Lay By- Fourth Movement, Chamber Cantata, NYC

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• published: 30 May 2016
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MOSA Concert Series, NYC, May 13, 2016 Composer- Edgar David Grana Text/Poet -Pamela Brunsvold Rummel Memorial For Jewell Mae Bryan (Brunsvold) (1923-2003) Music Editor/Countertenor- Jordan Rutter, Clarinet- James Noyes, Cello-Tomas Ulrich Violin- Claudia Schaer Video- Chris Mason Audio/Editing- Reb Rummel IV. Watching dark men draw turpentine sap from the pines, girls stay home. Hearing men talk of war, we gathered near our radio- we came of age, rite of passage. Kissing brother farewell, handsome in his uniform, nothing remains but mem’ries. A black sedan passes by, Mama praying each time it doesn’t stop. Macon bound, working by day, girl talk by night, Macon. Alongside my roommates in the plant, I, a wild horse, full of magic. We came of age in the war, but I, I never listened- craving love, adventure. Smiling servicemen, farm dirt still on my pumps, I gallop into dances. I never listened. I did it, a mind of my own, not once did I look back. My life was “all mine.” Performer’s Note- Jordan Rutter: The composition of Lay By began in the spring of 2015, after my graduation from Manhattan School of Music. I met Ms. Rummel years before then, in my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. We both moved to New York City in 2013, and began collaboration with Mr. Grana on a number of vocal-instrumental works. The intersection of past and future, childhood nostalgia and coming of age, are at the heart of Lay By. Its heroine, Jewell Mae Bryan, describes her life in early twentieth-century rural Georgia, and the challenges she overcame before leaving her home for her adult life. Rummel’s text fixates on the juxtaposition of life and death in nature. In each movement, Bryan’s memories of life are punctuated by the deaths of people around her. However, the conventions of Southern Gothic style are subverted by Bryan’s steadfastness and underlying sense of wonder. Through her mother’s story, Rummel paints a picture of the Depression-era South that maintains its pride and dignity, in the face of severe hardship. Composer Edgar David Grana supports Pamela Rummel’s text through a vocal line that is largely speech-like and syllabic, using recitative and a cappella textures for emotional high points of the piece. The composition of Lay By draws inspiration from Samuel Barber and James Agee’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, illustrating the sensation of memory through free forms, folk-like melodies, and florid instrumental writing. The piece is given unity through repeated melodic motives, stated at the beginning of each movement. The first movement takes the form of a rhapsody with sections divided by hymnal chord progressions. The second is the development of a repeated melody. The third is centered around an augmented arpeggio, and the fourth around a jubilant descending scale. The piece’s musical and textual trajectory is one that celebrates the values of hope and communion with nature. Poet’s Note (Pamela Brunsvold Rummel): Jewell Bryan Brunsvold was born October 14th, 1923, in Chester, Georgia, and passed away on April 26, 2003 In Jacksonville, Florida. When Jewell's father died of pneumonia in April of 1924, her Mom took the four children home to live with her parents in Laurens County, Georgia. After graduating high school, she went to work at the Naval Ordinance plant in Macon, Georgia, where she married on Christmas Eve, 1944; the marriage lasted thirteen years. She retired after working thirty years at Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins Georgia, and after retirement, volunteered hundreds of hours at the local hospital. She devoted her life to her children, Ronald and Pamela, and her four grandchildren, Noone, Ryan, Megan and Kori. A true southerner, she was a determined, brave woman who overcame all life obstacles with dignity and a love of life that is remembered by all who knew her. Contact Info- Edgar Grana- edgar.grana@gmail.com