We are excited to continue our collaboration with the New York Women Composers (NYWC). This month, we present a piece by Dr. Joelle Wallach.
Joelle Wallach is a celebrated American composer known for her evocative chamber music and orchestral works. Wallach has composed pieces that explore deep emotional landscapes, often drawing on her early experiences living in Morocco and her extensive musical education in New York. She holds a doctorate in composition from the Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with John Corigliano.
Wallach’s chamber music, including String Quartet 1995, nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and From the Forest Chimneys, premiered by the New York Philharmonic Ensembles, showcases her intricate textural writing and her sensitivity to string instruments. Her works often blend diverse cultural influences, making her compositions both deeply personal and universally resonant.
She continues to be an influential figure, creating music that bridges the traditional and modern, particularly through her extensive output for strings and voice.
Featured Work: Sweet Briar Elegies for cello ensemble and solo soprano saxophone
COMPOSITION DETAILS
- Title: Sweet Briar Elegies
- Composer: Dr. Joelle Wallach
- Year of Composition: 2008
- Instrumentation: cello ensemble in 4 parts (4, 8 [best], or 12 cellos) and solo soprano saxophone, or soprano saxophone and piano
- Movements: 2
- Duration of Work: ~12 minutes
- Number of Measures: 1st movement 80 measures, 2nd movement 96 measures
- Number of pages: score: 17 pages plus title page and introductory remarks; each of the four cello parts is about 7-8 pages
- Tempo:
- 1. Misterioso, Cantabile e poco quasi Recitativo, quarter note = 66-72
- 2. Cantabile rapsodico, quarter note = 66-69
- Difficulty Level: advanced/professional
- Highest Position Reached: thumb
- Techniques Employed: no extended techniques; Cello IV all in bass clef
- Publisher: To The Fore Publishers, Paul Cohen, proprietor
- Where to Purchase the Score: totheforepublishers.com
- Cost of Score*: $35 + Shipping (for the version with cello ensemble)
Recording
Click here for a recording of part of this piece.
Program Notes
“Written in Sweet Briar, Virginia, during the summer of 1992 in the aftermath of the composer’s husband’s unexpected death, Sweet Briar Elegies is set for either soprano saxophone and an ensemble of eight celli or for soprano saxophone and piano. Its two movements are not independent elegies but comprise a single elegiac whole. The first movement is a recitative of passionate wistfulness; the second movement, an aria of poignant lyricism and longing interrupted briefly by an ominous, somewhat disturbing middle section.
“The piece bears an epigram from William Blake’s Songs of Experience (1794):
‘…and I saw it was filled with graves,
And tombstones where flowers should be:
And Priests in black gowns were walking their rounds,
And binding with briars my joys and desires.’” – Joelle Wallach
Joelle Wallach’s Other Work with a Prominent Cello Part
- Scalerica d’oro for cello, dumbek, finger cymbals, and castanets
- Elegy for Rosalie for cello and piano
- Shadow, Sighs and Songs of Longing for cello and orchestra
How to Follow, Support, and Contact Joelle Wallach
- Website
- YouTube: @DearieBlossom
- SoundCloud
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.
