Hey!, It's the Nancy Van de Vate Thread!!

Started by snyprrr, July 08, 2009, 09:47:34 PM

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snyprrr

This lady's a mystery to me.

I imagine she's drearier than Penderecki & Pettersson's love child. I've only heard awfully bleak things about her music to the point of wondering now how depressing it could be.

She's got a few recordings out there, and I just know there's a GMGer out there who's just chomping at the bit to let me know all about it.

karlhenning

The one piece of hers I have heard did not invite me to seek out more.

snyprrr

Still, I'm not going to let you bury my thread, haha!! ;D Oh what a busy beaver (building the dike, haha) you've been these last few days! Getting any work done at the office? :o

...beavers and dykes... what's next?, oh yes, this was the Vate thread!

karlhenning

Quote from: snyprrr on July 09, 2009, 10:09:04 AM
Getting any work done at the office? :o

A very good day, indeed.

J

She wrote some very good and even fine music in my judgement.  Her 1rst Violin Concerto is among my favorite American composed VC's, - a piece I would recommend without reservation.

some guy

I just got my first Van de Vate album in the mail today. (This thread made me buy three CDs online.)

The pieces (all chamber works) are all pleasant enough, alternately lively and lyrical. I enjoyed the Music for Viola, Percussion and Piano and the string quartet the most.

As one might expect, the first one has some affinities to Bartok's similarly titled piece, though since de Vate's ensemble is smaller, it's more similar to L'histoire de Soldat. It never quotes (or even refers to) the Stravinsky ballet, but is from a similar sound world. And has some of the same rhythmical interest.

I didn't give the rest of the album enough attention to say anything more. There's an orchestral CD coming and one other, I don't remember what it is. More orchestral, maybe?

Certainly nothing in these pieces to suggest bleakness or depression. (Of course, I would also say that neither Penderecki nor Pettersson suggests bleakness or depression, either. Pettersson's life was certainly bleak, no doubt about that, but the music? Penderecki's oeuvre from the second symphony on certainly depresses me, being a blatant volte face from the strong, tight pieces up to that point and, even worse, being a repudiation of the European avant garde of which he had been a minor but still important part. But that's just me. The music is just what it is.

jowcol

The only one I recall off the bat is her "Chernobyl" which was paired with some work by Penderecki.  Similar sound world-- not so dense, but it struck me as being appropriate to the subject.  It struck me as fairly good, but I didn't feel the need to try more.
"If it sounds good, it is good."
Duke Ellington

snyprrr

Well, now I'm a bit plucked.

The "Chernobyl"/Penderecki disc is the library one I believe I heard years ago. Not as depressing as romantic Penderecki though, huh?

I could have sworn this lady had a reputation for that Penderecki Sym. No.2 sound, that all her stuff was bleak, dark, and depressing.

"some guy" bought the cd I was going to try, with the SQ and the viola, piano, percussion piece. So, it sounds like "normal", Bartok influenced music, huh?

I almost like my frightened musings about Vate more than these revelations, haha! So, she not that "dangerous", huh? Still, I get the feeling there might be a few '70s works in there to make one uneasy, but hey, I don't know.

Looks like I maaay end up picking up that chamber disc (I know her SQ is available in two different performances!). Thanks for all the interesting info.

torut

Divertimento for Harp and String Quintet (1996) is my favorite work of Van de Vate so far. The opening theme is so memorable. There is nothing depressing or bleak here. I guess her recent works are more accessible, but I don't hear too much darkness even in a few of her earlier works I heard. Two chamber music albums (Vol. 6 and Vol. 9 of the VMM series) I got are very satisfying. Vienna Modern Masters has released several albums of Van de Vate's music.

https://www.youtube.com/v/vw-XJknChrk https://www.youtube.com/v/Ff67HItzars

snyprrr

Quote from: torut on August 29, 2014, 11:45:47 PM
Divertimento for Harp and String Quintet (1996) is my favorite work of Van de Vate so far. The opening theme is so memorable. There is nothing depressing or bleak here. I guess her recent works are more accessible, but I don't hear too much darkness even in a few of her earlier works I heard. Two chamber music albums (Vol. 6 and Vol. 9 of the VMM series) I got are very satisfying. Vienna Modern Masters has released several albums of Van de Vate's music.

https://www.youtube.com/v/vw-XJknChrk https://www.youtube.com/v/Ff67HItzars

uh... is that the alternative theme to 'The Third Man'??  It almost sounds like Music Box Music + Eastern European Spy Thriller? Odd...

Yea, thanks for pulling her out of the ether. hmmm... oh NO!- I can feel the tingle to buyBuyBUY!!

Quote from: some guy on July 13, 2009, 09:17:00 PM
(This thread made me buy three CDs online.)


mm... I see what you mean. :(

$$$ $$$ $$$
HEEEY!! COME BACK HERE!!

torut

What is that new thread title? I prefer the original one ...  ;D

Chamber Music Vol. VI contains the works composed in the late 20th century. Seven Fantasy Pieces and Suite are expressive, nice works of New Romanticism. These pieces seem to belong to the tradition of Second Viennese School, with occasional diversion. The Solo Viola piece starts with the theme that resembles the opening motif of Berg's violin concerto. I am not sure how I feel about the songs and the theater piece.



Seven Fantasy Pieces for Violin and Piano (1989)
Suite for Solo Viola (1975)
Divertimento for Harp and String Quintet (1996)
Zwei frühe Lieder (Wiegenlied; Der Tod, das ist die kühle Nacht)
Cocaine Lil (1986) (musical theater work)

snyprrr

Quote from: torut on August 30, 2014, 10:43:18 AM
What is that new thread title? I prefer the original one ...  ;D

Chamber Music Vol. VI contains the works composed in the late 20th century. Seven Fantasy Pieces and Suite are expressive, nice works of New Romanticism. These pieces seem to belong to the tradition of Second Viennese School, with occasional diversion. The Solo Viola piece starts with the theme that resembles the opening motif of Berg's violin concerto. I am not sure how I feel about the songs and the theater piece.



Seven Fantasy Pieces for Violin and Piano (1989)
Suite for Solo Viola (1975)
Divertimento for Harp and String Quintet (1996)
Zwei frühe Lieder (Wiegenlied; Der Tod, das ist die kühle Nacht)
Cocaine Lil (1986) (musical theater work)

come on- we can come up with a better title TOGETHER! How does one say her name? Vate's Crate? Vate's Batty Cave? Vate's Chat? Vate's Bait?

I refuse to just .... ahhhhh.... something.... anything but name rank and serial number....

torut

Quote from: snyprrr on August 31, 2014, 08:51:42 AM
come on- we can come up with a better title TOGETHER! How does one say her name? Vate's Crate? Vate's Batty Cave? Vate's Chat? Vate's Bait?

I refuse to just .... ahhhhh.... something.... anything but name rank and serial number....
Actually, I don't mind as long as the composer's name is identifiable. You are the best. ;)

Chamber Music Vol. IV is a very nice set, including the works composed in 1969 - 1997. The overall mood is tense. Contrasts is the most dissonant piece, creating interesting sonority from two pianos. I like Sonata for Harpsichord and String Quartet No. 1 the most.



Cocaine Lil (1986)
Sonata for Harpsichord (1982/1997)
Trio for Strings (1973)
Fantasy Pieces for Piano (1995)
Contrasts for two pianos, six hands (1984)
String Quartet No. 1 (1969)

This is cool, imo.
https://www.youtube.com/v/Gid-_HQ7x-k

snyprrr

Quote from: torut on August 31, 2014, 08:58:45 PM
Actually, I don't mind as long as the composer's name is identifiable. You are the best. ;)

Chamber Music Vol. IV is a very nice set, including the works composed in 1969 - 1997. The overall mood is tense. Contrasts is the most dissonant piece, creating interesting sonority from two pianos. I like Sonata for Harpsichord and String Quartet No. 1 the most.



Cocaine Lil (1986)
Sonata for Harpsichord (1982/1997)
Trio for Strings (1973)
Fantasy Pieces for Piano (1995)
Contrasts for two pianos, six hands (1984)
String Quartet No. 1 (1969)

This is cool, imo.
https://www.youtube.com/v/Gid-_HQ7x-k

Yea, me likey

STILL, HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE HER NAME???- not even on Wiki or her own site do we even get a clue. If she's born in NJ I'm calling 'Vate' as in 'bait'- though I just can't picture that being right--- it MUST be 'Vate' as in 'batty'?....

Must hear the String Quartet... is it on YT?

torut

Lots of her music are uploaded on Youtube, but I couldn't find String Quartet No. 2 (2005/2009), which is also nice and included in Chamber Music Vol. IX.

String Quartet No. 1 (1969)
https://www.youtube.com/v/FhNJLbD3ISQ

pjme

#15
Let's give her a face, that helps!



Born in the US and now living in Vienna, Austria, composer Nancy Van de Vate is known worldwide for her music in the large forms. Her opera, All Quiet on the Western Front (Im Western nichts Neues), was premiered in Osnabrück, Germany in 2003 and performed there ten times. It was also included by the New York City Opera in its 2003: Showcasing American Composers series. In 2005 her new chamber opera, Where the Cross is Made. based on the play by Eugene O'Neill, was selected by the National Opera Association as winner of its international biennial competition and subsequently performed in several American cities. Her 26 orchestral works include the well-known Chernobyl, performed in Vienna, Hamburg, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and the USA. In 2006 the Yale Symphony Orchestra's performance marked the 20th anniversary of the world's most famous nuclear accident. Chernobyl has been widely broadcast since it first appeared on compact disc in 1987. Van de Vate has also composed extensively for solo performers and small ensemble. Her newest works include String Quartet No. 2, commissioned by the Vienna Mozart Year 2006, and Brass Quintet No. 2: Variations on the "Streets of Laredo," commissioned by Ole Miss for an October 2005 festival of her music. Her biography, Journeys Through the Life and Music of Nancy Van de Vate, written by Prof. Laurdella Foulkes-Levy and Dr. Burt Levy, was published in 2004 by Scarecrow Press. She participated in the 2005 World Music Council and has been a Nominator for the Kyoto Prize in Music since its inception 20 years ago. She is President of the international recording company, Vienna Modern Masters (VMM), founded in 1990 with her late husband, Clyde Smith. Founder of the International League of Women Composers in 1975, she continues her support of women composers with the Nancy Van de Vate International Composition Prize for Opera and by including many of their works VMM compact discs. Van de Vate studied piano at the Eastman School of Music, completed her BA at Wellesley College in 1952, her M.M. in composition at Ole Miss in 1958, the D.Mus. in composition at Florida State University in 1968, and did postgraduate study in electronic music. She was a faculty member at eleven universities in the USA and in 1985 at the Jakarta Conservatory in Indonesia. In Vienna she has taught at the Institute for European Studies, Webster University, and Indiana University. She is author of more than 200 articles and papers about music and musicians. (Wikipedia)

Nancy was born as Jean Hayes ( 30 december 1930). She married (and divorced) Dwight Van de Vate. His name is definitely of Flemish/Dutch origin, and possibly one of the oldest recorded. (Later she married Clyde Smyth, who died  in 1999....).

Other, similar ways of writing the name are : Vervaet and van der Vaet. After ca 1650 Vervaet is most widely used. Old and now almost disappeared spellings are Vervaete, Vervaedt, Vaet,van der Vaedt, Vate, Vervate en  van der Vaten. In the Dutch province of Zeeland "van de Vaate" en "bij de Vaate" are found occasionaly.
In 1169 the name appears in a document kept at ST.Pieter's Abbey in Ghent (Belgium) :Thomas van der Vate (Thomas de Vate).
The origin of this very rare name lies almost certainly in what is now the borderregion of Flanders and the Netherlands, the banks of the Schelde.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeeland


A "vate" is an old, mediaeval name for a kind of pond, a drinking place for cattle in a village and a place for washing linen etc. In German languages the notion "vaete" means "water". In Swedish väte means, apparently, hydrogen.....



At Kloetingen village there still is a "vate".

As for pronunciation : "vate" , in Flemish, sounds like "vahte", with a long "a", in the US, I'm sure, her name will be pronounced "vait"

Peter

pjme

#16
Nancy van de Vate's Second pianosonata

http://youtube.com/v/kEPjDoi9ohs


Dark nebulae for orchestra

http://youtube.com/v/LF0iWvrGEqw

I listened also to Chernobyl.

She definitely nows how to create (=orchestrate) eerie sounds with subtle instrumental combinations. But I got a strong feeling of "déjà entendu"...Bartok, Stravinsky, a dash of Webern and Varèse... I rather liked the chambermusic piece with harp. Made me think of ..Germaine Tailleferre!

Peter


snyprrr

Quote from: pjme on September 01, 2014, 10:36:55 AM
Let's give her a face, that helps!



Born in the US and now living in Vienna, Austria, composer Nancy Van de Vate is known worldwide for her music in the large forms. Her opera, All Quiet on the Western Front (Im Western nichts Neues), was premiered in Osnabrück, Germany in 2003 and performed there ten times. It was also included by the New York City Opera in its 2003: Showcasing American Composers series. In 2005 her new chamber opera, Where the Cross is Made. based on the play by Eugene O'Neill, was selected by the National Opera Association as winner of its international biennial competition and subsequently performed in several American cities. Her 26 orchestral works include the well-known Chernobyl, performed in Vienna, Hamburg, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and the USA. In 2006 the Yale Symphony Orchestra's performance marked the 20th anniversary of the world's most famous nuclear accident. Chernobyl has been widely broadcast since it first appeared on compact disc in 1987. Van de Vate has also composed extensively for solo performers and small ensemble. Her newest works include String Quartet No. 2, commissioned by the Vienna Mozart Year 2006, and Brass Quintet No. 2: Variations on the "Streets of Laredo," commissioned by Ole Miss for an October 2005 festival of her music. Her biography, Journeys Through the Life and Music of Nancy Van de Vate, written by Prof. Laurdella Foulkes-Levy and Dr. Burt Levy, was published in 2004 by Scarecrow Press. She participated in the 2005 World Music Council and has been a Nominator for the Kyoto Prize in Music since its inception 20 years ago. She is President of the international recording company, Vienna Modern Masters (VMM), founded in 1990 with her late husband, Clyde Smith. Founder of the International League of Women Composers in 1975, she continues her support of women composers with the Nancy Van de Vate International Composition Prize for Opera and by including many of their works VMM compact discs. Van de Vate studied piano at the Eastman School of Music, completed her BA at Wellesley College in 1952, her M.M. in composition at Ole Miss in 1958, the D.Mus. in composition at Florida State University in 1968, and did postgraduate study in electronic music. She was a faculty member at eleven universities in the USA and in 1985 at the Jakarta Conservatory in Indonesia. In Vienna she has taught at the Institute for European Studies, Webster University, and Indiana University. She is author of more than 200 articles and papers about music and musicians. (Wikipedia)

Nancy was born as Jean Hayes ( 30 december 1930). She married (and divorced) Dwight Van de Vate. His name is definitely of Flemish/Dutch origin, and possibly one of the oldest recorded. (Later she married Clyde Smyth, who died  in 1999....).

Other, similar ways of writing the name are : Vervaet and van der Vaet. After ca 1650 Vervaet is most widely used. Old and now almost disappeared spellings are Vervaete, Vervaedt, Vaet,van der Vaedt, Vate, Vervate en  van der Vaten. In the Dutch province of Zeeland "van de Vaate" en "bij de Vaate" are found occasionaly.
In 1169 the name appears in a document kept at ST.Pieter's Abbey in Ghent (Belgium) :Thomas van der Vate (Thomas de Vate).
The origin of this very rare name lies almost certainly in what is now the borderregion of Flanders and the Netherlands, the banks of the Schelde.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeeland


A "vate" is an old, mediaeval name for a kind of pond, a drinking place for cattle in a village and a place for washing linen etc. In German languages the notion "vaete" means "water". In Swedish väte means, apparently, hydrogen.....



At Kloetingen village there still is a "vate".

As for pronunciation : "vate" , in Flemish, sounds like "vahte", with a long "a", in the US, I'm sure, her name will be pronounced "vait"

Peter

'Jean Hayes'... not very sexy, eh? 'Clyde Smith'? These are not the names of the Compsers! or the spouses! what is this??


But- yea- 'Vate'---- 'Vatten'--- 'water'


So, I'd pronouce it 'va-taay'?

'vait'- yukk!!


thanks though! ;)


but... so... why'd she change her first name? to rhyme with her last???????? huh???


well, we need a Thread Title Contest here...

Scion7

Quote... composer Nancy Van de Vate is known worldwide ...

Technically this may be true - conductors and some students here, there, from Walla-walla to Sydney may be aware of her, but she's hardly a force either in the concert circuit or Classical FM radio. That's no judgement on the quality of her work - just a bit of reality.    :)
When, a few months before his death, Rachmaninov lamented that he no longer had the "strength and fire" to compose, friends reminded him of the Symphonic Dances, so charged with fire and strength. "Yes," he admitted. "I don't know how that happened. That was probably my last flicker."

CRCulver

Quote from: Scion7 on September 02, 2014, 01:49:50 PM
Technically this may be true - conductors and some students here, there, from Walla-walla to Sydney may be aware of her, but she's hardly a force either in the concert circuit or Classical FM radio. That's no judgement on the quality of her work - just a bit of reality.    :)

Agreed. I have a massive library of 20th-century and contemporary composers, and this thread is the first I've ever heard of Van de Vate.