Program Notes
The Blue Room is a concerto in two movements. The title was taken from a poem called White Key, by Carol Muske Dukes (the text of which I later set in its entirety for choir, in White Key). The line reads, “…like the light on the bed / In the blue room where I last held you.” The poem is such a poignant expression of love and loss and has resonated with me for years, since the day I first heard it.
Writing this concerto was so significant for me. I wrote it at a time when I was the most uncertain about my future as a composer — when I was debating leaving the field. I wrote it with the fear that might be the last piece I would ever write. And yet it was writing the piece that introduced me to the next phase of my musical journey, and put me on the path that led me here.
I’m forever grateful to conductor and dear friend Robert Bolyard for commissioning this piece and believing in me when it wasn’t easy or convenient.
Orchestra Breakdown
2Fl (+picc), 2Ob, 2Cl in Bb, 2Bsn
Brass: 4230
Timp +2Perc
— (1: Marimba)
— (2: Suspended Cymbal, Glockenspiel, Snare Drum)
Harp
Strings
Recording
Premiere/Performances
This piece was commissioned by Robert Bolyard, conductor. It was premiered on April 14th, 2007 at Battell Chapel, Yale University with violin soloist Alexander Woods.
Press/Reviews
“Esmail’s music is often angular, a little like Shostakovich. The soloist plays lyrical melodies over swirling sounds from the orchestra, or interjects its comments between big, jagged, dramatic blocks of sound. Partway into the second and last movement, a staccato theme builds up in the orchestra as the violin darts around it. It then breaks up into fragments that form the basis for most of the rest of the movement. This theme is so catchy that I heard someone whistling it during intermission. When’s the last time that happened at a modern music concert?” – The Daily Journal
