Quint's Jam, composed by RAMON ROPER is the evocative
title of the main musical theme recurring in different ways throughout
U & Me
& Tennessee.Based
on the clash between 5/4 and 3/4 time signatures, with sweeping,
bravura passages. this original piano duet is alternately delightful,
insistent, bustling and unexpectedly brutal.
You
will soon be able to listen to it from this page!
RAMON
ROPER - Composer
Ramon
was born in England and received his musical education at Trinity
College of Music, London (now Trinity Guildhall).
Early
works include Triptych for Horn & Piano (written
for Ifor James), Wings (s song cycle for Soprano
& Piano written for April Cantello), and Fanfares &
Canzonettes for Double Bass & Harp (commissioned
by Bronwen Naish).
In
1970, Ramon was one of the founders of the East Anglian New
Music Society - devoted to performances of composers based
in and around that area. The society's patron was Gordon Cross.
Numerous new works were premiered and toured between Ipswich,
Colchester, Bury St. Edmonds, Norwich, Cambridge and London. All
Ramon's earlier pieces were performed again under the banner of
the E.N.M.S., as well as a new song cycle for Baritone and Piano
- Awake, My Lute - settings of poems by Sir Thomas
Wyatt.
In
1974 Ramon moved to Scotland, where he co-founded the Theatre
of Light and Shadow, for whom he wrote a lot of incidental
music including A Tudor Suite (for Medieval Jug
Band!), and The Jackdaw (a setting of the poem by
William Cowper, for Countertenor, Oboe & Harpsichord.
After
a year as Composer-in-Residence at Dunfermline College of Physical
Education, Ramon became a Music Lecturer at the Glasgow Arts Centre,
where he was commissioned to write two chamber operas, The
Selfish Giant and The Pied Piper. Both these
shows toured widely to schools after their initial runs at the
G.A.C. Other works composed at this time: 5 Bagatelles for
Double Bass & Piano and Evolution -
a ballet sequence for a male and a female dancer and chamber orchestra.
Ramon has an abiding interest in dance music, often working as
an accompanist for dance classes over the years.
Recent
music includes Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano,
Star Dances (for orchestra) and Fanfare for
Spokane (for large orchestra), written for the world Subud
Conference in 1997 and performed by the Spokane Symphony under
Lucas Richmann.
In
2001 Ramon decided to train as a Suzuki teacher, and he now teaches
piano by the method. This affords him time and opportunities to
compose for that medium, as well as the space to create more challenging
and complex work like Quint's Jam.
Ramon
writes: "Quint's Jam began life a number of
years ago as an improvisation in 5/4 time for dance. Paul Birchard's
ongoing fascination with the piece led me to rework and expand
it, eventually changing it into a duet for piano! The influences?
Well, Jazz, Javanese Gamelan music and Ravel, I suppose..."
Ramon
lives in Glasgow with his partner Sheena Coia, a wonderful teacher
of violin according to the Suzuki method.