Red Bandanna Records

"Lament and Restoration," subtitled "Concerto in one movement for Alison, Strings, and Harpsichord," is almost inseparable from both the person and institution to which it is dedicated, Alison Crowther and the Welles Crowther Trust. It tells the story of how one mother used the power of music to help overcome the grief she experienced over losing her son in the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001. Rather than compose a requiem for the memory of the dead, Ron Wasserman searched for subject matter that would celebrate life and looking to the future in the midst of profound tragedy. In the wonderful story of how Alison put on a series of concerts in her local church, Ron found just that. The emotional needs of the piece are well served by its moderate tempo, Baroque instrumentation, and pleasing tonality. In concert, Alison begins with spoken commentary about the loss of her son and her feelings about how the music speaks of five emotions - "shock, anger, sadness, questioning, and acceptance." During the performance, as listeners both hear and see this mother play the concerto-starting in desolation and moving toward healing-the audience has a reaction to more than just the music, but also to the themes of death, loss, and life that resonate with everyone. The Four Bach orchestral suites are the models for the "Suite of Historical Dances" which remains faithful to their form and harmonic language almost until the end. The French Overture was a very common slow-fast-slow Baroque form. Its dotted rhythms give way to a sprightly fugue, which ultimately returns to the original slow theme. Here, the subject of the fugue is developed according to the strict rules of counterpoint with the answer starting exactly one fifth higher. The subject is developed a total of five times. On each return the melody is halved in length. Starting with eight measures, it returns to four, two, one, and, finally, a half-measure long. After the overture come the dances. Bach might have written a minuet, a sarabande, a gigue, a gavotte, or the like, and at the time, those dances were current to Bach's day. Ron Wasserman has chosen dances from the past, hence the term Historical, but only from the recent past. The "Polka" follows the Baroque form with its two sections of two repeated parts, with a return to part one. The "Tango" is more subtle; starting as an homage to Bach's famous "Air," it flirts with the original theme of the Overture, then explores the Harpsichord as solo Tango instrument with a virtuoso cadenza, skillfully played by Mr. Bordignon. The "Jitterbug" is right out of the Big Band Era, even including some quasi-improvisation, written out here as canons on the unison and octaves over a 12-bar jazz blues; a challenge for the best contrapuntalist, because of the harmonic changes under each statement of the melody. Finally, in the "Moon Walk," Wasserman expands the Baroque tonality to include some more modern elements and starts what can best be called a flight of fancy, or a moon walk of fancy, perhaps, finally ending with one final statement of our original theme.