Composer Danielpour: continuing a classical lineage

By Lee Hyo-won

PYEONGCHANG, Gangwon Province ― It came with a storm.

The Lacrimosa from Mozart’s Requiem was playing like a broken record inside Richard Danielpour’s head as he sat through 200 mile-per-hour headwinds.

``I realized I was fortunate to be alive,’’ the American composer told The Korea Times at the Aspensia Resort last week, recalling the intense flight to Berlin in the fall of 2002. The storm uprooted giant trees but planted the seed of inspiration for a new composition, "Lacrimae Beati.’’

``As much as `Lacrimae Beati’ is about the Requiem of Mozart and his struggles to complete it, it is about my experience of (the piece) in the air,’’ said the Grammy Award-winning artist, who is only the third composer ― after Stravinsky and Copland _ to sign an exclusive recording contract with Sony Classical. ``I was able understand something about the terror of gripping onto life.’’

Meaning ``Tears of the Blessed One’’ ― with the blessed one referring to Mozart ― ``Lacrimae Beati’’ was commissioned and premiered by the New York-based Sejong Soloists. The chamber ensemble, which is led by the Great Mountains International Music Festival’s artistic director Hyo Kang, also gave its Asian premiere at the event, which came to an end last Friday after a three-week run.

The strings build up an ominous theme, but it is dominated by breathtaking purity ― like lights that shine brightest in darkness or the calm in the eye of a storm. The distilled emotions resonate most profoundly with the Korean listener for whom ``han’’ or pervasive sadness is like a sixth sense. But tempests and fevers often leave behind the most beautiful glow, and when the 10-minute piece came to an end, it almost felt profane to clap.

To Danielpour, composing is more a process of eliminating than adding notes. ``It’s about what not to write and what to leave out, like a sculptor. My mother was a sculptor; I work in a way where I peel away layers of raw material and what you have left is a piece,’’ he said.

And how about paying heed to the silence between notes? ``Yes,’’ he said. ``Silence is most positive _ God enters in silence.’’

In real life sometimes godly experiences just creep up on you. As if to presage the near-death experience _ and the timely encounter with Mozart’s mass for the dead _ Danielpour had stopped by St. Marx Cemetery in Vienna before heading to the airport. He was looking for Beethoven’s tomb when he realized he was in the wrong graveyard; while frantically trying to get back to his cab, he stumbled on a tree root and fell flat on his face. He looked up to see a stone with ``Mozart’’ engraved on it.

``I’ve always felt a deep closeness with composers and felt they were speaking to me personally, but I felt it most intensely with Mozart,’’ he said.

In fact, the 54-year-old has a personal ritual to feed this intimate connection. ``I don’t think I ever shared this with someone in the media, but I have a ritual. I would go to a performance of `The Marriage of Figaro’ in any city. It’s the best lesson for writing music, to go to see something perfect,’’ he said about Mozart’s comic opera. Frequenting the Metropolitan Opera was the best training, he said, for penning his opera ``Margaret Garner.’’

While Danielpour continues the lineage of one of the most enduring forms of art, sources of inspiration don’t always have to date back several centuries in the classical canon. The Beatles, Ernest Hemingway and Alicia Keys also speak to him. ``Every composer uses pop culture and liberally steals and borrows from them. But what is important is to take from something interesting,’’ he said, and moreover, ``being of your time but transcending it.’’

Being a contemporary composer is moreover exciting since he can articulate his intentions to those who bring his scores to life. ``I’ve been blessed to have worked with wonderful musicians such as Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, Jessye Norman and Charles Dutoit.’’

Danielpour has been deeply impressed by the music-making here. In addition to ``Lacrimae Beati’’ his vocal piece ``Sonnets to Orpheus’’ had its Asian premiere at the festival. He complimented the rendition by soprano Hyunah Yu as being ``one of the best.’’

``I have been to every concert here, and the level has been consistently good. I hope the people of South Korea know how special this is. The music created here is technically good but it also comes from the heart. It’s rare to have both qualities and these are truly inspired performances,’’ he said.

He also noted the performance of Beethoven’s ``Kreutzer’’ sonata on Aug. 6, which featured an impassioned interplay between violinist Elmar Oliveira and pianist Adam Neiman.

``The `Kreutzer’ ― that’s the way music is supposed to be like. That’s how (violinist) Isaac Stern and my teacher (maestro) Leonard Bernstein used to play ―it’s what made me want to become a composer.’’

And of course such inspired performances are only possible when there is an impressive score written by a remarkable composer.

Danielpour said he would like to experience more of the exciting music scene here, through projects like bringing his former Korean students of the Curtis Institute and Manhattan School of Music together in concert.