By NILS VAN OTTERLOO
Staff Writer
 

The concert celebrated Matthews' and Esty's dedication to music and Matthews's new endowed chair as composer in residence.

The event featured speeches by President Donald Harward, dean of the faculty Martha Crunkleton and Professor Matthews, and culminated in a concert featuring works by French composer Francis Poulenc and Professor Matthews, including the premiere of a song cycle entitled "Ex Libris," which was dedicated to Mrs. Esty.

Among distinguished Bates graduates, Esty looms large. She graduated from Bates in a time when women pursuing higher education were an exception rather than the rule.

Beyond that, she was the first person in her family to go to college. She even had to take time off to work in order to pay for her own tuition, which at the time totalled $150.

Esty established a stunning career as a vocalist spanning two continents, and was her entire life a major supporter of contemporary composers, including Francis Poulenc.

Matthews becomes the latest recipient of Esty's generosity to those who have demonstrated their knowledge of the musical arts with distinction.

"As a composer, it is rare in life that I have met people who champion composition," he said. "When I came to Bates 19 years ago, there were very few people who knew what it was I really did. When I met Alice 12 years ago, when she was coming to receive an honorary degree, [there was an] instant rapport between us. Here was someone who did understand!"

Professor Matthews has had a long and distinguished career, both before and after his arrival on Bates Campus almost 20 years ago.

He grew up in Springfield, Oh., where as a child he began studies as a flautist. He received his Bachelor of Music degree, majoring in composition, from Oberlin Conservatory in the 1960s. He then went on to receive his Masters in Composition from the University of Iowa.

Following that, he spent a time in Utrecht, the Netherlands, at the Instituut voor Sonology, a leader in Computer Music Composition. He then returned to the United States to receive an M.M.A and a D.M.A from Yale University.

Since then, he has composed more than 70 musical works for many diverse media, including solo instrumental, vocal, chamber, choral and theatrical pieces, as well as music composed for dance.

He has received numerous awards from such organizations as the American Society of Composers and Publishers and Broadcast Music Inc. Additionally, he has netted numerous fellowships, including ones from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and the National Endowment for the Arts Composer/Librettist Program.

He said he counts among the most significant influences in his composition Francis Poulenc, Aaron Copland, Charles Ives, Gospel and Blues music, as well as Maine folk music.

When asked which piece of his music he is most pleased with, Matthews responded, "The piece I haven't written yet."

During the Inaugural Festivities, much praise was heaped upon Esty and Matthews for their contributions to creating and appreciating contemporary music.

Harward remarked that Esty is "a gift-giver of song and self" and praised her for her "understanding of the central role of the arts, especially music" within the framework of a liberal arts education.

Crunkleton said that Matthews is "one of our most excellent colleagues." She thanked him for "his continued gifts to his students and this college."

She went on to discuss the uncertainty of the role of music in the canon of scholarship, stressing the curtailed budgets for the arts, especially music, and commenting on the joy of experiencing performed music.

Of the Esty Chair, she said, "This gift...helps show students, faculty, alumnae and alumni the importance of the study of music."

"Admiring Bill's accomplishments and gifts we see anew the rewards of study in this field," said Crunkleton.

During the event, Matthews thanked Esty for her "generous and perspicacious gift. I urge everyone to check out the exhibit in Ladd Library of autographed scores of music commissioned by her. It is the material legacy of a life spent with music. How marvelous that she should now give such a large gift to a tiny music department in Lewiston, Me., when she could just have easily given it to any number of institutions which support contemporary music composition, and known that her money would have been well spent."

"How sensibly Mrs. Esty must have been educated," Matthews said. "How sensible she must be to know music [composition's] function as a paradigm of music education. Music doesn't happen for free. Music is the most slippery, ephemeral, most unledgerly of arts. It takes generous patrons such as herself to ensure the methods of music's creation do not disappear."

The program of music began with three pieces by Francis Poulenc, who "was not afraid to put a nice melody in his compositions, which was somewhat rare for his time," Matthews said.

The first piece, the Prologue from Sonate for two pianos, was performed by Professor of Music James Parakilas and Mr. Mark Howard, coordinator of the Olin Arts Center. The next two Poulenc pieces were sung by the Chapel Singers, under the musical direction of Professor Marion Anderson.

The rest of the afternoon was devoted to compositions by Matthews. The first was a newly written song cycle dedicated to Mrs. Esty, entitled "Ex Libris," and consisted of five songs for Baritone Peter Allen `66 who was accompanied by Artist-in-Residence Frank Glazer.

Each song was composed to poems written by Emily Dickinson, Wallace Stevens, Donald Hall and Robert Farnsworth, lecturer in English.

The first, "A precious - mouldering pleasure - `tis ," by Dickinson, is about the pleasure of reading and the knowledge gained through the study of ancient literature. Next was "Ex Libris," or "From the Library," written by Robert Farnsworth. "The House Was Quiet and the World Was Calm" by Wallace Stevens followed, and after that was "The Poem" by Donald Hall. The final poem, also by Robert Farnsworth, was titled "Villanelle."

The last piece on the program, "Double Concerto" for violin and viola, played by Steve Kecskemethy and Julia Adams, instructor in viola, respectively. This three-movement work is steeped in the melodies and rhythms of Maine's teeming folk music traditions.

The Bates "Fightin' Bobcat" Orchestra performed these pieces well above the orchestra's expectations for a concert so early in the semester.

"We played way beyond even our own expectations, it was really exciting to hear us in such top form," said principle flautist Jeffrey Pelletier of the Physical Plant.

Of the piece, Matthews said, "This Double Concerto is primarily about this place, Lewiston, and its traditions and music. One thing that I love about Bates is that it is such an open community, very open to ideas. Our orchestra is made up of people from all walks of life, non-music majors, faculty, local professionals and staff. People who know that music must be central to their lives."

Matthews' advice to young composers is to "find a community. Find a group of performers and work with them... with other human beings, and know who they are."

"Don't make music and just send it out into the great, wide world, and have it played in places you've never been," he said. "That doesn't mean anything. If live music and live musicians are going to continue as a culture, as a possibility, I think we, as composers, need to create a lot of communities where our ideas can be shared and expressed and ultimately interpreted."