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Saturday : Symposium :”The Art of the State”:5 Dec 2009 2:00pm
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion: Grand Hall
John Adams, moderator;
panel:
Thomas Newman , composer;
Phil Lesh, founding bass player of the Grateful Dead;
Kevin Starr, State Librarian for California, 1994 – 2004, author of 7 books on the history of California; Professor of History, USC
very disappointing turnout – only 10 % full.
Grand Hall is the second floor lobby of the Chandler Pavilion – the home of LA Opera, directly across the street from WDCH.
John can certainly prompt some lively discussions. Audience and panelists have great fun assembling stories from the 1940s through this decade. Major focus on the Beats in San Francisco in the late 1950s and the Haight-Ashbury flower children in the 1960s.
One very interesting discovery: Phil Lesh is a major fan of contemporary music, particularly music of Elliott Carter. He studied with Berio and he has a foundation which supports contemporary composers and recordings of their work.
Teddy D. Boys
I’m a charter member of the Nothing in Common fan club. NiC was formed
by Mabel Kwan and Andrew Bliss last summer, sort of like how the AI Ensemble
was formed by Isabel Castellvi and Alejandro Acierto. Both women have roots
in the ensemble dal niente.
Sunday afternoon in the Mabie “backroom” Gallery at the Old Town School,
NiC performed their second public concert. The theme of the concert was
based on a John Cage quote “Be open to whatever comes next.”
There was a prelude and five pieces. The prelude set the tone. It was a
recorded conversation between John Cage and Morton Feldman circa 1966
concerning, of all things, transistor radios at the beach and their impact
on the listening public. There was reference about the need to
interrupt the din with serious music, thus the following five pieces are
all referred to as “Intrusions” in the program. Each Intrusion was prefaced
by a recorded snippet of the composer being interviewed or lecturing.
Intrusion 1 – Karlheinz Stockhausen – Tierkreis (1975)
Piano and Marimba playing delicately tit-for-tat.
Intrusion 2 - Christian Wolff - Rosas I-V (1990)
After explaining how two notes and their combination/permutations could
be heard as twelve sounds, NiC demonstrates with piano, marimba, drums
and blocks.
Intrusion 3 – Alvin Lucier – Nothing is Real [Strawberry Fields Forever] (1990)
Mabel plays a moon-view of the Strawberry Fields Forever theme while
capturing it on portable recorder. After that, she plays it back back via
a small speaker in a teapot (!!!) in front of a mic, maneuvering the pot and
lid to produce a weird and eerie soundscape.
Intrusion 4 – James Tenny – Koan: Having Never Written a Note for Percussion (1971)
This is work a for Gong solo. Andy Bliss sat behind a big Ziiljan gong and coaxed
various modes and timbres from it as the loudness progressed from whisper soft
to jet engine loud and back again.
Intrusion 5 – John Cage – Credo in Us (1942)
The finale included a fine set of stuff: Piano, drums, tin cans, door buzzer
and recorded tracks from broadcast radio. Cage put them all together into
what must’ve shocking in 1942. Of course the radio part in 1942 must’ve been
live and with more static. In this piece Mabel hand-muted strings on the piano
and pounded some beats on a tom-tom. John Pobojewski assisted on cans
and the buzzer, while Brendan Mohr cued his iPod for the radio clips.
The 5th Intrusion brought us full circle from the glut of transistor radios
to the inclusion of the radio in the performance itself. Wonderful.
Please tell two friends to look for NiC …
Bruce Oltman
dal niente, Thursday 12/3
The dal neinte concert was interesting not only for the music but for the venue.
I headed for Immanuel Lutheran Church on Elmdale & Greenwood in Edgewater, which
isn’t easily accessible by CTA from the South Loop. As it turns out, this building hosts
two different congregations, St. Elias Christian Church and Immanuel Lutheran.
From the two-tiered signage out front, I wasn’t sure I was in the right place. Once inside
though, I saw familiar faces. The sanctuary was cold, dark and foreboding, and didn’t look
very amenable for setting up an ensemble. But dal niente did it’s best, even to the extent
of keeping their winter coats on when not performing.
When Gareth Davis was setting up for “Ablauf for Clarinet and Percussion” by Magnus Lindberg,
there wasn’t any percussion on stage. I thought there might be a percussion track to be played
on a laptop. But a few moments into the piece, a huge WHACK! from a bass drum came from the
back of the Church. It startled the bejesus out of me. During the applause I looked back to
see a magnificent pipe organ up in the loft behind Jason Haaheim, who wielded the drum blows.
The two congregations should be grateful for that.
To learn more about the music, take a look at:
PianoForte Salon Series, Friday 12/4
There was a very last minute switcheroo in the program for the lunchtime broadcast from the Sherwood
School. Ivana Ristova who was to have played piano pieces by Philip Glass was taken ill. (In these days
of healthcare privacy I won’t say from what. But that didn’t stop Scott Thomas from announcing it
to the whole WFMT audience.) The substitute was Jade Simmons who played Rachmaninoff, Scriabin
and Gershwin. She happened to be in town to play Rachmaninoff with the U of C Symphony
Saturday night. Despite the stereotype associated with being a former Miss Illinois and
Miss USA runner-up, Jade impressed me as a serious, dedicated musician as well as a social
activist to boot. I’d say her recital was a worthy alternative to Glass.
International Alliance for Women in Music, Friday 12/4
Friday night I was back to Sherwood School for very pleasant last-minute change in schedule.
Instead of attending the Fine Arts Building open house, I discovered that the IAWM Midwest chapter
arranged for a concert of music by five women composers, some of whom are associated with,
voilà: CUBE! – Pat Morehead, Elizabeth Start and Janice Misurell-Mitchell were in the good
company of Marjorie Rusche and Dolores White. The performers were a “pick-up” ensemble
also heavily biased towards CUBE players, including the CUBE composers. Without going into
details, my overall satisfaction was 100% with seven-out-of-seven compositions. Too bad it wasn’t
publicized more. It was a very pleasant change of plans.
CSO, Saturday 12/5
After being swept away by Mahler’s 3rd three seasons ago, I was anticipating Mahler’s 4th.
But I wasn’t swept away. Maybe because, as some say, it’s Mahler’s “happiest” symphony.
I could’ve just been in a foul mood. Soprano Nicole Cabell was way to warm and fuzzy
to sing about Life in Heaven. I’ve grown up to expect a somber Ice Queen to sing
this part. But kudos to the instrumentalists, including Robert Chen who broke a string
on the specially tuned violin used in the 2nd movement, fortunately near the end of it.
Now my anticipation must shift to the 5th later this season.
Bruce Oltman
The Airborne Toxic Event (TATE) with The Calder Quartet and friends
4 Dec 2009 -9:00pm
WDCH:Ron Burkle / Ralph’s Food 4 Less Foundation Auditorium
The hall was 95% full – full of the fans of TATE – screaming, yelling, whooping, texting cell-phone photoing fans.
Unlike the Calder / Andrew CK event I attended in Chicago a couple of months ago, they were simply background in this event – not a single solo. I was probably the only person in the audience who came to hear them.
The evening belonged to TATE. It is only a couple of years old, born in Silver Lake (east side community, a few miles from downtown). Local phenomenon, becoming famous in 50-seat clubs around town – this gig in WDCH is a major thrill
The pop rock ensemble of the 00s:
except the drummer, every one plays multiple instruments and vocalizes.
Mikel Jollett, song writer, star singer, acoustic & elec guitars, key board and low frequency earthquake organ chord to open the concert.
The rest of the ensemble: viola; dbass, acoustic & elec guitar / piano, drum set. All amplified. They switched to elec guitars during part of the second half
It was a well-thought out program allowing the friends to come and go in an efficient way. You have to admire the WDCH crew at all these concerts – they know how to do big stage changes in minimum time.
TATE has a good sound for a minute. But Jollett’s vocal range is maybe 6 notes and in this hall intelligibility was 5% and the lyrics had virtually identical cadences. The fans knew the lyrics so they can fill in the blanks. I was lost.
Friends included: ??, an accordion player; Mariachi Alma del Sol; Conjunto Xi; Plaza de la Raza’s Student Folklorico Ensemble; Lalo Guerrero School of Music at Art in the Park Children’s Choir; Belmont High School Marching Band
Talk about community outreach!
Teddy D. Boys
LAPhil / John Adams & Jayce Ogren , Conductors:: 3 Dec 2009 8:00pm
WDCH:Ron Burkle / Ralph’s Food 4 Less Foundation Auditorium
The hall is 75% full.
Leonard Slatkin was scheduled to conduct this program, but he had to cancel due to his heart attack last month. John Adams conducted the Bates & Newman pieces; Jayce Ogren conducted the Goldsmith and Waxman pieces.
Jeremy Goldsmith (1929 – 2004) and Franz Waxman (1906 – 1967) are well known as film composers, but they wrote concert music as well.
Goldsmith’s “Music for Orchestra” (1970) was commissioned for Leonard Slatkin and the Saint Louis Symphony (1970) “…during the downtown in his work on the score for ‘Patton’. It is a big, strong 12-tone composition for large orchestra and was very well received. This could easily be a score for an imaginary film – hot idea this season
Franz Waxman wrote “Tristan und Isolde, Fantasie for Violin and Piano and Orchestra” in 1947. I think Ogren had a good idea — drown out the piano and violin. While listening, it was very easy to imagine those 1930s and 1940s films about famous composers. An even better idea —- give the orchestra a rest and let the piano & violin play the fantasies
Mason Bates played the electronica part in the orchestra for his “Liquid Interface” (2006), but got no program credit for playing.
Nearly half an hour long and composed for a very large orchestra – cross your fingers – maybe he can talk the CSO into playing it. It is one of the strongest pieces I’ve heard that combines electronics with acoustic instruments. A symphony / tone poem in four movements (the second titled ‘Scherzo Liquido’). From my Terrace East seat I could see that Mason was actually tapping rhythms on electronic pads and controlling the pre-recorded parts. The audience was very enthusiastic.
Thomas Newman (1955-): I heard the original version – quartet & electronics – “It Got Dark” on the Festival opening night program – composed for Kronos.
The Festival commissioned this version for Large Orchestra and String Quartet and Electronics for this Festival – this was the World Premiere. Sounds are recorded, not live electronics
My quick thought was it did not need and orchestra.
Mostly gentle & lovely music; one middle movement of mad fiddling remains.
Yes, Thomas is part of the Newman Hollywood music empire – son of Alfred. “The score for ‘Wall-E’ is one of his most recent.
Teddy D. Boys
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Thursday:: UpBeat Up!:: Los Angeles Philharmonic
3 Dec 2009 7:00pm
WDCH:BP Hall
Frank J Oteri; David Harrington & Mason Bates & Thomas Newman , guests
Full House again
Frank J Oteri is the Founding Editor of ‘NewMusicBox’.
The conversation wanders around the topics of: geography and place; where does music get heard today? ; has California changed the music world?; music in the foreground or background.
No conclusions
Teddy D. Boys
Green Umbrella I: 2009 – 2010 season
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LAPhil New Music Group John Adams , Conductor:: 1 December 2009 at 8:00pm
WDCH: Ron Burkle / Ralph’s Food 4 Less Foundation Auditorium
The hall is 80 – 90% full in the available sections (1,200 to 1,500.) Burning question; where will they hang the 7 green umbrellas tonight? NOTE: The DVD – The Dude’s first performance as Music Director is on sale in the shop tonight (Mahler1 & Adams: City Noir)
All the stage lifts are placed to create a totally flat stage floor.
Mason Bates & Ingram Marshall & Gloria Cheng are here
A wonderful program and performance.
1) Ingram Marshall (1942-) “Fog Tropes” (1981) for 2 horn & 2 trmb & 2 trmpt and tape including sounds of SFBay foghorns & ‘gambuh’), John noted that this is Marshall’s most frequently played composition – I had not heard it before. A rich and beautiful piece, which we should hear again.
2) Harry Partch (1901-1974): “US Highball: A Musical Account of Slim’s Transcontinental Hobo Trip” (1943) arr by Ben Johnston in 1998 for Kronos and vocalist: David Barron. All are amplified, but subtly . The quality is very good, but intelligibility comes and goes – I wish for surtitles. The hall is dark , so you can’t read the text provided.
How did we miss hearing this before?
3) Frank Zappa(1940 – 1993): selections from “The Yellow Shark”):
“Dog Breath Variations (1969) ” & “Uncle Meat” (1969) & “G-Spot Tornado” (1986) for chamber orchestra.
“Girl in the Magnesium Dress” (1984) for 3 percuss, celesta, piano, harp mandolin & guitar.
“Questi Cazzi di Piccione” for string quintet.
“Ruth is Sleeping” for piano four-hands
I have heard several of these before and did not think much of them. This presentation, which alternated the funny / silly ones with the rigorous ones was much more interesting. Everyone played with great conviction. The audience was so enthusiastic, “G-Spot Tornado” was repeated as an encore.
During UpBeat Live, John noted his neighbors have little idea that he is a composer or anything else about contemporary music. But they all know and love Frank Zappa.
Answer: The Green Umbrellas hang at staggered heights, in a row, above the chorus benches tonight.
Teddy D. Boys
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Tuesday:: UpBeat Up!:: Los Angeles Philharmonic — Green Umbrella I : 1 Dec 2009 7:00pm
WDCH:BP Hall
John Adams, host; David Harrington, guest
Full House again
A lively and fun conversation, unscripted. They introduce the music on tonight’s program and wander off into other music territories. A couple of interesting items:
In the early 80s, David heard a recording of “…..one of several ‘original’ versions of US Highball….” and loved it and wanted to play his music. He realized that he had never heard any of Partch’s music live – his invented instruments made live performances very very rare.
Another problem: Partch hated string quartets
He persuaded Ben Johnston to make this arrangement in 1998, which includes all those notes between the notes we usually hear produced by professional string players.
Also he told the story of how their arrangement of “Purple Haze” came to be:
Also in the early 80s, they were playing a program which included a quartet + piano version of “‘Le sacre du printemps” ( I’m thinking – how did I miss that?).
They needed an encore – voila!.
Teddy D. Boys
Wednesday, 12/2, at Pick-Staiger Hall, Ryan Nelson pulled together
a short set of three pieces all with vocalists integrated into the
NWU Contemporary Music Ensemble: “Blush” by 29 year old Anna Clyne,
“I Met Heine on the Rue Furstenberg” by (the then) 45 year old Morton Feldman and “Doot” by another 29 year old, Ryan Carter. The vocal parts were for baritone, mezzo, and soprano/mezzo duo respectively.
It interesting me how similar the instrumentation was for these three
independently conceived pieces. All had some combination of strings,
flute/piccolo, clarinet/bass clarinet, horn and piano. The first two
used a setup with pitched percussion and tympani, while “Doot”
used various drums, blocks and a gong. “Blush” also included
laptop and electric guitar.
“Blush” and “I Met Heine…” were slow paced and subtle. There was text
for the baritone in “Blush”, but I’d say it was only incidental to producing
a vocal part that fit the composer’s overall soundscape. In “I Met Heine…” the mezzo was a pure vocal instrument.
“Doot” was definitely faster paced and deserves two special comments: First, Ryan Carter’s notes say (I paraphrase) that this piece was composed by his alter ego Professor Monkeypants who had visited the planet “Doot” and found the inhabitants in need of a song. So he wrote one. Second, the soprano/mezzo duo was very engaging, reminding me at one point of the chorus in “The Planets” and at another the Theremin part of a 50’s space movie.
Again, the NWU CME drew a meager crowd of 40-50, so finding a good seat at Pick-Staiger was easy. At the box office it seemed like more people than that were being re-directed to the jazz concert next door at Regenstein Hall.
Bruce Oltman
Amy X Neuburg and the Cello Chixtet:: 30 Nov 2009 8:00pm
Herbert Zipper Concert Hall, The Colburn School
With only 421 seats and a very small platform, Zipper is a Recital Hall in my classification system. Very limited in its production capabilities. Great sightlines and very good listening. Located diagonally across the street from WDCH
Tonight it is 10% full. You would think a performance featuring a Chixtet would attract a huge crowd. John Adams was there – the first time I have seen him in the audience. The Dude has been invisible too.
Sorry to say, this was not a good night: One composition by Amy X Neuburg:: “The Secret Language of Subways” twelve songs for amplified vocalist (herself) and three cellos (amplified) and live electronics (controlled by Amy X Neuburg).
As soon as the cellos start and she activates the looping, intelligibility goes to 0%. Add that to poor directional realism and I am no longer happy to be there.
Teddy D. Boys
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