Jalbert Calls on Emotions in Composition

Some artistic disciplines are adept at transmitting ideas or purely visceral responses. Others—music perhaps most of all—are capable of translating powerful emotions in such a way that audience members can feel some measure of the artist’s hopes and joys, fears and pain.

When Pierre Jalbert’s niece died at birth nearly 10 years ago, he, along with his family, suffered from shock, grief, and despair. Jalbert, now 33, is an assistant professor of composition and theory at the Shepherd School of Music, so it is not surprising that those feelings would eventually emerge in a composition. “For me,” Jalbert says, “I needed a lot of time to absorb it and be able to actually put something down. I think one needs time to absorb the events of the past.”

Time, though, tempers strong emotions. As Jalbert began writing “In Aeternam” in memory of his niece, he found himself not only capturing the sorrow of her death but also, with the memory of hearing his son Peter’s heartbeat for the first time, celebrating life. Jalbert finished composing the piece last year when his son turned four.

Originally, “In Aeternam” was commissioned by Barry Jekowsky and the California Symphony as part of the orchestra’s Young American Composer-in-Residence program. Jalbert then entered it in the Masterprize competition, considered one of the world’s most important international competitions for composers of classical music. In London on October 10, the Dutchess of Kent announced that Jalbert had won the Masterprize, which carries a $44,000 award.

The announcement was made following a performance of each of the five finalists’ work by the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Centre. The competition and award ceremony was broadcast by the European Broadcasting Union, BBC Radio 3, and BBC World Service, with an estimated worldwide audience of 100 million. It also was broadcast internationally via the competition’s website.

Half of the final decision was based on a public vote, with the remainder determined by recommendations from a live panel of distinguished judges and a vote by London Symphony Orchestra members.

“In Aeternam” is composed in three sections. It opens with slow, soft lyrical music, and listeners hear a short thematic fragment played by a solo piccolo that is repeated again and again. The second section, with its force and intensity, is dramatic in character. The piccolo is reprised, but now the thematic fragment is transformed into something more aggressive by the brass and percussion sections of the orchestra. The final section reprises the opening mood of the first section. The piece was recorded for Masterprize by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra of the Hungarian Radio, with Laszlo Kovacs conducting.

The composer admits he was surprised at winning the award. “I was very shocked. I really wasn’t expecting it for many reasons. But somehow it all worked out. It was just a great experience.” He says it was a rare privilege to have the opportunity to reach so many listeners through the BBC’s worldwide radio broadcasts.

Jalbert received his musical training at the Oberlin Conservatory and the University of Pennsylvania. He has won numerous awards for his compositions, including a residency at the Copland House, a Guggenheim Fellowship, two BMI Foundation Composition Awards, three ASCAP Foundation Awards, a Society of Composers Award, the Bearns Prize in Composition, and a Tanglewood Music Center fellowship. He recently returned from a year’s fellowship at the American Academy in Rome as a winner of the prestigious Rome Prize in composition. Jalbert’s works have been performed throughout the United States, and he has received numerous commissions.

—Ellen Chang