2012
for
flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin and cello
Gabriel Jenks
Da Capo Chamber Players
2010 Composition Competition
April 3, 2012
Gabriel Jenks is a composer, harpist, writer, dancer, and teacher. He studied at Eastman, Harvard, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Yale. His honors include awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Naumburg Prize; his music is published by Schott.
Subtilior, Lamento is a piece that draws some inspiration from the music of the so-called ‘Ars Subtilior’ movement of the fourteenth century. This early music features rhythmic complexities, linear ornamentation, and harmonic intricacy. In my piece, I use canon to create textures that are at constant rhythmic unrest. Harmonies arise out of linear lines: lines I constructed to work in defining my harmonic world. The piece’s structural rigor and fluid surface are the two elements I wanted to keep in constant equilibrium.
Gabriel Jenks is a composer and harpist whose creative work also includes writing, dance, and teaching. Raised in western New York, he studied composition at the Eastman School of Music and earned a doctorate from Harvard University. His further training includes a diploma in harp from the Cleveland Institute of Music and an artist diploma in composition from Yale University. Jenks taught at Yale for nine years before moving to Indiana University. His honors include two awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Naumburg Prize, and a Fromm Foundation commission. Organizations commissioning his music include the Seattle Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, Indianapolis Symphony, and Miller Theatre. His compositions are published exclusively by Schott.
