Thursday, November 11, 2010

GOING TO EXTREMES (5/21-22/2011)

The pianist Margaret Leng Tan firmly established herself in the annals of music history by becoming the world's first toy piano virtuoso.  Her devotion to this instrument has inspired numerous compositions and fostered a general interest in miniature instruments as viable vehicles for musical expression.  Pianist Phyllis Chen has also pursued this path but includes other toy instruments in her performance arsenal.  Because she is also interested in the idea of turning found objects into musical instruments, she can use all of these instruments in very creative ways.  In her performance at the Chelsea Art Museum, Ms. Chen noted that, for her, the sound of the toy piano is very similar to a miniature gamelan.  And so for her first performance she coupled a toy piano with metal mixing bowls of different sizes. 

All of this took place at the Look and Listen Festival, an event that takes place annually in some of New York's most prestigious galleries of recent artworks. Attendees can enjoy contemplating the art works while also listening to the eclectic mix of works, mostly experimental or avant-garde, that are performed.



 
Entrance to the Chelsea Art Museum on West 22nd Street in Manhattan



This year's four-day festival featured works by such established names as John Cage, Elliot Carter, Philip Glass, Murray Schafer, and Milton Babbitt but also works by a number of "becoming established names" such as Michael Gordon, Julia Wolfe, John Musto, and Missy Mazzoli.   The Saturday evening festival alternated works performed by Ms. Chen with works performed by the Claudia Quintet and the Driving Force Trio.







The first two pieces performed by Ms. Chen, her own works Colure and Double Helix, made effective use of both a toy piano and mixing bowls (mainly used for gong-like sounds).  The meditative quality of the first piece, coupled with the energy of the second were haunting and inspiring.  Because she was sitting on the floor as she played, most audience members did not get to see her perform. 

After an intermission, she performed the piece Miracle Ear by David Lang.  Composed in honor of his father and reflecting his father's increased dependence on hearing aids, Mr. Lang attempted to create the sound world experienced by a hearing impaired person listening to music with the aid of hearing aids, the result being that many of the peripheral sounds come to the foreground while the "intended" sounds often get lost.  

A final work by the Puerto Rican/American composer Angelica Negron, The Little Thing, called for Ms Chen to play a number of different toy instruments as well as incorporate computer-processed sounds into the work. This highly layered work produced a nostalgic and mystical effect that was quite evocative.

Performances by the Claudia Quintet, a jazz ensemble, were marred at first by technical problems with sound equipment and also by problems with balance and some ensemble issues.  I think that they might have received the scores rather late and had insufficient time to get their act together.  The performance of the work Driving Force  by Lithuanian composer Ziboukei Martinaltyte was quite engaging.  The unusual ensemble of trombone, saxophone and accordion led listeners through a number of distinct stylistic phases.  Ms. Martinaltyte comments in her program notes that her previous association of the accordion with popular French chanson and with the Argentinean tango influenced the writing but that she was also introduced to the possibility of extended techniques on the accordion by a Lithuanian accordionist.


Although for me, the concert would have been more satisfying had the Claudia Quintet been more convincing, Phyllis Chen's performances and the works she performed made the concert a relative success.


It was also interesting for me to poke my head into some of the galleries on the block of West 23nd Street that houses the Chelsea Art Museum.

From an experience with miniature instruments to one with a massive instrument, Ellen Fullman's Long String Instrument, is a tremendous but exciting leap.[ Ellen Fullman Artist's StatementShe performed the 70-foot instrument she developed over a period of thirteen years at the soon-to-be new home of Issue Project Room.  From its present location in the old American Can Factory, Issue Project Room is moving to a very different type of performance space in downtown Brooklyn.










All of the works were very meditative and the collaboration with different instruments (trombone,'cello, "box bow" and percussion) provided listeners with distinct sonic experiences.  The Long String Instrument sometimes served as a drone accompaniment and sometimes came to the foreground as Ms. Fullman traversed the entire length of the instrument, manipulating the strings in diverse ways.  In addition to the diatonically tuned strings, strings underneath would vibrate sympathetically to provide a constant pedal drone.  Her hands and fingers were coated in rosin to engage the strings.  Even the movement of her feet was fascinating to observe.  As Ms. Fullman came to music from the world of sculpting her musical performances create sound sculptures





Duet performance on the "box bow" with the Long Stringed Instrument providing accompaniment.




The final performance of the evening was with percussionist Sean Meehan who performed with a snare drum modified with an inverted cymbal and rod placed through the center hole of the cymbal and touching the membrane of the snare drum.  The sound complemented the accordion-like resonance of the Long String Instrument in a way that seemed to grow out of the string instrument.  Once again, the effect tended to be meditative and hypnotic, but never dull or monotonous.




One is tempted to ask if the creators of these instruments had some sort of "aural vision" as they developed the instruments or if they  followed a purely experimental path.  As all of them are heavily immersed in the world of experimental music and sound exploration I am sure that they have been inspired and motivated by other sounds and instruments they have heard along the way.  It is these types of concerts that make the New York music experience so unique and rich.

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