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Lament For A Dead Acquaintance
(2000)
For String Orchestra
Duration: ca. 7 minutes
First performance:
April 29, 2000
at Northern Illinois University by
Members of the String Section of the NIU Philharmonic
Amy Crabtree, conductor
Program Notes
Kevin Gilbert (1966-1996) was an incredibly talented
rock musician who left us way before he should have. He was a
brilliant song writer and lyricist, a multi-instrumentalist, a
master in the recording studio, not to mention that he had one
of the most amazing singing voices I have ever heard. In a world
of predominantly no-talent pop/rock artists, Gilbert’s genius
was never fully appreciated. Most of his commercially available
recordings were issued independently or on small labels with one
major exception. This was Toy Matinee, a onetime project with
Madonna’s producer/collaborator Patrick Leonard (This was much
cooler than it sounds). Although the album was played heavily
in Los Angeles (where I first came to know his music), it did
not sell that well and fell into obscurity. It seems that at every
step of his career, fame and fortune eluded him and Kevin became
known to music industry insiders as the most famous unknown rock
musician. How many people knew that he won a Grammy for co-writing
the music on Sheryl Crow’s first album? (not one of his most impressive
musical achievements so don’t judge him by this) I have long held
the opinion that popular rock music has been in steady decline
since about the early 1980s. Kevin Gilbert to me represented the
hope for my generation which has produced virtually nothing in
terms of great rock musicians. But now he’s gone.
His accidental death in 1996 has bothered me for
some time and I always wanted to pay tribute to this great musician.
Now four years later I offer this short lament in his memory.
Essentially this work is a collage comprised of short fragments
from songs by Kevin Gilbert. None of the melodies used are my
own.
The ostinato which opens and closes the piece is
derived from the piano accompaniment of a tune called "Song for
a Dead Friend" which Gilbert wrote about someone close to him
who committed suicide. My title is obviously a take-off of Gilbert’s.
The rest of the melodies used in this piece are taken from a five
other Gilbert songs. These fragments are subjected to augmentation
(never retrograde as the melodies are intended to remain audible)
and combined in various ways, thus evolving into expansive textures.
In the middle there is an uplifting five-part canon which to me
sonically represents a celebration of all that Kevin Gilbert left
for posterity to enjoy. The subject of the canon, which is musically
taken completely out of context from the original, is a tune ironically
called "Tears of Audrey." Audrey was apparently the mother of
the person for whom "Song for a Dead Friend" was written.
Kevin and I had a number of mutual friends and through
these contacts we were in a number of social situations together.
I wish I could have called him a friend, but in truth I only really
know him through his music. In determining a title for this piece,
I decided to based it on the aforementioned "Song for a Dead Friend."
However "friend" did not seem appropriate.
In his short 29 years, Kevin Gilbert left behind
a huge body of work, a large portion of which has never been released
to the public. This is slowly changing as his estate is working
towards reissuing many of his recordings. They have also set up
a memorial fund in Gilbert’s name to help "young people who are
musically gifted, but financially challenged, to realize their
musical potential" by way of providing instruments and/or money
for and scholarships. For more information about Kevin Gilbert,
check out the following websites:
http://www.kevingilbert.com
http://www.shadowself.com
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