David Biedenbender: all we are given we cannot hold

"…modern, venturesome, and inexorable…The excitement, intensity, and freshness that characterizes Biedenbender’s music hung in the [air] long after the last note was played" — Examiner.com

"Clearly a composer to watch out for." — Fanfare Magazine

Composer David Biedenbender draws inspiration from poetry by Robert Fanning, the beauty of the national parks and seemingly small, fleeting moments of life. “All We Are Given, We Cannot Hold” on Blue Griffin Recording (BGR 649, released July 14, 2023) includes performances by the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, Garth Newel Piano Quartet with clarinetist Mingzhe Wang, and the Haven Trio. Two of these works are settings of poetry by Robert Fanning.

“I remember first reading Robert’s poetry in 2014; it was as if he was able to give voice to feelings and experiences in a way that made them feel like my own. His words reveal a world of profound beauty that transcends the page,” says Biedenbender.

Biedenbender collaborated with Fanning to write Shell and Wing for soprano Lindsay Kesselman and the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. They initially intended the work to be about childhood, but the school shooting in Parkland, Florida shifted their focus to their complicated roles as parents, and they created a work about raising children in this violent world. The music draws from Schumann’s Träumerei (Dreaming/Reverie) and Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood).

The title work, all we are given we cannot hold, written for the Haven Trio, captures seemingly ordinary moments of parenthood; the small, beautiful moments that disappear quickly. The texts are from collections of Fanning’s poetry.

The two instrumental works on the album, Solstice (2018) and Red Vesper (2013), are performed by the Garth Newel Piano Quartet. Solstice was inspired by the composer’s visits to the Garth Newel Music Center in the Allegheny Mountains and quotes Ives’ The Unanswered Question and Appalachian fiddling. Biedenbender composed Red Vesper after the death of his sister-in-law. The title comes from the image of red rock formations in a National Park, evoking a vesper at dusk. Clarinetist Mingzhe Wang joins the quartet for the work.

Shell and Wing (2018) - text by Robert Fanning

[01] I. Shell 08:23

[02] II. Wing 07:39

Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble

[03] Red Vesper (2014) 07:07

Garth Newel Piano Quartet with Mingzhe Wang, clarinet

all we are given we cannot hold (2022) - text by Robert Fanning

[04] I. The Darkness, Literal and Figurative 03:37

[05] II. One and a Half Miles Away from Dying 04:40

[06] III. Watching My Daughter Through the One Way Mirror of a Preschool Observation Room 02:41

[07] IV. The Thorn Birds 04:14

[08] V. Model Nation 03:57

[09] VI. Body of Work 05:40

[10] VII. Cuttings 04:38

Haven Trio

Solstice (2018)

[11] I. Summer 05:18

[12] II. Autumn 09:16

[13] III. Winter 06:39

[14] IV. Spring 03:59

Garth Newel Piano Quartet