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CONTEMPORARY MUSIC REVIEW
December 2, 2003
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By Jules Langert
Composers Inc.'s Tuesday evening concert offered a fresh perspective
with Mexican composer/flutist Alejandro Escuer's performance of his own
compositions, Jade Nocturno and Templos, both for amplified alto flute. His
impressive technical command and keen musical insight enlivened these
unusual and absorbing works. In them, imaginative linear writing is
enhanced by sharp, breathy accents and subtle pitch distortions evoking the
sounds of the Japanese bamboo flute (shakuhachi) and various wooden
pre-Columbian instruments. Then there are the standard modern effects like
multiphonics and percussive key noises that he worked skillfully into the
score, creating a richly varied overall texture. In his eloquent program
notes, Escuer describes the ethnic and ritualistic character of this music,
which helps to explain its savor and potency and casts light on the
introspective lyricism that pervades these pieces.
Another stirring and effective work was John Halle's Mortgaging the
Earth (1999) for clarinet, bass clarinet, violin, cello, and double bass,
with sopranos Laura Bohn and Karen Hall singing the text of a cruelly
anti-environmental memo by Lawrence Summers, one-time vice-president
of the World Bank (and currently president of Harvard University). In it,
Summers advocates dumping pollutants from developed nations onto the
Third World as a cost-saving measure. The composer has appended a
scathing reply by then Brazilian Environmental Minister Jose Lutzenberger, and in this staged performance the two singers engaged each other as antagonists. Jonathan Khuner conducted the ensemble with energy and conviction, making the most of the dramatic confrontation.
Arthur Kreiger's Close Encounters (1997) for flute and electronic tape benefited from its performance by Escuer, who brought the same kind of vital, flexible playing to this piece as he had done to his own music. But here the flute and electronics were so intricately woven together that there was a self-consciousness in their interaction. That detracted from the expressive effect, despite some beautiful writing for the flute and an elegantly crafted relationship between the elements.
Robert Maggio's Divide for horn and piano (1999) was in two
contrasting movements, played with gusto and sensitivity by pianist Marc
Shapiro and hornist Robert Ward. The first movement, motoric and full of
accents, came off best, while the slow second movement seemed to drift
aimlessly, with the piano reduced to a tinkling accompaniment for the horn's
extended phrases. Paul Barson's On Imminent Rays for cello and piano,
played by Lawrence and Priscilla Granger, took a long, continuous thread of
melody for the cello and surrounded it with a brightly linear piano
accompaniment. The texture never changed or evolved significantly, the
piece remaining at the same expressive level throughout. This
was an example of Composers Inc.'s tendency to program lengthy
“mood music” for various ensembles, seemingly oblivious to any
other state of mind.
(Jules Langert is a composer and teacher who resides in the East Bay.)
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