composer
Ronald Ford was born September 29, 1959 in Kansas City, U.S.A. He moved to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 1983.
Education: Ford studied composition, piano and computer engineering at the Duke University ...
related works
Genre:
Unknown
Diaphonie : for orchestra / Karel Goeyvaerts; edited by Max Erwin
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
2fl/picc 3ob 5cl 2fg 3h tpt 5trb-ten tb hp pf cemb/pf 24vn 12db
Concert voor viool met begeleiding van orkest / Jan Pouwels
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Violin and orchestra
Scoring:
2222 3230 timp perc str vl-solo
Con tinto : voor viool, klarinet en piano, 1992 / Bart de Kemp
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Wind and string and key instrument(s)
Scoring:
cl vl pf
composition
Al-Fâtiha / Ron Ford
Description:
Program note (English): In the recitation of the Koran, the singer balances between speaking recitation and sung aria. When I was asked to write a piece for the Volharding, I wanted to try to get a new sound from the group. It was not my idea to write a solo concerto, but more a piece wherin one player continually gave information to the group. This function quickly became that of a reciter, and thus the link with the Koran was complete. Al-fatiha is in various ways based on the first verse of the Koran, titled 'the opening'. Throughout the piece the trombone part is derived from this performance of the Koran verse, and the soloist is continously feeding information to the rest of the ensemble. The ensemble reacts upon this information with shadow notes and harmonies, articulation, and unexpected interruptions. Later in the piece it is the (Arabic) text that steers the music. Syllabes and words are translated into a stuttering, spattering tutti. In the end, it is the singer himself (on tape) that
leads the piece towards its end. The recording begins close and intimate, and changes slowly to the acoustics of a mosque, and finally ends in the beautifully distorted sound recognizable as that of the Koran thrown into the world from the turrets. - RON FORD