Berio

Tim Johnson's latest post in his Music Since 1960 series is on Luciano Berio's Sinfonia. Mr. Johnson gets at much of what is important and moving about this great work.

I've always thought that the Sinfonia, the Carter Concerto for Orchestra, and Xenakis' Kraanerg together make an excellent musical portrait of the turmoil of the late 1960s.

Modern

William R. Everdell, in his fine book The First Moderns, identifies five central aspects of Modernism. The first four are 1), the idea that truth lies in the statistical regularities of any given phenomena (probability vs. determinism), 2), "multiple perspective", that is, that every idea or fact implies the perspective from which it was observed, 3), that objectivity is no more reliable than radical subjectivity in the observation, description, or expression of reality, and 4), that any system contains enough self-reference or recursiveness to undermine the system itself.

The fifth aspect, one that subsumes all the others, is ontological discontinuity. This discontinuity can be seen as the central mode of thought and expression in the Modernist era (Mr. Everdell doubts that the Modernist era has ended, in fact). It exists in the space between atoms and in the distance between whole numbers. Binary digitality itself ("0" and "1") is an expression of discontinuity because there is an infinite number of numbers between zero and one, and space between each of them.

The art of the 20th century, including the music, is no exception. All of the pieces on the 101 list embody one or another of these aspects of 20th centruy thought, as well as the traits of the postmodern listed by Jonathan Kramer. This overlap of Modern and postmodern thought leads Mr. Everdell to conclude that the postmodern is reall a continuation of the Modern, with different emphases.

As we explore the compositions on the list, and I attempt to explain why they are there, we'll come back to these aspects of the Modern and see (hear) how they inform 20th century art, thought, and life.

Calendar

This is the last calendar. I've found that no matter how many performances I pick up, I miss at least that many. These pieces really are essential! At any rate, below is a list of a small percentage of the performances of 101 pieces occuring between 22 October and 4 November.

October 22-November 4

10/23/2004
Puccini: Madama Butterfly. Mobile (AL) Opera. Mobile Civic Center Theater.

Ravel: Bolero, and Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue. Manchester Concert Orchestra, Paul McGrath. Bridgewater Hall.

Ravel: Bolero and Piano Concerto in G. Huntsville Symphony, Carlos Miguel Prieto. VBC Concert Hall.

Prokofief: Violin Concerto 2. Battle Creek Symphony/Chee-Yun, vln/Anne Harrigan. Kellogg Auditorium.

10/24/2004
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring. London Symphony Orchestra/Pierre Boulez. Alte Oper, Frankfurt.

Webern: Sechs Bagatellen. Hagen Quartett. Konzerthaus, Mozartsaal, Vienna.

10/28/2004
Copland: Appalachian Spring. Phoenix Symphony, Michael Christie. Orpheum Theater. Also 10/30.

Copland: Billy the Kid. Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra/Peter Bay. Eastman Theatre, Rochester.

10/29/2004
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Mikhail Pletnev, piano/Bochumer Symphoniker/Dmitri Kitajenko. Alfried Krupp Saal, Essen.

10/30/2004
Menotti: Medium. Atlanta Capitol City Opera. Earthlink Live Music Complex.

Orff: Carmina Burana. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Greenwood. Royal Albert Hall.

10/31/2004
Strauss: Four Last Songs. Mardi Byers, soprano/Orchester Theater Lübeck/Marc Tardue. Theater, Lübeck, Germany. Also 11/1.

11/4/2004
Adams: Violin Concerto. Ernst Kovacic, violin/Riga Chamber Players/Normunds Sne. Latvian National Opera House, Riga, Latvia.

Copland: Appalachian Spring, Suite. Detroit Symphony/Jeffrey Kahane. Max M. Fisher Music Center, Detroit.

Economies

Alex Ross gets down to it in his review of the new, Julie Taymor directed Metropolitan Opera production of Mozart's Magic Flute. Great art is always relevant in this blog, but Mr. Ross' close brings up an issue central to my purpose here:

When I got home, I wanted to write, Gene Shalit style, “This Flute’s a hoot! Run, don’t walk!” But there was no point in telling anyone to go anywhere; only a few three-hundred-dollar tickets remained, and these were quickly sold. (There will be five more performances in April; tickets go on sale November 21st.) Whenever the Met stumbles onto something truly wonderful, such as this “Magic Flute,” or “Salome” last season, those in the know snatch up all the tickets before those in the dark can get a taste of what opera can achieve. Such is the enigma of classical music; the better it is, the more inaccessible, until, in its most rarefied form, it hardly exists. Perhaps Mozart took joy in the triumph of “The Magic Flute” because it showed him a way out of that gleaming prison: he could see a real public at last. Then he wrote his Requiem and died.

Concert music cannot thrive on such economies of scarcity as Mr. Ross laments. We (people involved in the creation, production, and dissemination of concert music) must find a way to make our work available in abundance if we are to take a central place in our society.

101 Calendar; October 15-28

Here it is. Playing around with format.

10/15/2004
Sibelius: Violin Concerto. Anchorage Symphony, Randall Craig Fleischer. Alaska Center for the Performing Arts.

Britten: War Requiem Wiener Philharmoniker Dom St. Blasii, Braunschweig, Germany

Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms. Jiri Kylian, choreographer / Lyon Opera Ballet. Joan W. & Irving B. Harris Theater, Chicago.

Copland: Appalachian Spring, Suite; Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue. San Diego Chamber Orchestra. Also 10/18 and 10/19.

10/16/2004
Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms. Jiri Kylian, choreographer / Lyon Opera Ballet. Joan W. & Irving B. Harris Theater, Chicago.

Korngold: Violin Concerto. Ann Arbor Symphony, Pip Clarke, vln., Arie Lipsky. Michigan Theater.

Rachmaninoff: Concerto 2. Bakersfield.

10/18/2004
Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra. Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks / Mariss Jansons. Philharmonie, Berlin.

10/21/2004
Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra. Strauss: Four Last Songs. Barbara Hendricks, soprano UBS Verbier Festival Orchester / Neeme Järvi. Alte Oper, Frankfurt.

Copland: Appalachian Spring, Suite. Magdeburgische Philharmonie / GMD Gerd Schaller. Opernhaus, Magdeburg, Germany

Puccini: Madama Butterfly. Mobile (AL) Opera. Mobile Civic Center Theater. Oct 21 and 23, 2004.

Janácek: The Makropulos Case. New Production. Conductor: Jonas Alber. Solist: Anna-Katharina Behnke - Emilia Marty; Norbert Schmittberg - Albert Gregor; Kenneth Bannon - Vitek, Sollizitator; Jennifer Crohns - Christa; Jan Zinkler - Jaroslav Prus; Siegfried Pokern - Janek; Henryk Böhm - Advokat Kolenaty. Staatstheater Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany.

10/23/2004
Ravel: Bolero, and Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue. Manchester Concert Orchestra, Paul McGrath. Bridgewater Hall.

Ravel: Bolero and Piano Concerto in G. Huntsville Symphony, Carlos Miguel Prieto. VBC Concert Hall.

Prokofief: Violin Concerto 2. Battle Creek Symphony. Chee-Yun, vln, Anne Harrigan, Kellogg Auditorium.

10/24/2004
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring. London Symphony Orchestra/Pierre Boulez. Alte Oper, Frankfurt.

10/28/2004
Copland: Appalachian Spring. Phoenix Symphony, Michael Christie. Orpheum Theater. And 10/30.

Copland; Billy the Kid, Suite. Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra/Peter Bay. Eastman Theatre, Rochester.

Writing

A number of bloggers and other writers (I mentioned Kyle Gann yesterday) have been writing about writing about music in various venues and for various purposes:

Greg Sandow has been blogging about press releases. Today he links to a fine article by David Stabler on that very subject. I found Mr. Stabler's response to a press release saying that a certain 18th century composer needed "no introduction" to be particularly cogent.

Alan Riding's piece on the critic's audience ends thusly:

So are critics necessary?Many are genuine experts in their field, whether it be art, music or literature, and they offer erudition as well as opinions. But some, notably in the performing arts, clearly savor their power, a power that comes from burying, not from praising. To be feared is to be important, which makes it all the more tempting to be negative. And there lies the problem: most people who buy a ticket for a play or a movie or an opera or a ballet want, above all, to enjoy themselves.

Penderecki

Here's my first review of the season, a performance at Florida State of Krzysztof Penderecki's 1998 Credo, with the composer conducting. I wasn't quite brazen enough to mention this blog in my review, but I did mention his 101 piece, the Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima.

Fanboy note: I took a copy of the only Penderecki score I own with me, in case the opportunity for an autograph arose. When I presented it to him, he smiled as if seeing a wayward child, and said "Ahh, Strophes".

Kyle Gann continues to blog righteously on program notes and composer biographical statements. The biographical note on Penderecki was quite long (about four pages of the program). Fortunately, the awards were all listed in place so one could skip over those and read the important stuff about his life and work. The program note for the Credo (not written by the composer) was short--four brief paragraphs--and gave some helpful suggestions for hearing the piece for the first time.

101 Calendar; October 8-21.

Not comprehensive, but I'm working on it.

October 8-21:

10/8/2004
Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra. Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks / Mariss Jansons Herkulessaal der Residenz, München, Germany

10/9/2004
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Antonio Pompa-Baldi, piano/Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra/Christopher Seaman. Eastman Theatre, Rochester.

10/13/2004
Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra. Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Pinchas Steinberg Alte Oper, Frankfurt.

Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring. Ballet Title: Sacre. Angelin Preljocaj, choreographer / Staatsballett Berlin, Staatskapelle / Daniel Barenboim Staatsoper, Berlin, Germany

Janácek: The Makropulos Case. Solist: Ensemble der Helikon-Oper Moskau. Helikon-Oper, Moscow.

Berg: Violin Concerto. Berliner Philharmonisches Orchester/Simon Rattle. Philharmonie Berlin, Berlin.

10/14/2004
Sibelius: Violin Concerto. Liverpool Philharmonic, Paavo Berglund. Philharmonic Hall.

Britten: War Requiem. Wiener Philharmoniker Dom St. Blasii, Braunschweig, Germany.

10/15/2004
Sibelius: Violin Concerto. Anchorage Symphony, Randall Craig Fleischer. Alaska Center for the Performing Arts.

Britten: War Requiem. Wiener Philharmoniker Dom St. Blasii, Braunschweig, Germany

Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms. Jiri Kylian, choreographer / Lyon Opera Ballet. Joan W. & Irving B. Harris Theater, Chicago.

Copland: Appalachian Spring, Suite; Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue. San Diego Chamber Orchestra. Also 10/18 and 10/19.

10/16/2004
Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms. Jiri Kylian, choreographer / Lyon Opera Ballet. Joan W. & Irving B. Harris Theater, Chicago.

Korngold: Violin Concerto. Ann Arbor Symphony, Pip Clarke, vln., Arie Lipsky. Michigan Theater.

10/18/2004
Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra. Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks / Mariss Jansons. Philharmonie, Berlin.

10/21/2004
Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra. Strauss: Four Last Songs. Barbara Hendricks, soprano UBS Verbier Festival Orchester / Neeme Järvi. Alte Oper, Frankfurt.

Copland: Appalachian Spring, Suite. Magdeburgische Philharmonie / GMD Gerd Schaller. Opernhaus, Magdeburg, Germany

Janácek: The Makropulos Case. New Production. Conductor: Jonas Alber. Solist: Anna-Katharina Behnke - Emilia Marty; Norbert Schmittberg - Albert Gregor; Kenneth Bannon - Vitek, Sollizitator; Jennifer Crohns - Christa; Jan Zinkler - Jaroslav Prus; Siegfried Pokern - Janek; Henryk Böhm - Advokat Kolenaty. Staatstheater Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany.

Puccini: Madama Butterfly. Mobile (AL) Opera. Mobile Civic Center Theater. Also 10/23.

Stats

In the comments, composer Marcus Maroney notes that the list is "orchestra-heavy". Here are some stats on the list:

Tone Poems, Ballets, etc: 20

Symphonies: 12

Concertos: 13

Other orchestral works with soloists: 6

Chorus and orchestra: 5

Operas: 18

Choral works: 1

Solo Piano: 6

Electronic/Electronic w/ instruments: 3

Violin Sonatas: 1

String Quatets: 8

Mixed chamber pieces: 3

Percussion Ensemble: 1

Other: 4

Odds and Ends

Stuff from all over on 101 composers:

There's going to be a conference on Nadia Boulanger in Boulder. She taught a good number of the American composers on the list.

Pierre Boulez (Repons) talks.

The invaluable Robert Gable links to a not-so-valuable "bio" of John Cage (Sonatas and Interludes, 4'33"). This is really just an excuse to highlight this great blog.

More on Carter in Atlanta

Pierre Ruhe reviews the Atlanta Symphony performance of Carter's "Allegro scorevole" that I posted about last week. Mr. Ruhe also reviews a performance of Paul Moravec's Tempest Fantasy, which won for its composer the 2004 Pulitzer Prize. The critic finds both pieces to be "minor works" that are visible in part because of the lack of alternatives. I would not disagree with him about the "Allegro scorevole" out of the context, but as the finale of the Symphonia: Sum Fluxae Pretium Spei, it is, well, essential.

Mr. Ruhe refers to what he heard as Moravec's "blandness" and called his music "generic", and a reaction to Carter's "dissonant, ferociously complex" idiom. He likened both ways of composing as isolated and self-sufficient, analogous to musical "edge cities", those blights of suburbia dominated by strip malls and a lack of a center. He indicates that he would like to see a new musica that addresses the mainstream--"one had to wonder why it seems so hard to address the middle, to speak with a voice that is at once elevated and common".

I think that is an important issue, though it's very hard to know what such music would sound like, given the fragmentation of contemporary musical life.

After I posted an early version my 101 list, composer and writer Stirling Newberry suggested the metaphor of music as a city. I've intended to expand on that, and Mr. Ruhe's review adds some texture to the idea. I'll be working on that this week.

Carter in Atlanta

It had been longer than I care to remember since I had heard a top tier orchestra when I went to a performance of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in their home hall last weekend. The draw for me was a performance of Elliott Carter's "Allegro scorevole", the final movement of his Symphonia: Sum Flexae Spetium Spei. The Symphonia, the newest piece on the 101 list, is a monumental triptych that sums up, in the words of David Schiff, the "joys of modernism" for an age that had either never experienced them or had inadequately appreciated them.

The "Allegro scorevole" is, as the title indicates "fast and flowing". It is an excellent example of the composer's simultaneous use of contrasting musical characters to make his arguement. Here, a yearning lyrical idea is presented alongside the scurrying music implied by the title. ASO Music Director Robert Spano introduced the piece with a short talk, illustrated by very well-chosen excerpts played by the orchestra. Mr. Spano discussed the piece in terms of "wind", which is one of Mr. Carter's favorite metaphors regarding his music. He drew a chuckle from the Atlanta audience when he noted that they should be familiar with wind after the city's recent weather.

The performance itself was very good. All sections of the orchestra acquitted themselves well in the difficult, shimmering score--Mr. Spano had said that the piece had become very important to the players. After a powerful climax in the orchestra's lowest register, there is a final, upward flowing "gust" that ends with a soft piccolo solo in sustained notes in the intrument's upper register. Carter's music often invokes me of the rhythms of the sea, and as the last piccolo note faded, I was reminded of the closing lines from Wallace Stevens' "The Idea of Order at Key West":

Oh! Blessed rage for order, pale Ramon,
The maker's rage to order words of the sea,
Words of the fragrant portals, dimly-starred,
And of ourselves and of our origins,
In ghostlier demarcations, keener sounds.