0

No products in the basket.

Articles
    The Cello Museum > Articles > Articles > NYWC October 2024 Spotlight: Faye-Ellen Silverman

NYWC October 2024 Spotlight: Faye-Ellen Silverman

14 October 2024
We are excited to continue our collaboration with the New York Women Composers (NYWC). This month, we present a piece by Dr. Faye-Ellen Silverman.
Faye-Ellen Silverman

Dr. Faye-Ellen Silverman. Photo courtesy Dr. Faye-Ellen Silverman.

Bio and other notes from Dr. Silverman:

“Faye-Ellen Silverman began studying at the Dalcroze School of Music shortly before her fourth birthday. At age 13 she won the Parents’ League Composition contest, judged by Leopold Stokowski, resulting in her Carnegie Hall debut. Her compositions (about 100) are published by Seesaw Music, a division of Subito Music Corp., and recorded on several music labels, including Albany records. She has received awards from UNESCO, the National League of American Pen Women, and ASCAP, and has been awarded residencies at the Fundación Valparaíso (Spain), the Macdowell Colony, Villa Serbelloni (Italy), VCCA, VCCA Le Moulin å Nef (France), and Yaddo.

She has received numerous commissions including those from the Greater Lansing Symphony and the American Brass Quintet. Silverman is a Founding Member of Music Under Construction, a Founding Board Member of the International Women’s Brass Conference, and is Secretary of the Board of NYWC (New York Women Composers).  She is currently on the faculties of Juilliard (Extension Division) and New York University (Steinhardt) and teaches privately. Further information is available at www.fayeellensilverman.com.

My works draw inspiration from a variety of sources. Many of my compositions incorporate aspects of my Jewish heritage, such as my opera The Miracle of Nemirov (my doctoral dissertation). Knowledge of Jewish secular music goes back to my childhood. Other works have evolved from my commitment to free speech, as seen in my work A Free Pen, written in 1990, and an early work for female chorus, “For Showing Truth,” written in 1972.

My service as a founding Board member of the International Women’s Brass Conference (IWBC) has inspired the creation of several brass works. Many of my compositions are for solo, chamber, and vocal genres, but I also enjoy writing for choir, orchestra, and other large mediums, and always like the challenge of composing for ensembles that are new to me.” – Dr. Faye-Ellen Silverman

Featured Work: Reaching the End of the Dance for unaccompanied cello

COMPOSITION DETAILS

  • Title: Reaching the End of the Dance
  • Composer: Dr. Faye-Ellen Silverman
  • Year of Composition: 2022
  • Instrumentation: unaccompanied cello
  • Movements: 1
  • Duration of Work: ~5 minutes
  • Number of Measures: 156
  • Number of pages: 4
  • Tempo: The work starts at dotted quarter = 80, builds via tempo changes to half =120, and then returns to 80, this time with a quarter note as the beat.
  • Difficulty Level: advanced/professional
  • Highest Position Reached: 6th
  • Techniques Employed: “This work uses several types of pizzicato, including left-hand pizzicato and Bartok pizzicato; trills; harmonics; and calls for the use of a mute. There are varied types of articulations, including staccatos, accented staccatos, and accents. Within this work, the meters shift, and four eighths in the space of three eighths are used within compound meters.” – Dr. Faye-Ellen Silverman
  • Publisher: Subito Music Corporation
  • Where to Purchase the Score: Subito Music Corporation
  • Cost of Score*: $10.95

Recording

Program Notes

“The title of my composition refers to Dlugoszewski’s Disparate Stairway Radical Other – the theme of the Composers Concordance concert presenting the world premiere. Dlugoszewski composed Radical Other in 1995 – in the later part of her life and shortly after she lost her longtime partner, Erick Hawkins. My title plays on many interpretations of “dance.” I was especially influenced by the words of Leonard Cohen’s “Dance Me to the End of Time” and the Josephine Baker quote, “I shall dance all my life…I would like to die breathless, spent, at the end of a dance.” I chose to write for solo cello since I like the idea of creating works that can be done by one performer. And, as I am a composer for whom color is an important part of my compositional process, I also like the contrasts in the cello sound in its various ranges.” – Dr. Faye-Ellen Silverman

Performance Notes

“Reaching the End of the Dance starts with an invitation to the dance. My “dance” doesn’t use conventional dance rhythms – a tribute to Dlugoszewski’s music for dance. After this solo cello work reaches its fastest tempo, it begins to slow down, inserting references to a traditional waltz, until it slows to the original tempo and dies out. The pizzicatos on a single pitch – which serve as an invitation to the dance – appear in other parts of this short work. The opening motif of C-D-Eb appears several times, sometimes expanded (e.g., D-F-G), and sometimes transposed. My works often have this kind of motivic interconnection. Here, however, its use relates to the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of “radical” as “of or growing from the root of a plant.” This definition was the starting point of this work.” – Dr. Faye-Ellen Silverman

Dr. Faye-Ellen Silverman’s Other Work with a Prominent Cello Part

  • Azure Skies for violin, cello, and harp (1993), c. 7 1/2’
  • Connections for clarinet, cello, and marimba (1994), c. 11’ – Based on a Passover Melody
  • For Him for flute, cello, and vibraphone (1975), 10’ – For Otto Luening on His 75th Birthday
  • Let’s Play for string quartet (2007), c. 11’
  • Manhattan Fixation for soprano, mezzo-soprano, and cello (2008), c. 11 ½’ – Commissioned by Seraphim
  • Obsessions for cello and piano (1999), c. 9′
  • Paula’s Song for string quartet (1996), c. 9’ – Dedicated to My Mother
  • Reconstructed Music for violin, cello, and piano (2002), c. 7 1/2’
  • String Quartet (Untitled) (1976), c. 9’
  • Translations for violin and cello (2004), c. 6’ – Commissioned by Philip A. DeSimone in memory of Linda J. Warren (1947-1988)
  • Yet For Him for flute, cello, and piano (1980), c. 10’ – For Otto Luening on His 80th Birthday

Additional Notes from Dr. Faye-Ellen Silverman

“Please feel free to email me for an audio recording of any cello work without a shared link. All of my compositions are published by Subito Music Corp. and can be purchased from the site listed above. An article on Reaching the End of the Dance  can be found here, on my publisher’s website. A new short work – From Eve’s Perspective – for soprano, trumpet, and string quartet – will be available by the end of 2024.” – Dr. Faye-Ellen Silverman

How to Follow, Support, and Contact Dr. Faye-Ellen Silverman

A Collaboration with the New York Women Composers (NYWC)

The NYWC series at the Cello Museum was created to showcase its members who have composed various pieces for cello, informing cellists seeking new music to add to their repertoire, and helping listeners find new favorites. Many thanks to the NYWC for this wonderful collaboration.

Read other installments in the series here.

Enjoying the Cello Museum?

Don’t miss an article, announcement, or exhibition. Sign up for our newsletter.

, ,
Author

Curator, Brenda Neece Author

Cello Museum founder and curator, Dr. Brenda Neece is a cellist and a researcher specializing in the history of the cello. Before starting The Cello Museum in 2019, she worked as a freelancer and served for just over a decade as a musical instrument museum curator. Her major cello teachers were Rochelle Kidd, Fred Raimi, Martha Gerschefski, and William Pleeth. Her academic mentors were Jon Finson, Marilyn Gombosi, Hélène La Rue, Ferdinand J. de Hen, and Jeremy Montagu.