David Jaeger: Chamber Works for Viola​

Violist Carol Gimbel showed an affinity for my writing for the viola not long after we first met in 2009. I had written several short works for her, which she took up with great enthusiasm. Over a period of more than a decade it became clear to both of us that I needed to write a longer, multi-movement work for her, and her duo partner, pianist Cullan Bryant.

Early in 2022, I began composing my second viola sonata, with Gimbel’s particular expressive manner of playing in mind. In the years immediately preceding this, I had concentrated on melody, and had, in fact, written dozens of art songs. In writing for Gimbel, several of these songs seemed to fuel the design of the melodies that appear in this sonata. The four contrasting movements share thematic material with four of my settings of poems by the Scottish author, David Cameron: For Winter, Sometimes the Summer, The Red Deer and A Blessing, respectively. Movement 1 “For Winter” lays out a theme that seems dark and brooding at first, but then finds release and abandon. Movement 2 “Sometimes the Summer” is a quasi-canonical setting of a depiction of a flirtatious mood. Movement 3 “The Red Deer,” marked “penseroso,” is introspective and reflective, and Movement 4 “A Blessing” is playful and affirmative.

My Sonata No. 2 for viola and piano was commissioned by Gimbel and Bryant, with the support of the Toronto Arts Council.

— David Jaeger

I have been attracted to binary forms for most of my creative life. Perhaps this grew from my early experiences playing the organ and Baroque repertoire. Whatever the reason for this, I decided, about the same time as I was composing the second sonata, to work with starkly opposing ideas, in the form of a diptych. The two movements that make up this work, “Lament” and “Defiance,” not only contrast in their respective melodic idioms, but also in the roles played by the two instruments. In contrast to the sonata, where the viola and piano are mostly supportive in their working together, I tried, in the diptych, to stir things up a bit, almost as if the conversation was more of a debate. At the same time, I modeled the mood of the two movements on sentiments that are clearly contrasting. When I started composing the “Lament,” I had the feeling it might actually be incorporated into the second sonata, and I discussed this possibility with Gimbel and Bryant. But we soon agreed, the nature and temperament of this piece was sufficiently different, requiring a context of its own. The melodic material in both “Lament” and “Defiance” was first sketched in a pair of art songs, and later modified for the purposes of the Diptych.

— David Jaeger

Early in 2015 my good friend and frequent collaborator, violist Rivka Golani asked me for an unaccompanied viola work. She said she planned to premiere the work in a recital consisting entirely of unaccompanied pieces. She further asked that I make reference to the lore of the people of the Blackfoot First Nation, with whom she had made a strong personal connection. Initially, I struggled with this, not wishing to disrespect the Blackfoot people. 

I came across a poem by Gimbel while I was working on the piece, and the last stanza seemed to contain the right emotional tone for what I was writing. This poem fuelled my melodic design, and helped to shape the form of the piece, as well.

Gimbel’s poem is as follows:

Through the Eyes of a Criminal
By Carol Gimbel

I cultivate the sickness
Growing inside
It’s cultures are good

Rare it is
To find another
Whose river runs deeper than
eyes can see or my mind can know
Deeper than the never ending waves of the sea
Deeper than the ends of the soul

White hat of grace
Gracing the skull of elephants
Loveless,
The rough corners of our chins, brows & eyes
Show signs of aging
Far too soon
Far too old
For the youthful spirit housed inside this crumbling body
Renewed by passion
Sky
Spirit
And love

The loneliness of love nourishes
The loneliness of lovelessness is like a jail
Skeleton
Bones
I drag
Day after day
Highway chain gang
Going through the motions
But dead inside
Looking for the next stop
On the highway to nowhere
For a whore
Or a cup of joe
A cigarette
A breeze
A small reminder of once being free

— David Jaeger

I was introduced to the Scottish poet David Cameron in 2018, and was immediately struck by the innate musicality of his poetry. In fact, his poems have inspired me to make both vocal and instrumental settings. I was, at about this time, beginning to explore the art of the unaccompanied melody, and when I realized what a wealth of melodic inspiration lay awaiting discovery in these lines of poetry, I began setting them in earnest.

The Six Miniatures for solo viola are all based on Cameron’s poetry, with the viola soloist, in effect, playing the role of reciter. The six original poems are titled: 1. Landscape 2. Evening 3. Conjure You 4. For Winter 5. A Blessing 6. Gifts.

The texts of the poems are:

Poetry by David Cameron

1. Landscape
I draw my hands apart
So you’re free to go.
The blue trees rise again:
This landscape I know.

2. Evening
I heard you the first time
Say, ‘Careful as you go,’
But could not keep my feet,
And went down in the snow.

So, overwhelmed by snow,
I laughed to see you keen,
Until only the moon
And one star could be seen.

3.Conjure You
Is there a letter that could conjure you?
Or what metamorphosis must I go through?
In whose company would I find you?

Tie up the black parcels with string
And go to their funeral-wedding.
Strip your body, your world, of meaning.

Nothing ever amazes
There, where heaven’s explained to us.
It’s you, your edge, I’ve wanted always.

4. For Winter (Solo Song #1)
I thought my love for winter lost
Till your insomniac eyes of frost
Burned into me, so pure and clear
With slow abandonment of fear.

5. A Blessing (Solo Song #4)
I call a blessing
Down on your head.
A shadow’s moving
In the oyster bed.

I hear a whisper
In the loudest room.
I see an angel
Perched on my tomb.

Angel oh angel,
Put down your pen.
Did I love enough?
Will I see her again?

6. Gifts (Solo Song #5)
Child of the light, I bring you
Fresh handfuls of wild flowers
From fields you do not visit.
I bring them. Don’t despise them,
Though you find their scent bitter.

They can be arranged, so,
Into a wreath of heartbreak.
But it will wither.
The fields will be drenched again
By the sweet waters.

— David Jaeger

The realization that Gimbel is capable of expressing herself poetically gave me the incentive to make settings of selected works from her canon of poetic writings. Now that three of the resulting songs have found their way into a recording, I felt we needed a statement from her.

Gimbel says:
“It was a surprise and an honor for my poetry to be a source of inspiration for David’s songs. Never in a million years would I have imagined my private writings ever being more than just that, as they are little streams of consciousness and most certainly not crafted poetry, as the likes of several of my poet friends who have spent their lifetimes creating. As an element in musical works, bringing them to life together with my dear colleagues was a rare, unanticipated, and special happening in my life.”

The three songs are settings of the following Gimbel poems:

I. The little teeny tiny
The little
Teeny
Tiny
Hidden key

That unlocks
The little
Teeny
Tiny
Demon

Hidden deep inside
The little
Teeny
Tiny

Dark

Lost

Scared

Crack

Forgotten

Haunting

II. The Mystical Man
I’m a stray cat
When I scratch at attempts of love
I am a dying cat
When my emotions pour out
I go and hide
To be with myself

The mystical man and his bird
Said loneliness becomes you

You claim there is only one of us
Doing this dance
Yet sideways comments and subjects
Point to other theories

The mystical man and his bird
Told me I do things right

Sacred spaces we share in our hearts
But I take this one and keep it precious in solitude

The mystical man and his bird
Picked a card:
You do things right
And when it’s not
You do it twice

III. simple moment
in a simple moment
i come to realize
that what i thought was gone
or didn’t exist
was always there
to begin with

The combination of mezzo voice, viola, and piano is full of a rich palette of sonic possibilities, and provides ample opportunity to tone paint, which happens in each and every line of Gimbel’s poems.

— David Jaeger

“Shortly after I met David Jaeger, his retirement from the CBC was imminent. I visited his office finding myself surrounded by 40 years of recordings, tapes, documents, and relics about to be carefully packed for their next chapter. With David’s retirement, there was no slowing down. He voraciously continued his mission of “fostering the ‘next’ generation of musicians” (as it was said in his induction to the Order of Canada) and I was fortunate to be one of them.

David would often mention long lists of composers and ensembles in his stories, opening the world of Canada’s new music scene to me. My most cherished memories are catching the twinkle in his eye when he would introduce me at concert receptions and other events. We got a chuckle observing the response of those we encountered after he would mention I was the founder of “something new” called Music in the Barns…(head scratch). David loves to improvise in life and creation!

Together we immersed ourselves in the exploration and presentation of music from many young and emerging composers to established, and eventually our ongoing collaboration and performances of David’s electronic music.

David became an invaluable guiding light as a mentor, colleague and a dear friend. It is with this album that I get, in a small way, to return the gift.”

— Carol Gimbel, January 2023