Slosberg Recital Hall, Brandeis University
• View video of selections by Martin Boykan • Concert program
Martin Boykan interviewed about his career and life in music by Stephen Soderberg
at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC on March 22, 2010.
Martin Boykan and artist Susan Schwalb interviewed about their experiences
collaborating on artist books by Stephen Soderberg at the Library of Congress,
Washington, DC on March 22, 2010.
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. NYC premier June 1, 2019 at Miller Theater
Towards the Horizon. Steven Beck, pianist, February 14, 2013, New York City
Trio No. 4. Ensemble counter)induction
Piano Trio No. 4. ECCE Ensemble, Dimenna Center for Classical Music, November 20, 2014
"Rites of Passage" performed by the Thoreau Piano Trio
> Listen to "Rites of Passage"
Martin Boykan writes: “My third piano trio was inspired by a silverpoint drawing, dating from 1981, by my wife Susan Schwalb, depicting the transformation of a single craggy vertical line across five very large panels as it suffers the effects of fire, smoke, candle drips, and ripped paper. The dramatic and emotionally rich reinterpretation of a single idea struck a powerful chord in me, and for once it seemed possible to respond to a visual work of art with music.
I intended the opening six notes in the ’cello as a symbolic representation of the silverpoint line, and it is a motive that constantly recurs throughout the piece.
Like the artwork, the trio is divided into five movements, and although it is played without pause, that division is clearly marked.”
IMAGE: Susan Schwalb, Rites of Passage, 1981, 36”x126”, copperpoint, wax, smoke, fire on clay coated paper