Till Meyn
From Germany and currently living in the US
Till Meyn is Professor of Theory and Composition at Texas Christian University. He earned degrees from U.C. San Diego, Indiana University, and USC’s Thornton School of Music. Till’s music has had international performances in Switzerland, France, Italy, Cuba, China, Spain, Ukraine, and Slovenia. Performances of his music in the United States include those at Carnegie Hall, Bass Performance Hall, Clarinet Fest, the Biennial Saxophone Congress, The Florida State University Festival of New Music, the Society for Composers, Inc. National and Regional Conventions, National Flute Association Conventions, the College Music Society National Convention, at the Manhattan School of Music, and at the Intercollegiate Men’s Choruses National Seminar at Harvard, among others. Till is often commissioned to compose new works, including one to open the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra’s 2019 – 2020 season. He has been a featured composer at the Cliburn at the Modern series, a finalist in the NFA Newly Published Music Competition for ‘Urban Ragas,’ and earned first prize in the NACUSA Texas Composition Contest for ‘Celestial Mechanics.’ Till’s music is published by Alliance Music Publications, ALRY Publications, C. Alan Publications, ECS Publishing, GIA Publications, Walton Music, and self-published by Muse Worthy Music. For further information about commissioning and scores, please visit tillmeyn.com.
Red/Blue
12:00
Self-Published
Link to Recording
'Red/Blue' was composed for Gary Whitman and Janet Pummill; the piece is cast in four movements, each movement titled according to its relation to the colors red and blue. The first movement, ‘Red Groove,’ begins with rhythmic tapping on the piano lid and development of a basic short motive. The middle section is in odd meters; the groove is punctuated by accents on long and short beats, and moves from relative dissonance to folk-like melodic tonality supported by pedal-tone chords. A brief return to the opening material closes ‘Red Groove.’ Movement two, ‘Blue Poem,’ features slowly arpeggiated chords in the piano while the clarinet plays lyrical melodic lines. The progressively climbing clarinet melody represents a passionate but reserved love poem. ‘Red Fugue’ is the short, fiery contrapuntal third movement; it is styled in the manner of the Hindemith Ludus Tonalis fugues for piano. The final movement, ‘Purple Rag,’ is pure ragtime reminiscent of Scott Joplin. Here the red and blue from previous movements mix to create purple: a moderately grooving, tonal piece in ternary form that should relieve the tension presented by prior movements. The clarinetist for whom the piece was written is my colleague at Texas Christian University, where the school color, purple, is a source of great pride: hence, 'Red/Blue.'
Canzoni di Fiori
Canzoni di Fiori (Flower Songs), by composer Till Meyn, is a multi-movement piece scored for two E-flat clarinets and string quartet. The work was commissioned by two musician friends: Argentine-born Victoria Luperi, Associate Principal Clarinet and Principal E-flat Clarinet of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and Italian-born Ivan Petruzziello, Assistant Principal Clarinet of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and Principal Clarinet of the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra.
Canzoni explores the theme “Flowers without Borders," each movement representing a flower from a different state or country. It was composed in response to the International Clarinet Association’s call for the “wildflowers of the world to come together to form a more beautifully diverse and inclusive garden,” effecting positive change across borders, cultures, and societal divisions.
The work is in nine movements, seven of which are each devoted to a different flower, representing places around the world where Petruzziello, Luperi, or Meyn has lived. The prelude, interlude, and finale each employ a variation on musical themes derived from the names of the two clarinetists; the final movement, Texas, serves as the finale, representing the place where all three collaborators were making music just a few years ago, and coincidentally, the location of the 2021 premiere performance.
For more information about Canzoni di Fiori, or to purchase the score, please contact the composer at t.meyn@tcu.edu, or visit tillmeyn.com.
On a Lark
Two Clarinets and Piano, including e-flat, B-flat, and bass;
2023
Email composer
14:00
Self-Published
Email for recording
'On a Lark' was composed for the Painted Sky Ensemble. Each movement represents different stylistic qualities, combined to create a loose narrative about discovering the courage to fly. The first movement, 'On a Whim,' displays highly contrapuntal music; one may hear Bach-like passages, and at other times Piazzolla or Scarlatti, all woven together as a fun exercise in counterpoint. The middle movement, 'On a Limb,' is mostly slow and quiet, moving from tentative gestures to a more unified ensemble; the movement ends with quiet floating, in contrast to the quickly-modulating previous sections. The final movement, 'On the Wing,' begins with fragments which are then expanded and played in close canon; the work culminates with a triumphant sense of flying, an achievement that the work had been striving for all this time.