Dec. 21, 2011
A musical lineage: Former BSO conductor makes recording of mentor’s orchestral work
(COOKEVILLE, Tenn., Dec. 21, 2011) -- From the beginning, the relationship between TTU resident composer Robert Jager and student John Thomas Dodson fulfilled a need in each man to understand music: how to write it, how to play it, how to share it. For 36 years (and counting), their relationship has evolved from teacher-student to academic peers to contemporaries in the music recording industry.
This summer, the record label Naxos released a collection of five Jager orchestral compositions conducted by his former student, who went on to serve as music director of a number of orchestras, including the Bryan Symphony from 1993 to 2001.
“We did the first performances of much of this music with the Bryan Symphony,” says Dodson. “The scores were well-performed in Cookeville – no surprise with so many fine musicians making up the orchestra – and that gave a very good view of what was within the music that we would try to bring out in the project.”
Recording Jager’s music has been on Dodson’s mind for some time – more than 10 years, in fact, since his mentor retired in 2001.
“I thought that Bob Jager had given so much to all of us in terms of his music and his incredible impact as a teacher that it just seemed right to try to find a way to give something back to him at the end of his teaching career,” says Dodson. “I never dreamed that by the time the project ended, CDs would be almost a thing of the past, and that the music would be released in a digital format through Internet downloads. That speaks to how much has changed in the recording industry. I'm so glad this is on Naxos, the dominant voice in classical music. It means Jager's music will reside on a very good label, and that is a source of great happiness to me.”
Of the five compositions on the new release, three were commissioned and two were premiered by the BSO with Dodson conducting. When it was time to choose an orchestra to make the recording, Dodson brought an unexpected suggestion to the table: the Omsk Philharmonic, which he’d worked with following his Russia debut in 2000.
“We fit well together, and we got remarkable musical results,” says Dodson. “I shared a recording with Bob and several others for him to choose from. It was Omsk that held his interest -- he just loved that orchestra. The performance had a warm, rich string sound, and the winds and brass had real character.”
But it was the symphony in Cookeville where it all began, back in the 1970s, when Dodson played trumpet and studied composition with Jager.
“The four years John was at Tech were some of the most challenging and enlightening years for me in the composition studio,” says Jager. “He was like a musical sponge! He soaked up everything musical, and that kept me on my toes. We had so many wonderful discussions about composers, philosophy, history and more.”
“I remember meeting Bob and having a really intense discussion about music,” Dodson says. “Later he told me that no one had ever asked him questions quite like I had on that day. What I remember was that, in spite of my trepidation, I was comfortable, and I felt like we understood each other. We were talking about music right away -- and at a deep level -- and that was quite something.”
They’ve remained close ever since, particularly during the years they were both at Tennessee Tech as peers. During the 1990s, the BSO premiered several Jager works, including “Kokopelli Dances” and “Suite from 'Edvard Munch.'”
“I went back to those recordings to study and ask Jager very specific questions,” says Dodson. “Sometimes we were right on the money for what he had wanted to hear, and other times, I would learn a new insight about a passage that required rethinking. So the experience with the Bryan Symphony was critical to the success of the later recording; it laid the groundwork.”
Digital recordings of the new “Robert Jager” collection are available on the Naxos label through amazon.com and other online marketplaces.
“Robert Jager,” the playlist
“This recording features five of Jager’s works in remarkably different styles, written for orchestra between 1989 and 2001…. Each is dramatic in an entirely singular way, and collectively they reveal a composer who has mastered the language of his time.” – JTD
• Like A White Daisy Looks
• Suite from “Edvard Munch” (premiered by the BSO in 1999)
• Kokopelli Dances (premiered by the BSO in 1995)
• The Pied Piper of Hamelin
• I Dream of Peace
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