rezension von Uwe Krusch, 7.26.2024

Tina Davidson, a composer known for her lyrical, emotional, and evocative music, creates a distinct problem with categorization. Reducing her work to merely a minimalistic style is highly reductive and certainly covers only some of the array of elements she uses in her work.

Analyzing in depth her works present on this CD and other scores of the past, we can note her capacity to produce rich, flowing melodies that are expressive and introspective. Her use of lyrical lines gives her compositions a singing quality.

She indeed incorporates minimalist techniques, such as repetitive patterns and gradual transformations. However, her use of these techniques is often more subtle and integrated with other elements, such as lush and varied harmonic language, often blending traditional harmonies with contemporary dissonances. She creates harmonic progressions that are both complex and accessible.

On this album, we can follow nearly a decade of works for strings and piano, all played by the outstanding Jasper String Quartet: J Freivogel and Karen Kim, violins, Andrew Gonzalez, viola and Rachel Henderson Freivogel, cello, together with the pianist Natalie Zhu.

This choice is certainly a winning one, as the five musicians, rarely interconnected on a single piece, seemingly enjoy every moment of the music. They are able to create magical moments even in places where the score offers a minimum of musical interest.

The first six tracks presented are: a ten-minute piece called Tremble, which is probably the best piece of this choice and rightly placed at the beginning. This trio is certainly musical material that will survive in the future, as there are not many valid contemporary scores, especially for this chamber music formation.

The second track is called Barefoot, giving so the name to the whole CD. As the composer explains: “Barefoot is a celebration of exhilarating connection to the physical — dance, freedom, and the earth.” It consists of a long glissandi study, which, despite the piano quartet’s efforts, tends to be a little too long. Written in 2011, it is the oldest score of this installment.

The third track is entitled Wēpan. This strange word comes from Old English and would be best translated as “weeping.” Here, the full group of five musicians enters the stage, and they do it very convincingly, leaving no doubt about their highest musical quality.

The short violin and piano piece called Hush follows. We can admire the beautiful sound of Mr. Freivogel’s violin, carefully accompanied by the piano; it is a little gem but would certainly need much more development as the nice, neo-Romantic melodies too often end before really having the occasion to catch the listener’s attention.

The last two tracks are called Leap and consist of two movements: “Uncertain Ground” and “Sudden Passage.” They were written during the COVID period in 2021 and are the newest contribution to this CD. This work for piano, violin, viola, and cello again brings the full quality of all musicians participating on the stage. The interplay is nearly perfect, and the bowing technique is refined and elegant.

Generally speaking, this disc is well worth listening to as it presents some high-quality music from our time.

— Giorgio Koukl, 8.05.2024

Composer Tina Davidson has released her new album, Barefoot —featuring the Jasper String Quartet and pianist Natalie Zhu. Released on New Focus Recordings, the album highlights five of Davidson’s chamber music pieces for varying combinations of strings and piano. The album was recorded in Gore Recital Hall at the University of Delaware in September 2023.

The album includes 5 works: Tremble (2013), Barefoot (2011), Wēpan (2014), Hush (2017), and Leap (2021), which all look inward toward Davidson's ties to music and how they can be a portal to a more holistic sense of being in the world. Barefoot follows the publication last year of Davidson’s memoir Let Your Heart Be Broken (Boyle & Dalton), which traces Davidson’s extraordinary life in equally lyrical language, juxtaposing memories, journal entries, notes on compositions in progress, and insights into the life of an artist – and a mother – at work.

Davidson shared, "The works on this album are about personal thoughts and feelings. Barefoot is that urge to be outside and have contact with the earth; the urge to dance and turn and spin before God. Tremble is the sense of excitement, fear or love—the thing that causes the body to resonate in anticipation. Leap, written during the Covid pandemic, is where I found myself when I was pushed off the edge by circumstance. Hush is the remembrance of soothing a child. 'Hush,' I say, 'Hush, hush.'”

Composer Tina Davidson's statement of her intentions here is clear and concise (and available in greater detail to physical album buyers): "The works on this album are about personal thoughts and feelings. ... I am, I suppose, always looking to understand myself. I pry into these words, digging deeper into what it is for me to tremble, weep, or leap -- how I see myself, now, as I move forward." All the works were composed within the last 15 years before. The five works on the album are Tremble, Barefoot, Wēpan (Old English for "weep"), Hush, and Leap. Unlike with so many contemporary programmatic works, the references here are crystal clear, and, as Davidson says, each work "digs deeper" into the sensation as it proceeds; the pieces are not miniatures, and they develop the idea as they proceed. Her musical language is essentially tonal but is not derivative of that of any other composer. All the works are for one to four stringed instruments plus piano; the depth of representation and feeling is remarkable, given the essentially restricted textures. The playing of members of the Jasper String Quartet and pianist Natalie Zhu is delicate and sensitive to details relating to the dynamic of each work on an album that will draw listeners in deeper the more it is heard.

4/5

— James Manheim, 8.20.2024

In her booklet notes and interviews, Tina Davidson puts an emphasis on the introspective nature of these five beautifully written studies 'about personal thoughts and feelings'. Composed for various configurations of piano and strings and written since 2011, their language si direct and intimate; and if the music is impersonal at times, Natalie Zhu and the Jasper String Quartet, with whom Davidson worked, have transmuted their moods into compelling musical structures that slowly turn without apparent rhythms, like mobiles, and command our attention.
Each of the five works inhabits a single intense emotion, which Davidson pursues with her own energy, like a life force, barely concealed beneath the surface. Wepan (weeping', from Old English) for prepared piano and strings, is the recording's highlight track; and while ti is strangely, relentlessly sad, with the strings making eerie wailing sounds, ti stills exults in the power that music has, transmits and confers. The last 30 seconds of Hush for violin and piano actually suspend time. Tremble for piano trio is about a superbly lyrical, nervously rhythmic apprehension that unleashes late Romantic richness at the end. Barefoot for piano quartet briefly channels what sounds for a moment like late Beethoven before an endless coda.
Davidson throws her heart into the aptly named Leap for piano quartet, which she wrote during the covid pandemic. The two movements jump though harmonic intervals and changes ni speed. The second rocks with infectious energy and surges with ful- blown technicolour song while being interrupted by impulses to jump.

— Laurence Vittes, 9.01.2024