Concert Roundup
Mar. 11th, 2008 08:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariThis weekend I got to got to two great concerts.
This performance was the first of a short series showcasing 60 years of electronic music. In this case, it was mostly pieces with tape and pieces that were purely acoustic but heavily influenced or inspired by the electronic aesthetic.
Conspiracies - Martin Bresnick
I very much enjoyed this piece for flute and tape (the tape component consisted of four other flute Parts). Bresnick made very good use of extended techniques and the movement of the sound around the space. Martin Bresnick was present, so I got to see him again (he was the resident composer at the Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium this past summer). He's such a nice, warm person - he gave me a hug.
New York Counterpoint - Steve Reich
I love Reich's music, and this piece for clarinet and tape (the tape part is 10 other clarinet parts) was no exception. It's in the same style as most of his best known work - simple motifs changing and shifting against each other. I particularly liked the use of some jazz-like motifs towards the end.
Intersection for Magnetic Tape - Morton Feldman
This is Feldman's only electronic piece and I have to say that I am rather glad of it. "Intersection" was too flat, with no contrast or variety on the sound material. It also lacked the delicate, almost fragile beauty I find in his other works.
Mnemosyne - Brian Ferneyhough
This piece was for bass flute and tape. Bass flute is a rarely seen instrument, which is quite a shame, because it's lovely and haunting. The piece was pretty good, but it kind of wandered off in parts, which made it less than memorable. I would like to hear more of Ferneyhough's music, though.
Pression - Helmut Lachenmann
This piece for solo cello was amazing. Lachenmann used the cello in ways I've never seen before. The cellist tapped and rubbed the strings, bowed directly on the bridge and behind the bridge, and even bowed the strings from underneath. The piece was incredibly well-constructed - all the sounds flowed into each other coherently, completely avoiding the "laundry-list" effect I sometimes find in extended technique pieces.
Coleccion Nocturna - David Felder
I did not enjoy this piece. It was very atonal and bustling and I just couldn't connect with it. Heavy use of the highest register in the clarinet didn't help, either.
I quite enjoyed this concert. I have to admit that I could tell that the group was a community chorus rather than a professional one, but they were still quite good. Music making isn't just for professionals, anyway - it's for everybody.
The first half of the concert consisted of songs from early America. Not surprisingly, given American's Puritan origins, they were of a generally religious bent. One of my two favorites was "Invitation" by Supply Belcher, which featured![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pantsie as one of a trio. Damn, can she sing. My other favorite was "Down in the Valley to Pray", a traditional song familiar to most people from the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack. The arrangement Polymnia chose was just gorgeous - it had a richness, depth, and spaciousness which suited bothe the song and the chorus very well.
The second half of the concert was title The Beginning of the Romantic Era. It started off with Mozart's "Ave Verum Corpus", which I thought was perhaps not among Mozart's more stellar works. The big piece of the concert was Cherubini's Requiem, which I was very much anticipating, since I had never heard it before and am not very familiar with Cherubini. It was very good - plenty of drama and emotion. The chorus did a terrific job, too.
This performance was the first of a short series showcasing 60 years of electronic music. In this case, it was mostly pieces with tape and pieces that were purely acoustic but heavily influenced or inspired by the electronic aesthetic.
Conspiracies - Martin Bresnick
I very much enjoyed this piece for flute and tape (the tape component consisted of four other flute Parts). Bresnick made very good use of extended techniques and the movement of the sound around the space. Martin Bresnick was present, so I got to see him again (he was the resident composer at the Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium this past summer). He's such a nice, warm person - he gave me a hug.
New York Counterpoint - Steve Reich
I love Reich's music, and this piece for clarinet and tape (the tape part is 10 other clarinet parts) was no exception. It's in the same style as most of his best known work - simple motifs changing and shifting against each other. I particularly liked the use of some jazz-like motifs towards the end.
Intersection for Magnetic Tape - Morton Feldman
This is Feldman's only electronic piece and I have to say that I am rather glad of it. "Intersection" was too flat, with no contrast or variety on the sound material. It also lacked the delicate, almost fragile beauty I find in his other works.
Mnemosyne - Brian Ferneyhough
This piece was for bass flute and tape. Bass flute is a rarely seen instrument, which is quite a shame, because it's lovely and haunting. The piece was pretty good, but it kind of wandered off in parts, which made it less than memorable. I would like to hear more of Ferneyhough's music, though.
Pression - Helmut Lachenmann
This piece for solo cello was amazing. Lachenmann used the cello in ways I've never seen before. The cellist tapped and rubbed the strings, bowed directly on the bridge and behind the bridge, and even bowed the strings from underneath. The piece was incredibly well-constructed - all the sounds flowed into each other coherently, completely avoiding the "laundry-list" effect I sometimes find in extended technique pieces.
Coleccion Nocturna - David Felder
I did not enjoy this piece. It was very atonal and bustling and I just couldn't connect with it. Heavy use of the highest register in the clarinet didn't help, either.
I quite enjoyed this concert. I have to admit that I could tell that the group was a community chorus rather than a professional one, but they were still quite good. Music making isn't just for professionals, anyway - it's for everybody.
The first half of the concert consisted of songs from early America. Not surprisingly, given American's Puritan origins, they were of a generally religious bent. One of my two favorites was "Invitation" by Supply Belcher, which featured
pantsie as one of a trio. Damn, can she sing. My other favorite was "Down in the Valley to Pray", a traditional song familiar to most people from the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack. The arrangement Polymnia chose was just gorgeous - it had a richness, depth, and spaciousness which suited bothe the song and the chorus very well.The second half of the concert was title The Beginning of the Romantic Era. It started off with Mozart's "Ave Verum Corpus", which I thought was perhaps not among Mozart's more stellar works. The big piece of the concert was Cherubini's Requiem, which I was very much anticipating, since I had never heard it before and am not very familiar with Cherubini. It was very good - plenty of drama and emotion. The chorus did a terrific job, too.
