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CONTENTSIN THIS ISSUE ..., 3 An Interview with George Walker, Duffie, 5 LEGATO NOTES LIVE EVENTS
Scelsi:
“All of the Above” Pehrson, 15 DOTTED NOTES
from… SPEAKING OUT RECORDINGS CDS
IN BRIEF & RECENT RELEASES THE
PUZZLE CORNER: COMPOSER INDEX, 26 BULLETIN BOARD, 27 WEB SUPPLEMENTGala AnnouncementFestivalDresdener Tage des Zeitgenössisches Musik
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No Restin’ at the Westin:The Busy CMA Conference, 2004Christopher
Kaufman©2004 Jan. 16-18,
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ASCAP
presented ‘Adventuresome Programming Awards’.
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chair, Dana Gioia, then spoke.
Mr. Gioia introduced himself as ‘a working class kid from LA,’
who began a life in the arts as a pianist and wanted to be a composer.
He participated in the ‘LA cosmopolitan environment’ and discovered
poetry through his interest in opera. He attended Harvard and studied
literary theory, but later quit to ‘keep his roots’ as a poet
and writer. He attended Stanford’s business school and worked for
a time at General Foods until his career as a writer/poet and music
reviewer became strong enough to support him and his family. Offered
the NEA chair, he refused, but changed his mind when Michael Hammond
died after 8 days in office. He feels he has ‘been taken out of
his career to advocate’ and is unsure how long he will serve. His
work as NEA chair is to ‘Promote Art/Artists and Arts Education.’
These are some of the points he stressed under the general heading,
"What needs to be done:"
1) Change the National Dialogue.
2) Make the NEA more effective.
3) Address ‘unbalance’ in arts/society.
| Dana Gioia: "the artist must recognize the humanity of the critic" |
Gioia’s delivery was often witty and he referred to the role of NEA as described by its enemies, ‘i.e. an inept purveyor of smut and blasphemy’, a ‘colorful role.’ He countered with his desire to "transform NEA into a place that gives artists a place in their own society" by supporting "projects of undisputed merit and wide availability".
4) Provide federal leadership in arts education. "Creating a ‘National Policy in Arts Education" is an extremely complex endeavor and no great progress has been made. Gioia supports No Child Left Behind, which has its merits when properly implemented. Creating a "testing system" for arts education is a part of what he is trying to do. The goals of this approach include "attendance improvement, flexibility and integration with other subjects."
Overall he is confident in the "rebuilding process" and states that the "message" must be "nonpartisan, non-divisive, and expressive of maximal benefit to as many parts of society as possible."
He then took some questions, for example:
Q: "How
did the discussion become so partisan?"
A: ‘It is a partisan time... we must remove the Arts as "flashpoints"...
stress universal benefits... not use the arts as a club (artists always
lose) and not "demonize Republicans."
Q: "Can
the arts go into ‘challenging areas?"
A: "There is a long tradition in theater, Shakespeare for example...
There will always be these arguments.... the artist must recognize the
humanity of the critic... The NEA should be open to criticism and explain
why grants are given..."
Q: "What
about the withdrawal of state and local Support?"
A: "In the last two years $250,000,000 has been taken out because the
consensus between arts and government has broken down".... This consensus
must be rebuilt..."
Other points and quotes:
3:00,
Townhall Meeting: Toward a New Music Network.
Led by Fran Richard, Frank Oteri and others, a rather uninteresting
agenda was presented by William Terry. I later learned that Fran
Richard mostly just wanted people to talk to each other. Individuals
went to the mike and said various things... some of which seemed helpful,
some of which seemed unrelated to the goals at hand, some of which were
‘indecipherable’. Here are various issues, statements and
thoughts from the event.
As to ‘Why have a network"?
Additional points: Reducing ‘marginalization’ due to lack of access to ‘mainstream media’
Notes were taken and the ‘steering committee’ will get back to those who shared their email address.
9:00:
Workshop: Expanding Web-Site Potential.
Kathy Canfield Shepard (Canfield Studios) and John Kamper (metarhythm.com)
Item discussed: E-COMMERCE
2:00:
Workshop: Communicating Across the Proscenium.
Steven Lubin, Michael Barret, Lisa Kaplan, Suzanne Ornstein,
Mary Ann Bonino and Mary Lou Aleskie
How and when to speak to audiences. Discussion concerning the presentation of new music, i.e. how to humanize and make the experience ‘friendly’. Use humor and ‘anecdotes’ from the composers’ lives.
4:00
Workshop: Thru the Walls: a success story.
Martha Mook, Frank Oteri, Steve Walter, Cia Toscaninni, Nora
Kroll
Thru the Walls is an example of ‘cross-fertilization’. The concerts are presented in a ‘club’ and feature largely improvised music. People large in the world of rock music have participated. Thru the Walls is an enterprise for which more information is easily available (ASCAP).
9:00 Workshop: Grant Commissions Programs CMA. Susan Dadian.
Here Ms. Dadian went over in some detail the various programs which CMA offers. For more information please refer to the website (chamber-music.org).
The Following is a review of the concert which ended the CMA conference.
2:00: CMA Closing Concert. Elliot Sharp: Beyond the Curve, Bennie Maupin: Inner Sky, Shafer Mahoney: String Quartet
The program represents these works as ‘new compositions commissioned through Chamber Music America’s programs dedicated to creating new music’. It was presented in St. Luke’s Lutheran Church.
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Elliott Sharp’s Beyond the the Curve is filled with fanfare-like rhythms and bright splashes of sound. Rhythmic streams in the brass create static contrapuntal textures that are organized into waves which peak and subside. In these ‘lulls’ you can hear sounds which enhance the elision from one wave to the next as the composer expresses echo-like effects through the computer. Tin foil is placed over the bells of the trumpets which emphasize the ‘metallic’ color of the music. Jazzy chorals contrast the rhythmic music. There are times when plunger or hand-muted solos play over riotous textures in the other instruments. After several ‘waves’ of ‘rhythmic streams which culminate in static jazzy chorales,' a stretto approach is used to build the final climax. A powerful jazzy beat in the percussion joins to create a feeling of arrival before the chorale-like unison chords return. The work ends with a unirhythmic ‘exclamation-point fanfare’.
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The title Inner Sky must refer to the vast musical imagination of this master musician, Bennie Maupin. Being of the tradition sometimes called ‘Jazz’, sometimes ‘Afrocentric’, Maupin presented a collection of four movements. Each movement was performed on a different instrument. These choices participated in expressing the overall formal shape of Inner Sky. Maupin’s fellow performers were Robert Hurst (bass), Munyungo Jackson (percussion), and Michael Stephans (drums).
1. (bass clarinet)—Maupin began with a solo in free rhythm, the bass joined as if in faint echo, then entered cymbal and percussive background. Together they wove a texture that ended with high harmonics in the bass. Then Maupin initiated a soft ‘groove’ which the others joined. This interplay between freer style-playing and a more rhythmic groove is a defining factor in how the over-all work is organized. In this movement one heard multiphonics, smooth phrases, jazzy bursts, short episodes of groove and always a sense of mastery of form and movement from one phrase to another.
2. (soprano saxophone) This movement, like the others, began with a solo in which the others joined. There was a general growth to a uni.ed melody, a jazzy area which fragmented, built-up to a high energy solo built of powerful expressive phrases and then dissolved into a soft melody performed in unison with the bass accompanied by soft flexitone.
3. (bass flute) In this piece a ‘marimba box’ created a groove-like flow under Maupin’s whisper tones (miked to enhance), brushes on cymbal and a soft tune in the bass. A ululation effect was heard in the bass flute. A mysterious ‘eastern’ sounding melody (phrygian scale) began in the flute. Again there is a growth and falling away as the tail of the melody blended with the ululation effect to end the movement.
4. (bass clarinet). The beginning of this movement is a duet between bass clarinet and talking drum - a back and forth of exact phrases. After this intro, Maupin worked into a definite tune with the most clear feeling of traditional jazz of the entirety of Inner Sky. This is a very effective way to bring the music to conclusion. After a round of improvisations the music wound down to a low tone in the bass clarinet then built up to a final explosion of sound to end.
A brilliant contrast to the preceding works, Shafer Mahoney’s String Quartet, performed with great elegance by the Corigliano Trio, was an exploration of what might be termed ‘traditional classical music texture’. Using the term 'neoromantic’ I am sure, does no disservice to the composer, but offers context. The predominant feeling of this work is one of poignance, the most predominant dramatic effect is that of ‘resolve’—over which aspect Mahoney demonstrates considerable ability.
The first movement is a set of variations. The differences are subtle, the climaxes are gentle. There is a duet in the violins while the cello and viola play pizzicato accompaniment. There are times when short wisps of melody alternate with pizzicato punctuation, while all perform in unison. There is an area where more tuneful areas are contrasted by touches of climax. Near the end of the first movement one hears an impressive interplay of melody passing from instrument to instrument over a pizzicato backdrop. A series of falling melodic passages over a repeating pattern in the cello (played pizz) expresses ‘resolve’.
‘Resolve’ is also the chief dramatic characteristic of the second movement. This movement is a violin solo, the the remainder of the quartet accompanying. It was performed with great sensitivity by Lina Bahn of the Corigliano Quartet. It represents a beautiful and accomplished use of the idiom.
The last movement is fast, rhythmic and light. One hears a good deal of unison playing or near unison playing while a consistent pattern is performed behind a soloistic passage. There are unison buildups to soft climaxes, effective interplay of musical materials, an area where the tune is fragmented and performed over an excited backdrop, and places where the tunes are ‘tailed together’ with considerable grace. After the .nal chords, Mr. Mahoney accepted the considerable applause the audience offered.
In all, one must celebrate the perfect union of composer and ensemble and hope that the quartet is sufficiently happy with this experience to explore further the composers of our time.
