I decided to celebrate round two of my New York experience by going to a new venue, The Construction Company on 18th St. near Union Square:
The Construction Company presents new and innovative work by dance, music and graphic artists. The organization began in 1970 as the Barbara Gardner Construction Company. In 1972 the name was changed to The Construction Company when it found its first home on LaGuardia Place near the NYU campus. Since that time it has produced the work of innumerable emerging experimental choreographers. In its current space at 10 East 18th Street it has added contemporary music programming as well as gallery presentations of the work of visual artists.
These small venues are such a joy to go to. They tend to focus on "downtown music" and to celebrate experimentation in the arts. There is a small roster of musicians who often perform at The Construction Company. This particular program featured a flutist,violinist, violist, cellist and pianist. Beside the two well-known composers associated with New York downtown music, Morton Feldman and John Cage, were the French composer Tristan Murail, Czech composer Martin Smolka, and the German composer Christoph Staude.
Morton Feldman might be called "the king of quiet," His music tends to be slow and meditative. Performers of his music need to have a very intuitive feel for his aesthetic and convey it vividly to the listener. The work Durations 2 for cello and piano contains many opportunities for subtle interplay of phrasing and color. Often one instrument will complete the thought of the other. A relatively short work, it set the tone for the evening by conditioning listeners to listen more slowly and intently. I was reminded of the Japanese shakuhachi performance I experienced in the fall.
The following work, Epikedeion by Christoph Straude for violin and piano is definitely more intense and expressionistic than the Feldman work. Although the program notes provided useful background, information on the title and also the titles of the five brief movements was lacking. Each movement has a distinct character and there is a definite overall progression in the work. While much of the work conveyed the intense, chromatic writing typical of German expressionism, the concluding movement ended with a surprising chorale-like passage that was far more diatonic and peaceful. A little follow-up investigation solved some mysteries about the piece. Although the program notes indicated that Straude's music can be viewed as a reaction to other arts, as well as literature and philosophy, the notes might have mentioned that with regard to this work, Straude seeks to evoke the sense of ancient Greek funerary verse as reinvented by the Germans, hence both the German title "Sphinxzircle" for the final movement and the use of the chorale style in the final movement.
The program notes indicated that the title of the next work, Feuilles a travers les cloche by Tristan Murail "pays tribute to Debussy (Images, Vol. 2)." Reflecting the French spectralist school, Murail's music lies in the tradition begun by Debussy. An intentionally static work, Murail plays with registers and tone color relationships and often pairs instruments, such as violin and piano and flute and cello. A sense of space is created by the creation of foreground and background sonorities. Although this piece is more austere, sparse and less sensuous than much of Debussy's music, his spirit is most definitely evoked, almost evoking a sense that this work might have belonged to the next phase of Debussy's life had he lived longer.
Following an intermission, the longest and most complex work of the evening was performed. Music for Retuned Instruments by Martin Smolka. The strings of the two violas and cello were loosened, the flute extended and the piano "prepared" (a la John Cage). Instruments are often paired and in this performance the sound effects were often like the distortions created by the funny mirrors in old-fashioned amusement parks (although this is a serious work). The exploration of tone color combinations was also fascinating in the performance. At one point, the extension of the flute came off and the flutist, who performed brilliantly, had to play much of the piece without its endpiece, An unintentionally comical episode occurred when the cellist, who was asked to play a Tibetan bell near the end, lost control of the stick and had to retrieve it in mid-air with his left hand. He did not miss a beat!
The (almost) final work of the program, Five by John Cage, balanced the opening work and also allowed all five performers to participate. Described in the notes as "a musical sculpture with free instrumentation, the musical effect was similar to a slowly moving sonic mobile with the various instruments combining and and separating in random fashion.
The audience was pleasantly surprised when the flutist, violinist, violist and cellist performed a movement from a Mozart quartet to celebrate the 255th anniversary of his birth (January 27). It was a charming and delightful close to a very intriguing program.
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