On April 19, having rushed to Roulette leaving behind the last minutes of an international Sound and Affect conference in order to experience Anthony Braxton’s Trillium J (The Non-Unconfessionables), at first I could not stop thinking: how does this performance affect me and why? And – “whose are these emotions?” – as Deniz Peters questioned earlier that day.
I fail to describe my feelings having never experienced anything like this before. Perhaps one could compare Trillium J to Richard Foreman’s plays in the way it captures the absurd, the unexpectedness and ambiguity of contemporary world. Weave these into the voices of 12 vocalists and the sounds of 12 instrumental soloists with full orchestra, excellent acting, pseudo-philosophical digressions, visual projections, young skipping-rope Jazzy Jumpers and two of New York’s best contemporary dance improvisers Rachel Bernsen and Melanie Maar, and you get the mix.
At any specific moment I could not recognize what exactly (music, words, acting, etc.) made me smile in a very strange way – the smile that sometimes comes from experiencing the misfortunes of Daniil Harms’s characters. This is perhaps the genius of a gesamtkunstwerk artist (Braxton wrote both the music and the libretto) – to blend all the media so naturally that a spectator cannot recognize the source of their feelings.
How does the absurd feel?
As an interlude before the Second Scene of Act IV, Jazzy Jumpers entered with their skipping-ropes and the choir started improvising “random” sounds to their movements. I sensed tears in my eyes, obviously neither out of sadness or joy. What catalyzed the sublime was (perhaps?) the excitement that something so contemporary and so musically apt was composed –the genre of opera has a future; at least it definitely has a present.
But the climax was still to come. The interlude could either feel like just another meaningful nonsense – the ridiculousness that was so fittingly at the wrong place, – or depict a stratum of society to be juxtaposed with the final scene – the trial of Sally Wanton. Despite the obvious references to social injustices of American society, Ms Walton reminded me of Russian President Vladimir Putin in her ability to pour complete nonsense and reject obvious evidence of crime with complete confidence (as well as accept it and immediately render crucial statements trifle). This is where, perhaps, “the concept of affinity,” the opera’s major theme, lies. Everyone walked out with a radiant face – those who thought of multiple possibilities of political connotations, or those who just took “the poetic transiency” and “undefinition that seeks its own level” as a flow of beautiful nonsense.
George Crumb once said that he was “frightened of a possibility to write an opera, nothing comes close to Wozzeck.” Whether you agreed with that or not in the past, you would definitely have to consider replacing Wozzeck with The Non-Unconfessionables. Should 21st century opera, and music for that matter, only be political? It is not always this or that, it is often the other.
Highlights of the month: JACK Quartet residency at the Stone, Anthony Braxton’s Tri-Centric Series at Roulette and David Lung’s collected stories at Carnegie Hall
FRIDAY, April 4
8 PM JACK Quartet and Joshua Roman
VENUE: The Stone
DETAILS: music by Jefferson Friedman, Carlo Gesualdo, and John Luther Adams
Chris Otto (violin) Ari Streisfeld (violin) John Pickford Richards (viola) Kevin McFarland (cello) Joshua Roman (cello)
ADMISSION: $15
FRIDAY, April 4
10 PM JACK Quartet performing music by John Zorn
VENUE: The Stone
DETAILS: Chris Otto (violin) Ari Streisfeld (violin) John Pickford Richards (viola) Kevin McFarland (cello)
ADMISSION: $15
SATURDAY, April 5
9:30 PM Dollshot: New Art Songs
VENUE: Spectrum
DETAILS: Dollshot performs new art songs inspired by Lyonel Feininger, Clarice Lispector, and Franz Schubert. We’ve enjoyed performances at (le) Poisson Rouge, The Stone, Galapagos Art Space, and WNYC’s The Greene Space. The band features Rosalie Kaplan (voice); Noah Kaplan (saxophones); Wes Matthews (keyboard); Peter Bitenc (bass); and Mike Pride (drums).
ADMISSION: $10-15
SATURDAY, April 5
10 PM JACK Quartet, Jay Campbell, David Fulmer, and Stephen Gosling performing music by John Zorn
VENUE: The Stone
DETAILS: Chris Otto (violin) Ari Streisfeld (violin) John Pickford Richards (viola) Kevin McFarland (cello) Jay Campbell (cello) David Fulmer (violin) Stephen Gosling (piano)
ADMISSION: $15
SUNDAY, APRIL 6
6:00PM Bocian Showcase: Paal Nilssen-Love & Robert Piotrowicz / James Rushford & Joe Talia / Kapital https://vimeo.com/69867966
WEDNESDAY, April 9
8 PM Kenny Wollesen
VENUE: The Stone
DETAILS: As part of a month long celebration of William Burroughs in the East Village, The Stone presents a special two week program of music, film and poetry inspired by and/or dedicated to the work of this radical American genius.
ADMISSION: $15
THURSDAY, April 10
10 PM Anthony Coleman
VENUE: The Stone
DETAILS: Anthony Coleman (piano)
ADMISSION: $15
FRIDAY, April 11
8 PM INTERZONE—Raha Raissnia and John Zorn
VENUE: The Stone
DETAILS: Raha Raissnia (film, projections). Raha performs live visuals to John Zorn’s Burroughs tribute INTERZONE
ADMISSION: $15
FRIDAY, April 11
7:30 PM Jane Sheldon performs Feldman’s “Three Voices”
VENUE: Spectrum
DETAILS: http://janesheldonsoprano.com/
ADMISSION: $10-15
FRIDAY, April 11
7:30 PM Quartet for the End of Time
VENUE: Lincoln Center, Alice Tully Hall, Starr Theater, Adrienne Arsht Stage
DETAILS:
Jalbert Visual Abstract for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Piano, and Percussion (2002)
Carter Esprit rude/esprit doux II for Flute, Clarinet, and Marimba (1995)
Widmann Fantasie for Clarinet (1993)
Rautavaara Variations for Five, Quintet No. 2 for Two Violins, Viola, and Two Cellos (2013) (CMS Co-Commission, New York Premiere)
Messiaen Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time) for Clarinet, Violin, Cello, and Piano (1940-41) http://lc.lincolncenter.org/shows/208004?show_date=2014-04-11
ADMISSION: $30-$62
SATURDAY, April 12 8:00 PM The Tri-Centric Presenting Series: Anthony Braxton’s Falling River Music Nonet plus the Fay Victor Ensemble
SATURDAY, April 12
8:00PM Tim Berne & Michael Formanek play Greenwich House Music School
VENUE: Greenwich House Music School
DETAILS: Saxophonist Tim Berne & bassist Michael Formanek – Two Avant-Jazz Titans – Revive Their Head-to-Head Relationship with a Duo Concert. https://www.facebook.com/events/600277956714785/
ADMISSION: $15
WEDNESDAY, April 16
9:30 PM The Good, The Holy, and The Ugly
VENUE: Spectrum
DETAILS: Jocelyn Ho, piano, Chris Pidcock, cello
Music by Kaija Saariaho, Anna Clyne, Olga Neuwirth, Arvo Part, Mauricio Kagel, Giacinto Scelsi, and Kapustin. Jocelyn will also be presenting her composition “Torus”
ADMISSION: $10-15
FRIDAY, April 18
8:00 PM Storylines: The Music of Alfred Schnittke and Avner Finberg
VENUE: The Firehouse Space
DETAILS: http://thefirehousespace.org/event/eunbi-kim/
ADMISSION: $10
SATURDAY, April 19
8 PM John Zorn and Bill Laswell Duo
VENUE: The Stone
DETAILS: John Zorn (sax) Bill Laswell (bass)
ADMISSION: $20
SATURDAY, April 19
10 PM Bill Laswell and Wadada Leo Smith
VENUE: The Stone
DETAILS: Bill Laswell (bass) Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet)
ADMISSION: $20
SUNDAY, April 20
1 PM Neue Vocalsolisten: American Premieres
VENUE: The Kitchen
DETAILS:
Georges Aperghis: Vittriool (2001)
Silvia Rosani: T-O (2013)
Brahim Kerkour: intone (2013)
Zaid Jabri: Two Songs from Mihyar from Damascus (2013)
Francesco Filidei: Dormo molto amore (2013)
Gabriel Dharmoo: Notre Meute (2013)
Lars Petter Hagen: The Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart Notebook (2011)
Jennifer Walshe: Paddy Reilly Runs with the Devil (2007) http://www.thekitchen.org/event/mata-16th-annual-festival-of-new-music
ADMISSION: $20
WEDNESDAY, April 23
6 PM collected stories: spirit
VENUE: Carnegie Hall, Zankel Hal
DETAILS: Tuvan Throat Singing, ARVO PÄRT Passio
The otherworldly throat singing group Huun-Huur-Tu creates overtones, hymns, and chants that defy conceived limitations of the human voice, while offering audiences a glimpse into the remote region. Their astonishing exploration of spiritualism is juxtaposed with Arvo Pärt’s meditative and mystic Passio, a contemporary setting of the gospel according to St. John. http://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2014/4/23/0600/PM/-collected-stories-spirit/
ADMISSION: $10 – $40
MONDAY, April 28
8 and 10 PM Jon Madof’s Zion80 plays John Zorn’s Book of Angels
VENUE: The Stone
DETAILS: Jon Madof (guitar, conductor) Matt Darriau (alto sax) Greg Wall (tenor sax) Frank London (trumpet) Jessica Lurie (bari sax, flute) Zach Mayer (bari sax) Yoshie Fruchter (guitar) Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz (bass) Brian Marsella (keyboard) Marlon Sobol (percussion) Yuval Lion (drums)
ADMISSION: $15
TUESDAY, April 29
10 PM Sylvie Courvoisier, Ha-Yang Kim and Annie Gosfield
VENUE: The Stone
DETAILS: Sylvie Courvoisier (piano) Ha-Yang Kim (cello) Annie Gosfield (sampling keyboard). A reprise of this improvising trio, with Gosfield performing “ghost electronics,” a phantom electric bridge drawn from her extensive collection of altered cello and piano sounds.
ADMISSION: $15
TUESDAY, April 29
6 PM collected stories: memoir
VENUE: Carnegie Hall, Zankel Hal
DETAILS:
John Cage – Indeterminacy, 27’10.554″ for a Percussionist, Fontana Mix
David Lang – mystery sonatas (World Premiere, commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
ADMISSION: $10 – $40
WEDNESDAY, April 30
8 PM Kathleen Supové, MIVOS Quartet, Olivia De Prato
VENUE: The Stone
DETAILS: Kathleen Supové (piano) MIVOS Quartet: Olivia De Prato and Joshua Modney (violins) Victor Lowrie (viola) Mariel Roberts (cello). Kathleen Supové performs “Shattered Apparitions of the Western Wind.” Imagined as a hallucinatory duet with Claude Debussy, it couples Supové’s wild playing with distorted fragments of the prelude “What the West Wind Saw”, on site recordings of Hurricane Sandy, and lush Debussy harmonies. MIVOS quartet plays “The Blue Horse Walks on the Horizon,” inspired by codes used by resistance groups in WWII, and Olivia dePrato performs a piece for violin and satellites.
ADMISSION: $15
MONDAY, March 3
8:45PM – 9:45PM William Parker & Ingrid Laubrock
VENUE: Evolving Series, 107 Suffolk Street
DETAILS: Ingrid Laubrock – sax, William Parker – bass http://artsforart.org/event/evolvingseries/schedule
ADMISSION: $8-11
WEDNESDAY, March 19
8 PM John Zorn’s Masada Book Three: The Book Beriah
VENUE: The Town Hall
DETAILS: World Premiere, with John Zorn, Marc Ribot, Uri Caine, Secret Chiefs 3, Steve Lehman, Vijay Iyer, Tyshawn Sorey, John Medeski, Jon Madof and Zion 80, Klezmatics members Frank London and Matt Darriau, Abraxas, Cyro Baptista and Banquet of the Spirits, Many Arms, Sofia Rei, Eyvind Kang, Ikue Mori, Mark Feldman, Erik Friedlander, Jamie Saft, Cleric, Uri Gurvich and many more. http://thetownhall.org/event/524-john-zorns-masada-book-three-the-book-beriah
ADMISSION: $45-65
FRIDAY, March 21, SATURDAY, March 22
8 PM Okkyung Lee
VENUE: The Kitchen
March 21 – 22, 8pm
Tickets $15
DETAILS:Inspired by Samuel Beckett’s “First Love” and Korean surrealist writer Yi Sang’s “The Wings,” composer and cellist Okkyung Lee presents a new suite of fragile yet visceral and dark compositions for strings and percussion. http://www.thekitchen.org/event/okkyung-lee
ADMISSION: $15
FRIDAY, March 21
8 PM, 10PM Banquet of the Spirits
VENUE: The Stone
DETAILS: Cyro Baptista (percussion, voice) Brian Marsella (piano, keys) Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz (bass, oud) Tim Keiper (drums, hunters harp)
ADMISSION: $15
MONDAY, March 24
8:45PM – 9:45PM Tom Rainey & Ingrid Laubrock
VENUE: Evolving Series, 107 Suffolk Street
DETAILS: Ingrid Laubrock – sax, Tom Rainey – drums http://artsforart.org/event/evolvingseries/schedule
ADMISSION: $8-11
WEDNESDAY, March 26
8 PM Ostrava Days in New York
VENUE: Roulette
DETAILS: A part of Christian Wolff’s 80th birthday and the Ostrava Days Institute and Festival.
Compositions by Christian Wolff and Petr Kotik, Martin Smolka, Petr Cígler, Idin Samimi Mofakham, Gyorgy Ligeti. http://www.semensemble.org/concerts/ostrava-days-in-new-york/
ADMISSION: $20/$15
WEDNESDAY, March 26
10 PM Ches Smith and Jim Black
VENUE: The Stone
DETAILS:Ches Smith, Jim Black (percussion)
ADMISSION:$15
THURSDAY, March 27
7:00 and 9:00 pm | Christian Wolff: Concert & Party Christian Wolff at 80
VENUE: Czech Center
DETAILS:
This evening will feature Christian Wolff, S.E.M. Ensemble, Philip Glass and Ostravska banda, conducted by Petr Kotik http://new-york.czechcentres.cz/program/event-details/christian-wolff-2/
ADMISSION:Free
FRIDAY, March 28
8PM Kronos Quartet and Friends
VENUE: Carnegie Hall
DETAILS:
ALEKSANDRA VREBALOV Bubbles
BRYCE DESSNER Aheym (Homeward)
TERRY RILEY The Serquent Risadome (World Premiere, commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
WILEY “Last Kind Words” (arr. Jacob Garchik)
OMAR SOULEYMAN “La Sidounak Sayyada” (“I’ll Prevent the Hunters from Hunting You”) (arr. Jacob Garchik)
TRAD. “Tusen Tankar” (“A Thousand Thoughts”) (arr. Kronos Quartet, trans. Ljova)
BRISEÑO “El Sinaloense” (“The Man from Sinaloa”) (arr. Osvaldo Golijov)
LAURIE ANDERSON Flow (arr. Jacob Garchik)
PHILIP GLASS Orion: China (arr. Michael Riesman) (NY Premiere)
JHEREK BISCHOFF “A Semiperfect Number”
CLINT MANSELL “Lux Aeterna” from Requiem for a Dream (arr. David Lang)
CLINT MANSELL “Death is the Road to Awe” from The Fountain (arr. Kronos Quartet) http://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2014/3/28/0800/PM/Kronos-Quartet-and-Friends/
ADMISSION: $15 – $75
SUNDAY, February 2
10 PM Marc Ribot (guitar)
VENUE: The Stone
DETAILS: John Zorn’s “Book of Heads” and John Cage’s “Some of the Harmony of Maine.”
ADMISSION: $15
WEDNESDAY, February 5
8 PM Keith Jarrett, Solo Piano Improvisations
THURSDAY, February 6
8:00 PM Saariaho + Bach
VENUE: Miller Theatre
DETAILS: Saariaho: Frises (2011), for violin and electronics – U.S. premiere, J.S. Bach: Partita in D minor for solo violin, BWV 1004. Performers: Jennifer Koh, violin, Kaija Saariaho, composer, Jean-Baptiste Barrière (b. 1958), composer/electronics
ADMISSION: $25 – $35
SATURDAY, February 8
8:30 PM Mikko Innanen Quartet
VENUE: IBeam Brooklyn
DETAILS:
Mikko Innanen – Alto & Baritone Saxophone
Sylvie Courvoisier – Piano
Max Johnson – Bass
Lou Grassi – Drums
ADMISSION: $10
TUESDAY, February 11
11PM and 1:00 AM – Rasa Rasa: Kenny Wollesen with a women choir from Lithuania http://vimeo.com/75133469
VENUE: Nublu
DETAILS: Inspired by a traditional style of Lithuanian polyphonic singing (known as sutartinės), this new group brought together various kinds of instrumentation (electric and acoustic), improvisation, poetry and a unique style of conducting. Special guest: Jonas Mekas. Event on Facebook.
ADMISSION: $15
TUESDAY, February 11
2:30 PM Arts on Screen – John Cage – Journeys in Sound
VENUE: The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Bruno Walter Auditorium
DETAILS: John Cage – Journeys in Sound, directed by Paul Smaczny, Allan Miller, 2012, 60 min.
Rare archival footage and concert excerpts with a series of short accounts by Cage associates.
ADMISSION: Free
WEDNESDAY, February 12
8 PM and 10 PM Sonic Massage w/Kenny Wollesen
VENUE: The Stone
DETAILS: Dalius Noujo, Jennifer Harris, Sean Francis Conway, Kenny Wollesen, Lorne Watson, Tim Kieper, William Shore, Jennifer Harris, Dixie Estes, Cassandra Burrows, Sandra Koponen (wollesonics) Andrew McIntyre (projections)
Please bring your yoga mat.
ADMISISON: $15
FRIDAY, February 14
8 pm Heatsick / Ned Rothenberg
VENUE: ISSUE Project Room
DETAILS: A special valentine’s day concert features Berlin-based electronic musician Steven Warwick, AKA Heatsick, and composer/performer Ned Rothenberg. Combining a palette of sources from early Chicago house mixtapes through to musique concrète and psychedelia, Heatsick proposes a live dance music that expands and unlocks the senses. Ned Rothenberg performs solo improvisations, engaging a range of wind instruments as melodic, rhythmic and harmonic engines. More details.
ADMISSION: $12-15
SATURDAY, February 15
8 PM and 10 PM Rasa Rasa: Kenny Wollesen with women choir from Lithuania
VENUE: The Stone
WEDNESDAY, February 19
7:30 PM the Jack Quartet plays works by Helmut Lachenmann
VENUE: The Morgan Library
DETAILS: The complete string quartets of Helmut Lachenmann, to coincide with a new recording.
Gran Torso (1972/1988)
String Quartet No. 2 “Reigen seliger Geister” (1989)
String Quartet No. 3 “Grido” (2001) More details.
ADMISSION: $35
THURSDAY, February 20
8:00 PM [INTERPRETATIONS] Bruce Gremo // Joan La Barbara
VENUE: Roulette
DETAILS: Bruce Gremo performing on his electronic instrument the Cilia, an alternate wind controller based on the shakuhachi; with Hu Jianbing (sheng & bawu). Renowned composer/vocalist Joan La Barbara weaves her own unique sonic world, layering her signature vocal techniques with natural and electronic sounds, creating other-worldly dreamscapes. More details.
ADMISSION: $10-15
FRIDAY, February 21
8pm Alvin Lucier
VENUE: The Wild Project (195 East 3rd Street)
DETAILS: Alvin Lucier presents the World Premiere of a new solo vocal work, Palimpsest, to be performed by Joan La Barbara in the mold of his landmark I Am Sitting In A Room with text by Lydia Davis. More details.
ADMISSION: $8-12
TUESDAY, February 25
10:00 PM Lydia Lunch – Retrovirus
VENUE: Le Poisson Rouge
DETAILS: Lydia Lunch w/ Weasel Walter , Bob Bert , Tim Dahl
Survey of Lydia Lunch ‘schizophrenic musical legacy’ from 1977 to the present. Including music from Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, 8 Eyed Spy, Queen of Siam, 1313 and Shotgun Wedding.
ADMISSION: $15
Today’s program of FOCUS festival Alfred Schnittke’s World features a piece by Sofia Gubaidulina (b. 1931), In Croce (1979). Gubaidulina’s music is symbolic and imaginative, employing unusual instrumental combinations and extended techniques. The symbolism behind the sounds often carries spiritual connotation; in 1998 the composer stated that all her works were religious, which in her understanding is not related to the church. This is one of the reasons why some of her music was unwelcome in the USSR and some works were not performed until its fall.
Gubaidulina is one of the most spiritually inspired composers of our time. The belief in the religious purpose of art has deep roots back to her childhood and was strengthened during her youth when she encountered the writings of a philosopher Nicholas Berdyaev and met a brilliant pianist Maria Yudina, who maintained her strong religious commitment despite political repressions. Gubaidulina’s first engagement with music-making in 1937 coincided with a spiritual experience of significant impact: at the age of six, when she began to play the piano, she came across an Orthodox Christian icon. As Michael Kurtz quotes her in his monograph: “Music naturally blended with religion, and sound, straight away, became sacred for me.”
The connection between Christian commitment and artistic creativity was further strengthened during Gubaidulina’s philosophical quest when she learned about Berdyaev’s idea of linking the inner and spiritual realm to the perception of time: “Creativity… is the flight into the infinite… [an activity] which transcends the finite towards the infinite. The creative act signifies an ek-stasis, a breaking-through to eternity.” The sacredness of art is a completely natural phenomenon for Gubaidulina, and her aesthetic statement is not that of a style, but of art’s relationship with religion through the re-linking of everyday life with vertical inner nature of human perception:
What is religion at all? For me this concept is literal, re-ligio – a ligature that connects horizontal line of our life and vertical line of our divine presence. Anyone who creates, for example a poem, enters this vertical realm. Such a person is capable of perceiving, at least a little bit, what exists in this dimension. (Interview with Aleksey Munipov, 2012)
Gubaidulina believes that daily routine may lead a person to lose the connection with the inner world, and therefore people need creative activity as an inspiration to get outside of everyday life: “Life interrupts this connection: it leads me away, into different troubles, and God leaves me at these times… This is unbearable pain; by creating, through our art, we strive to restore [the link between us and God] (interview to Vera Lukomsky, 1998). In the same vein, art transforms the horizontal time of everyday life into a vertical time of inner, spiritual existence: “A person may not be conscious of it, and creativity can be … of any sort, but the shape of the outcome turns out as a staircase, vertical.” (Interview with Munipov)
In Croce was originally composed for cello and organ, later arranged for cello and bayan, but tonight will be performed in its original version. The piece belongs to the period when Gubaidulina began to consciously construct her compositions on the basis of philosophical or spiritual symbols that shaped the form and the sound of the piece frequently requiring unconventional performance or extended instrumental techniques. In her biography by Michael Kurtz she explains the symbolism behind her choice of instrumentation and the form in In Croce:
In that particular combination I imagined the organ as a mighty spirit that sometimes descends to earth to vent its wrath. The cello, on the other hand, with its sensitively responsive strings, is a completely human spirit. The contrast between these two opposite natures is resolved spontaneously in the symbol of the cross. I accomplished this by criss-crossing the registers (the organ takes the line downward, the cello upward); secondly, by juxtaposing the bright major sonorities of natural harmonics, played glissando, and expressive chromatic inflections.
extended techniques 