DOCSLIB.ORG

Mind out of Matter by Scott Johnson

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Mind out of Matter by Scott Johnson Montclair State University Montclair State University Digital Commons 2014-2015 Discover the Heartbeat of Creative Life PEAK Performances Programming History 10-4-2014 Mind Out of Matter by Scott Johnson Office of Arts + Cultural Programming PEAK Performances at Montclair State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/peak-performances-2014-2015 Part of the Theatre and Performance Studies Commons Dr. Susan A. Cole, President Staff Daniel Gurskis, Dean, College of the Arts Jedediah Wheeler, Executive Director, Arts & Cultural Programming Office of Arts & Cultural Programming College of the Arts Executive Director Jedediah Wheeler Dean Daniel Gurskis Executive Producer Jill Dombrowski Associate Dean Ronald L. Sharps World Premiere! Producer Jessica Wasilewski Assistant Dean Linda D. Davidson Production/Facility Manager J. Ryan Graves Director of Administration Marie Sparks World Premiere! Scott Johnson | Alarm Will Sound Cultural Engagement Director Carrie Urbanic College Administrator Zacrah S. Battle Media and Marketing Specialist Amy Estes Executive Assistant to the Dean Alyson Thelin Director of Audience Services Robert Hermida Program Assistant Kilolo Kumanyika Lighting Supervisor Chris Holland Art and Design Aissa Deebi Scott Johnson | Alarm Will Sound Cultural Engagement Assistant Hannah Rolfes John J. Cali School of Music Jon Robert Cart Mind Out of Matter Production Associate Gillian P. Holmes School of Communication and Media Merrill Brown Film Project Coordinator Omonike Akinyemi Theatre and Dance Randy Mugleston Composer Scott Johnson Box Office Manager Pierson Van Raalte Broadcast and Digital Media Facilities Nick Tzanis House Manager Maureen Grimaldi University Art Galleries Teresa Rodriguez Mind Out of Matter Based on the voice and ideas of Daniel C. Dennett Marketing/PR Assistant Noah Befeler Graphics Patrick Flood/pfloodesign.com Press Ellen Jacobs Associates Performed by Alarm Will Sound Program Editor Susan R. Case Artistic Director and Conductor Alan Pierson Production Run Crew Marc Critelli, Harrison Goodbinder, Colin Van Horn, Benjamin Weill Erin Lesser, flute, piccolo Montclair State’s Office of Arts & Cultural Programming (ACP) presents and produces leading artists of the world in oboe dance, music, theater, and opera. Under its signature series Peak Performances, ACP has produced works such as Zinnias: Christa Robinson, The Life of Clementine Hunter by Robert Wilson, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Toshi Reagon, and Jacqueline Woodson; Alex Hamlin, clarinet, saxophone Dog Days by David T. Little and Royce Vavrek; Harry Partch’s Oedipus; and Ridge Theater’s The Difficulty of Crossing a Field by David Lang. In addition, ACP has commissioned works by Bill T. Jones, Kronos Quartet, Jan Fabre, Liz Lerman, Elisabeth Stimpert, clarinets Nolan Patricia by photo Johnson Scott Gina Cuffari, bassoon Wayne McGregor, Laurie Anderson, Romeo Castellucci, Richard Alston, Susan Marshall, Fred Hersch, and David Gordon. Nichols Alonso Dennettby photo C. Daniel Matt Marks, French horn Mike Gurfield, trumpet Major Donors Michael Clayville, trombone John Orfe, piano, keyboard Alexander Kasser Theater Benefactors Founders Arlene Allen Chris Thompson, percussion Mary Mochary Bank of America Matt Smallcomb, percussion I. Michael Kasser John and Cynthia Barnes Ben Russell, violin Alexandra and Seth Bergstein Grace Lyon Concialdi Matthew Mochary Jean Hall Caleb Burhans, violin, electric guitar ________________________ The Hillier Group Nadia Sirota, viola Automatic Data Processing Audrey V. Leef Stefan Freund, cello Doris and Felix Beck The Prudential Insurance Company of America Logan Coale, double bass, electric bass Robert and Barbara Constable Schering-Plough Research Institute Wachovia Bank Gavin Chuck, Managing Director Andrew Constable George and Linda Hiltzik Josh and Judy Weston Jason Varvaro, Production Manager Montclair State University Alumni Association Margaret and Herman Sokol Ramus Michal by photo Sound Will Alarm Jack and Jeanette Sullivan Program Mind Out of Matter The 2014/15 season is made possible in part by funds from: Cow Design Invisible Agents The National Endowment for the Arts Winners The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Good for Itself The New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, October 4 & 5, 2014 a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts Stewards Discover Jersey Arts Surrender Alexander Kasser Theater National Dance Project (NDP) of the New England Foundation for the Arts Awe Alison and James T. Cirenza The creation of Mind Out of Matter was supported by New Music USA and the New York State Council on the Arts Robert and Holly Gregory with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, with additional production support The Honorable Mary Mochary from Peak Performances @ Montclair State (NJ). Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes, no intermission. To view our complete season and for more information, visit peakperfs.org. In consideration of both audience and performers, please turn off all electronic devices. The taking of photographs or videos and the use of recording equipment are not permitted. No food or drink is permitted in the theater. @peakperfs surroundings, has much to say not only about intricacy of the universe, opening up aesthetic and Stance (1987), Consciousness Explained (1991), Mason, and Wolfgang Rihm, among others. The Program Notes those particular cultures but also about what it is intellectual vistas that traditional belief systems Darwin’s Dangerous Idea (1995), Kinds of Minds group itself includes many composer-performers, to be human. cannot provide. (1996), and Brainchildren: A Collection of Essays which allows for an unusual degree of insight into 1984–1996 (MIT Press and Penguin, 1998). Sweet the creation and performance of new work. Using melodies and rhythms derived directly view” lent clarity to the jumble of competing Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of from philosopher Daniel C. Dennett’s recorded genres and colliding traditions that musicians This work hopes to hint at the sense of the sublime Human beings are now a decisive factor in the Consciousness was published in 2005 by MIT Alarm Will Sound is the resident ensemble at voice, Mind Out of Matter traces his view of the must navigate, as well as the powerful loyalties available from the unornamented natural world, planetary ecosystem, and understanding the Press. He co-edited The Mind’s I with Douglas the Mizzou International Composers Festival. Darwinian life of ideas. Just as living creatures and aversions people feel toward musical to contrast modern empirical thought with our machinery of belief that drives our choices is no Hofstadter in 1981. He is the author of over 400 Held each July at the University of Missouri evolve in the physical environment, so do styles—expressions of both their individuality ancestors’ earliest searches for causality and longer a matter of pure intellectual curiosity. It is scholarly articles on various aspects on the in Columbia, the festival features eight world ideas and traditions mutate and compete within and their group affiliation. These observations coherence in a mysterious world, and finally a major evolutionary player—our most carefully mind, published in journals ranging from Artificial premieres by emerging composers. During the ecosystems made up of human minds and led to an extended essay, “The Counterpoint of to insist that our capacity for wonder is not considered philosophies and our least-questioned Intelligence and Behavioral and Brain Sciences to weeklong festival, these composers work closely cultures. They populate our brains, multiply Species,” which I eventually sent to Professor dampened by knowledge or facts. Rather, the beliefs have equally crucial consequences. Poetics Today and the Journal of Aesthetics and with Alarm Will Sound and two established guest within our societies, and spread like viruses— Dennett. By then, I had heard his voice in insights of a scientific worldview enrich our experience by providing keys to the vastness and —Scott Johnson, Composer Art Criticism. His most recent books are Intuition composers to perform and record their new work. sometimes to our benefit, sometimes not. interviews. Lively and engaging speakers share Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking (Norton, common features: wide intervals, emphatic 2013) and, with Linda LaScola, Caught in the Alarm Will Sound may be heard on eight The main source for this work is Breaking the Spell rhythmic accents, expressive tempo variations, Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind (Amazon.com, 2013). recordings. Radio Rewrite, their release on (Religion as a Natural Phenomenon). Here Dennett and resolution to a stable low note to convey Nonesuch, is the world-premiere recording of extended Darwinian principles into the realm of certainty. Dennett’s voice does all that and About the Artists Dennett gave the John Locke Lectures at Oxford Steve Reich’s newest work for large ensemble, belief itself, connecting the biological origins of more—he occasionally unconsciously outlines in 1983, the Gavin David Young Lectures at the based on the music of Radiohead. Canzonas human consciousness and civilization with the a major triad, or uses a startling tritone interval Scott Johnson festivals throughout Europe and North America. University of Adelaide, Australia, in 1985, and the Americanas, their release on Cantaloupe, features Johnson’s recent concert appearances include religious traditions that claim to explain them.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 1 the Roots of Birtwistle's Theatrical Expression
    Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-89534-7 - Harrison Birtwistle’s Operas and Music Theatre David Beard Excerpt More information 1 The roots of Birtwistle’s theatrical expression: from Pantomime to Down by the Greenwood Side With six major operas, around eight music dramas, and a body of incidental music to his name, Harrison Birtwistle has made a significant contribution to contemporary opera and music theatre during a period that spans more than forty years. This study is concerned not only to reflect the importance of these stage works by examining them in some detail but also to convey their varied musical and intellectual worlds. Previous studies have rightly focused on Birtwistle’s perennial concerns, such as myth, ritual, cyclical journeys, varied repetition, verse–refrain structures, instrumental role-play, layers and lines.1 These characteristics highlight consistency throughout Birtwistle’s oeuvre and are a mark of his formalist stance. By contrast, this book is motivated by a belief that the stage works – in which instrumental and physical drama, song and narrative are combined – demand interpre- tation from multiple, inter-disciplinary perspectives. While not denying obvious or important relations between works, what follows is rather more focused on differences: Birtwistle’s choice of contrasting narrative subjects, his collaborations with nine librettists, his varied pre-compositional ideas and working methods, his experience with different directors, producers and others, all distinguish one stage work from another. A recurring theme is therefore a consideration of ways in which Birtwistle’s initial concepts are informed, altered or conveyed differently in each case. Moreover, as ideas evolve, from the composer’s musical sketches to the final production, mul- tiple meanings accrue that are particular to each drama.
    [Show full text]
  • Gardner • Even Orpheus Needs a Synthi Edit No Proof
    James Gardner Even Orpheus Needs a Synthi Since his return to active service a few years ago1, Peter Zinovieff has appeared quite frequently in interviews in the mainstream press and online outlets2 talking not only about his recent sonic art projects but also about the work he did in the 1960s and 70s at his own pioneering computer electronic music studio in Putney. And no such interview would be complete without referring to EMS, the synthesiser company he co-founded in 1969, or namechecking the many rock celebrities who used its products, such as the VCS3 and Synthi AKS synthesisers. Before this Indian summer (he is now 82) there had been a gap of some 30 years in his compositional activity since the demise of his studio. I say ‘compositional’ activity, but in the 60s and 70s he saw himself as more animateur than composer and it is perhaps in that capacity that his unique contribution to British electronic music during those two decades is best understood. In this article I will discuss just some of the work that was done at Zinovieff’s studio during its relatively brief existence and consider two recent contributions to the documentation and contextualization of that work: Tom Hall’s chapter3 on Harrison Birtwistle’s electronic music collaborations with Zinovieff; and the double CD Electronic Calendar: The EMS Tapes,4 which presents a substantial sampling of the studio’s output between 1966 and 1979. Electronic Calendar, a handsome package to be sure, consists of two CDs and a lavishly-illustrated booklet with lengthy texts.
    [Show full text]
  • Form in the Music of John Adams
    Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2018 Form in the Music of John Adams Michael Ridderbusch Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Recommended Citation Ridderbusch, Michael, "Form in the Music of John Adams" (2018). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 6503. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/6503 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you must obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in WVU Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports collection by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Form in the Music of John Adams Michael Ridderbusch DMA Research Paper submitted to the College of Creative Arts at West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in Music Theory and Composition Andrew Kohn, Ph.D., Chair Travis D. Stimeling, Ph.D. Melissa Bingmann, Ph.D. Cynthia Anderson, MM Matthew Heap, Ph.D. School of Music Morgantown, West Virginia 2017 Keywords: John Adams, Minimalism, Phrygian Gates, Century Rolls, Son of Chamber Symphony, Formalism, Disunity, Moment Form, Block Form Copyright ©2017 by Michael Ridderbusch ABSTRACT Form in the Music of John Adams Michael Ridderbusch The American composer John Adams, born in 1947, has composed a large body of work that has attracted the attention of many performers and legions of listeners.
    [Show full text]
  • October 2012
    21ST CENTURY MUSIC OCTOBER 2012 INFORMATION FOR SUBSCRIBERS 21ST-CENTURY MUSIC is published monthly by 21ST-CENTURY MUSIC, P.O. Box 2842, San Anselmo, CA 94960. ISSN 1534-3219. Subscription rates in the U.S. are $96.00 per year; subscribers elsewhere should add $48.00 for postage. Single copies of the current volume and back issues are $12.00. Large back orders must be ordered by volume and be pre-paid. Please allow one month for receipt of first issue. Domestic claims for non-receipt of issues should be made within 90 days of the month of publication, overseas claims within 180 days. Thereafter, the regular back issue rate will be charged for replacement. Overseas delivery is not guaranteed. Send orders to 21ST-CENTURY MUSIC, P.O. Box 2842, San Anselmo, CA 94960. email: [email protected]. Typeset in Times New Roman. Copyright 2012 by 21ST-CENTURY MUSIC. This journal is printed on recycled paper. Copyright notice: Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by 21ST-CENTURY MUSIC. INFORMATION FOR CONTRIBUTORS 21ST-CENTURY MUSIC invites pertinent contributions in analysis, composition, criticism, interdisciplinary studies, musicology, and performance practice; and welcomes reviews of books, concerts, music, recordings, and videos. The journal also seeks items of interest for its calendar, chronicle, comment, communications, opportunities, publications, recordings, and videos sections. Copy should be double-spaced on 8 1/2 x 11 -inch paper, with ample margins. Authors are encouraged to submit via e-mail. Prospective contributors should consult The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003), in addition to back issues of this journal.
    [Show full text]
  • Juilliard Percussion Ensemble Daniel Druckman , Director Daniel Parker and Christopher Staknys , Piano Zlatomir Fung , Cello
    Monday Evening, December 11, 2017, at 7:30 The Juilliard School presents Juilliard Percussion Ensemble Daniel Druckman , Director Daniel Parker and Christopher Staknys , Piano Zlatomir Fung , Cello Bell and Drum: Percussion Music From China GUO WENJING (b. 1956) Parade (2003) SAE HASHIMOTO EVAN SADDLER DAVID YOON ZHOU LONG (b. 1953) Wu Ji (2006) CHRISTOPHER STAKNYS, Piano BENJAMIN CORNOVACA LEO SIMON LEI LIANG (b. 1972) Inkscape (2014) DANIEL PARKER, Piano TYLER CUNNINGHAM JAKE DARNELL OMAR EL-ABIDIN EUIJIN JUNG Intermission The taking of photographs and the use of recording equipment are not permitted in this auditorium. Information regarding gifts to the school may be obtained from the Juilliard School Development Office, 60 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-6588; (212) 799-5000, ext. 278 (juilliard.edu/giving). Alice Tully Hall Please make certain that all electronic devices are turned off during the performance. CHOU WEN-CHUNG (b. 1923) Echoes From the Gorge (1989) Prelude: Exploring the modes Raindrops on Bamboo Leaves Echoes From the Gorge, Resonant and Free Autumn Pond Clear Moon Shadows in the Ravine Old Tree by the Cold Spring Sonorous Stones Droplets Down the Rocks Drifting Clouds Rolling Pearls Peaks and Cascades Falling Rocks and Flying Spray JOSEPH BRICKER TAYLOR HAMPTON HARRISON HONOR JOHN MARTIN THENELL TAN DUN (b. 1957) Elegy: Snow in June (1991) ZLATOMIR FUNG, Cello OMAR EL-ABIDIN BENJAMIN CORNOVACA TOBY GRACE LEO SIMON Performance time: Approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes, including one intermission Notes on the Program Scored for six Beijing opera gongs laid flat on a table, Parade is an exhilarating work by Jay Goodwin that amazes both with its sheer difficulty to perform and with the incredible array of dif - “In studying non-Western music, one ferent sounds that can be coaxed from must consider the character and tradition what would seem to be a monochromatic of its culture as well as all the inherent selection of instruments.
    [Show full text]
  • Wiebe, Confronting Opera
    King’s Research Portal DOI: 10.1080/02690403.2017.1286132 Document Version Peer reviewed version Link to publication record in King's Research Portal Citation for published version (APA): Wiebe, H. (2020). Confronting Opera in the 1960s: Birtwistle’s Punch and Judy. Journal of the Royal Musical Association , 142(1), 173-204. https://doi.org/10.1080/02690403.2017.1286132 Citing this paper Please note that where the full-text provided on King's Research Portal is the Author Accepted Manuscript or Post-Print version this may differ from the final Published version. If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version for pagination, volume/issue, and date of publication details. And where the final published version is provided on the Research Portal, if citing you are again advised to check the publisher's website for any subsequent corrections. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the Research Portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognize and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. •Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the Research Portal for the purpose of private study or research. •You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain •You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the Research Portal Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.
    [Show full text]
  • Time of Music Schedule 2017
    Tuesday 4.7.2017 Meet the composer: Steven Kazuo Takasugi, players from Talea Ensemble and Sideshow Tuesday 4.7. at 18.00 School centre Meeting with the composer and performers of the opening concert, interviewed by artistic director Johan Tallgren. Sideshow Tuesday 5.7. at 19.00 Viitasaari Areena Tickets 27 / 15 € Opening concert of the festival Aphorisms on how to survive in the world Talea Ensemble: Barry J. Crawford, flute Rane Moore, clarinet Michael Ibrahim, saxophone Stephen Gosling, piano Alex Lipowski, percussion Emilie-Anne Gendron, violin Elizabeth Weisser Helgeson, viola Kevin McFarland, cello Timo Kurkikangas, Anders Pohjola, electronics Steven Kazuo Takasugi: Sideshow (2009-15) 60′ for amplified octet and electronic playback in five movements Written for Alex Lipowski and the Talea Ensemble Wednesday 5.7.2017 Finnish Gates & Ciphers Wednesday 5.7. at 15.00 Tervamäki Chapel Tickets 15 / 8 € Jukka Tiensuu: Plus II 8´ Ville Raasakka: Short cuts 4´ Kaija Saariaho: New Gates 13´ Max Savikangas: Kranker Matthäus 8 ´ Outi Tarkiainen: Sanasi, kiveen uponneet 7 ´ Lotta Wennäkoski: Ciphers 13´ Uusinta Ensemble Malla Vivolin, flute Lauri Sallinen, clarinet Lily-Marlene Puusepp, harp Max Savikangas, viola Markus Hohti, cello There is a bus transportation to the concert leaving at 14 from Viitasaari bus station and returning after the concert. The price of the return ticket is 10 €. String Quartet: The Politics of Gesture Wednesday 5.7. at 18.00 Viitasaari Chapel Tickets 22 / 12 € Quatuor Bozzini: Clemens Merkel, violin Alissa Cheung, violin Stéphanie Bozzini, viola Isabelle Bozzini, cello Mauricio Kagel: Streichquartett II (1967) 10´ Mark Applebaum: Darmstadt Kindergarten (2015) 7´ Mauricio Kagel: Streichquartett I (1967) 10´ — Anthony Vine: Between Blue (2016) 15´ James Dillon: Third String Quartet (1998) 18´ Meet the composer: James Dillon Wednesday 5.7.
    [Show full text]
  • Mark-Anthony Turnage Signs with Boosey & Hawkes
    Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Limited 295 Regent Street London W1B 2JH Telephone 020-7580 2060 Fax 020-7637 3490 11 Dec 2002: for immediate release Website www.boosey.com Mark-Anthony Turnage signs with Boosey & Hawkes Mark-Anthony Turnage We are pleased to announce that Mark-Anthony Turnage, one of the most admired and new publishing contract widely-performed composers of his generation, has signed a long-term exclusive with Boosey & Hawkes publishing agreement with Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers. The new contract, which runs from 1 January 2003, covers all future Turnage compositions from Crying Out Loud, a new work for Ensemble Modern to be premiered in Taipei in April 2003. Turnage’s existing output, including new works being premiered in January, remains published by Schott, and both publishers will be collaborating closely in the overall promotion of Turnage’s music. future works under Turnage’s future projects reflect his international stature, including commissions for the the new contract New York Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Berlin Radio Choir and Berlin Philharmonic, the Hallé and clarinetist Michael Collins, Nash Ensemble, Ensemble Modern and flautist Dietmar Wiesner, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s contemporary music ensemble. Turnage festival at the The BBC Symphony Orchestra appointed Mark-Anthony Turnage as its first Associate Barbican Centre in London Composer in 2000, and this fruitful partnership is celebrated in a weekend festival of 17-19 January 2003 Turnage’s music at the Barbican Centre on 17-19 January 2003. Chandos has recently released a disc of works by Turnage, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Slatkin, featuring Fractured Lines, Another Set To, Silent Cities and Four Horned Fandango (Chandos 10018).
    [Show full text]
  • Battles Around New Music in New York in the Seventies
    Presenting the New: Battles around New Music in New York in the Seventies A Dissertation SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Joshua David Jurkovskis Plocher IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY David Grayson, Adviser December 2012 © Joshua David Jurkovskis Plocher 2012 i Acknowledgements One of the best things about reaching the end of this process is the opportunity to publicly thank the people who have helped to make it happen. More than any other individual, thanks must go to my wife, who has had to put up with more of my rambling than anybody, and has graciously given me half of every weekend for the last several years to keep working. Thank you, too, to my adviser, David Grayson, whose steady support in a shifting institutional environment has been invaluable. To the rest of my committee: Sumanth Gopinath, Kelley Harness, and Richard Leppert, for their advice and willingness to jump back in on this project after every life-inflicted gap. Thanks also to my mother and to my kids, for different reasons. Thanks to the staff at the New York Public Library (the one on 5th Ave. with the lions) for helping me track down the SoHo Weekly News microfilm when it had apparently vanished, and to the professional staff at the New York Public Library for Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, and to the Fales Special Collections staff at Bobst Library at New York University. Special thanks to the much smaller archival operation at the Kitchen, where I was assisted at various times by John Migliore and Samara Davis.
    [Show full text]
  • Harrison Birtwistle Selected Reviews
    Harrison Birtwistle Selected Reviews The Last Supper BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (January 2017) "The Last Supper was designed as a millennial work. Convened by Ghost (Susan Bickley), Jesus and his disciples survey some of the miseries visited upon the world since their last meeting in Jerusalem. References to looking through “the three zeros of the year 2000” sounded awkward at the time, as did the hurried apologies to “Jews, blacks, Aborigines, women, gypsies [and] homosexuals”, but Birtwistle’s music has worn well. Its heft and humour spring from the page in sharp flecks of pizzicato strings, sinister tattoos from the side drum, coppery, cimbalom-like chords and thick knots of sound from double basses, low woodwind and accordion. The choral writing (sung by the BBC Singers) is superb." - Anna Picard, The Times **** "When The Last Supper was new, in a pre-9/11 world, some of its concerns felt outmoded. How wrong we were. Now it has proved its enduring pertinence." - Fiona Maddocks, The Observer "Birtwistle’s music feels tremendously lyrical, even opulent 17 years after the opera’s premiere. It’s quite often blunt and uncompromising, but the Latin choral motets that accompany Christ’s three visions summon remarkable poise and focus in his choral writing, and his lengthy foot-washing scene, in which Christ humbles himself before each of his disciples in turn, has an astonishing sense of pathos even amid its wailing orchestration that’s only increased by its inexorable repetitions." - David Kettle, The Arts Desk ***** "Birtwistle’s ritualistic writing is marvellous, layer upon layer of skewed time and perspective underpinned by a grim, grand pace unfolding from the bottom of orchestra.
    [Show full text]
  • Programme Standing Wave’S 2012-2013 Season
    NORTHERNSTANDING WAVE SOCIETY PRESENTS standingVISIONS wave ensemble Tuesday November 6 at The Cultch welcome Welcome to Northern Visions, the first concert of Programme Standing Wave’s 2012-2013 Season. The North, as Glenn Gould called it, “that incredible tapestry of tundra and Two Sides taiga country,” holds a special fascination for many Fabian Svensson [2007] artists, composers, and musicians. Most of the music on flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion tonight’s program has in one way or another, passed through a northern filter. Daniel Janke’s Weather Kalais Coming, is a kind of musical diagram of the complex, Thorkell Sigurbjörnsson [1976] shifting patterns of migratory birds seen overhead in his Yukon home. Thorkell Sigurbjörnsson’s Kalais describes flute, windhose a Wind God from Icelandic mythology. Norwegian composer Rolf Wallin’s The Age of Wire and String, The Light Within based on chapters of Ben Marcus’ audacious book of John L. Adams [2007] the same name, is cryptic yet funny; alienating, yet flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion, tape beautiful. Fabian Svensson’s Two Sides is essentially an argument (actually a near-rumble!), in which the INTERMISSION utterly opposed “sides” circle around one another, speaking the same harmonic language, yet stubbornly The Age of Wire and String and aggressively refusing to agree. Alaskan composer Rolf Wallin [2005] John Luther Adams’ The Light Within, which is based on flute, clarinet, violin, viola, piano the large-scale installation art of James Turrell, serves as a metaphor for the “northern” experience which each 1. Snoring, Accidental Speech piece on tonight’s concert touches on: at first, the music 2.
    [Show full text]
  • Juilliard AXIOM Program 02-02
    AXIOM ii Behind every Juilliard artist is all of Juilliard —including you. With hundreds of dance, drama, and music performances, Juilliard is a wonderful place. When you join one of our membership programs, you become a part of this singular and celebrated community. by Claudio Papapietro Photo of cellist Khari Joyner Become a member for as little as $250 Join with a gift starting at $1,250 and and receive exclusive benefits, including enjoy VIP privileges, including • Advance access to tickets through • All Association benefits Member Presales • Concierge ticket service by telephone • 50% discount on ticket purchases and email • Invitations to special • Invitations to behind-the-scenes events members-only gatherings • Access to master classes, performance previews, and rehearsal observations (212) 799-5000, ext. 303 [email protected] juilliard.edu iii The Juilliard School presents AXIOM Jeffrey Milarsky, Conductor Friday, February 2, 2018, 7:30 Peter Jay Sharp Theater HANS Schnee, Ten Canons for Nine Instruments (2006–08) ABRAHAMSEN Canon 1a (b. 1952) Ruhig aber beweglich Canon 1b Fast immer zart und still Canon 2 Lustig spielend, aber nicht zu lustig, immer ein bisschen melancholisch Intermezzo 1 Canon 2b Lustig spielend, aber nicht zu lustig, immer ein bisschen melancholisch Canon 3a Ser langsam, schleppend und mit Trübsinn (im Tempo des “Tai Chi”) Canon 3b Ser langsam, schleppend und mit Trübsinn (im Tempo des “Tai Chi”) Intermezzo 2 (Program continues) Support for this performance is provided, in part, by the Muriel Gluck Production Fund. Please make certain that all electronic devices are turned off during the performance. The taking of photographs and the use of recording equipment are not permitted in this auditorium.
    [Show full text]