First Fourteen of 81 New Pieces Commissioned by THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT in Response to Two Paintings Botticelli’s Primavera & Charline von Heyl’s Primavera 2020
Multi-Grammy nominated cellist Matt Haimovitz’s next recording, PRIMAVERA I the wind, will be released on the PENTATONE Oxingale Series. The new digital album features the first fourteen of 81 new pieces written for Haimovitz, commissioned by THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT. This new initiative asks composers to write in response to Sandro Botticelli’s enigmatic painting, Primavera, and the prophetic large-scale triptych, Primavera 2020, by contemporary artist Charline von Heyl. Haimovitz recorded the album in January 2021 at von Heyl’s artist studio near downtown Marfa, Texas. More information about the project, composers, and pieces is available at THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT’s online hub, www.theprimaveraproject.com.
Matt Haimovitz will be performing music from THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT in six upcoming virtual and in-person concerts, including at Strathmore Music Center in North Bethesda, MD (June 10), Oregon Bach Festival (June 25, virtual), PS21 in Chatham, NY (July 5), Green Mountain Music Festival in Burlington, VT (July 16), Napa Valley Festival in Napa Valley, CA (July 20), and at his Bach Cello Suites Workshop (July 30, virtual). For details, see: www.theprimaveraproject.com/
THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT is an exploration of music and art as sources of influence and inspiration for each other. During this time of global pandemic and social upheaval, both Primavera paintings’ composition, characters, symbolism, nature and flora, darkness and light, mythology, identity, and spirituality are ripe for new interpretation – as reflected by the newly commissioned pieces on this first installment. The project’s commissions began with nine composers, incorporating a variety of musical languages. Each composer then recommended colleagues to be considered as the next participating composers until a total of 81 composers were selected. All 81 resulting pieces will be recorded for commercial release, with Haimovitz making the next album in Marfa, Texas in late May. PRIMAVERA II will be released in fall 2021.
The distinct and diverse contemporary compositional voices on this album bridge the centuries, expanding and redefining the range and repertoire of the solo cello. Framed by Gabriella Smith’s bare and Lisa Bielawa’s Missa Primavera, Vijay Iyer, David Sanford, Nkeiru Okoye, Jorge Sosa, and others bring a multitude of influences from the world of Jazz and Latin music, to Vivaldi and Scriabin.
THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT is co-directed by Matt Haimovitz and Dr. Jeffrianne Young. The seeds of the project were planted in spring 2019, when Haimovitz and Young visited the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., and encountered the paintings of Charline von Heyl. They were immediately drawn to the multi-layered musicality of her paintings, and her whimsical imagination intertwined with literary and historical references. In summer 2019, they experienced a similar epiphany with Botticelli’s Primavera on a visit to the Uffizi in Florence. That fall, Haimovitz and Young reached out to von Heyl, who expressed an appreciation of music and invited them to visit her studio in Marfa, Texas. In late December, the three met – their lively conversation centered around the enduring relevance of Botticelli’s painting.
Haimovitz and Young asked von Heyl if she would ever consider reimagining the Botticelli painting for the 21st Century, and discussion about the idea of commissioning new cello works inspired by the artwork began. Less than two months later, days before the pandemic lockdown, von Heyl had completed her Primavera 2020.
“The world has been fractured and on the brink long before the pandemic decimated the performing arts,” says Haimovitz. “The musical commissions of THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT celebrate our golden age of musical diversity and richness. Each new piece – like the blossoming flowers, figures, and symbols of Charline von Heyl’s and Sandro Botticelli’s Primaveras – has been a ray of light, offering us hope for renewal of the human spirit.”
Young says, “I felt a sense of kinship from the very first conversation with Matt and Charline. There was a generosity of ideas between the three of us, how together we could bring to life a world of music engaging the old and new Primavera paintings. Haimovitz and von Heyl are incredibly curious about the world beyond their studios. During our initial conversation together, I observed firsthand how true artists and performers constantly notice and intentionally incorporate old and new cultural references and sources of inspiration in their work.”
