John Sichel, Composer

John Sichel's recent works include Turnpike Music (a suite for small orchestra), three concerti (for small orchestra, cello and piano, respectively), two cello sonatas and a song cycle for vocal ensemble and piano, four hands, entitled Songs From the Dominion of Arrogance. His Three Places in New Jersey has been recorded on Opus One Records (CD #170) by the Slovak Radio Orchestra, and two of his Five Chamber Marches have been recorded for Newport Classics by Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, the new music wind band.

Sichel's music has been performed on three continents, including recent performances of his second cello sonata in Beijing and Qin Ming, China. Other works have been heard on New York City's WQXR, WNYC, WKCR and Canada-wide CBC radio.

Born in 1959, Sichel studied composition at the Yale School of Music with Martin Bresnick, Nicholas Maw and Jacob Druckman. He received his doctorate in 1990. A lifelong resident of New Jersey, he currently is on the faculty of Brookdale and Raritan Valley Community Colleges, and also teaches privately. He is an authority on the music of Anthony Scarmolin (his orchestration of that composer's Three Preludes is included on a Marco Polo compact disc), and has once ghost-written a march for John Phillip Sousa.

Loons Songs for Horn and Piano

"Loon Songs was inspired by the sounds and character of the Common Loon (gavia immer), a goose-sized diving bird found in larger northern lakes. It makes various sounds, ranging from a haunting wail to an insane, laughter-like yodeling (hence the name Loon). It is unable to walk on land because its legs, optimally situated for underwater propulsion, are too far back on its body. It is heavy and relatively small-winged, and so to take off it must paddle furiously across the surface of the water, flapping its wings, until it builds up sufficient velocity. Once airborne it flies with constant, pile-driver wing beats. It is a very fast flier, but due to its weight and wing-size, cannot soar or glide.

The first movement is based on the wailing call, which I have often heard at night and early in the morning while vacationing in Maine. The piece evokes the quiet waters of morning, and mist-enshrouded pines through which this indescribably beautiful sound reverberates.

The melody of the second movement evokes the pumping wing beats of the Loon in flight, and the frenetic piano accompaniment mimics the bird's yodeling call.

The third movement evokes the deep, clear sky of a cool summer night and the feelings of wonder and reverence it always evokes in me. The sound of the Loon is latent in the music as it is in the night sky, and at the end of the piece it is heard against the final sustained chord."

"The Fantasy Variations really is a set of double variations, the primary theme being the plainchant-like melody heard in octaves in part II, and the secondary material being based on the quartal figurations of the opening fanfare, and the dance of part III. There is considerable "cross-pollination" between these two groups of material. In the final fugue they alternate expositions before combining in the stretto.

The sound of the piece is influenced by the music of the Middle Ages. This is reflected in the chant-like melody, the use of "double leading-tone" cadences and to some degree in formal procedures: the penultimate variation is a Medieval-style conductus motet, with a portion of the chant melody heard as a cantus firmus in one hand of the piano while the other hand and the trumpet play isorhythmic figurations above and below it."