|
CONTEMPORARY MUSIC REVIEW
Shake, Rattle and Roll April 26, 2002
|
By Thomas Goss
The contemporary-music reviewer must be more than just knowledgeable about music in order to provide commentary nowadays. Touches of scientist,
architect, choreographer, cultural historian are necessary, and it doesn't
hurt to have a degree in engineering, either. Composer Paul
Dresher's latest collaboration with director Rinde Eckert proved the point.
Generically titled "Sound Stage," it combined elements of drama, motion, art installation, spatial inhabitation, and instrument-building in an
unforgettable lecture-demonstration on basic acoustic principles.
This was more of a show about than of music, and it was a
bit of a stretch. But a fun one. The 75-minute work was rife with
episodes of inspired
jamming which evolved seamlessly from the structure of the theatrics. The
four members of Zeitgeist sawed on stray strings, massaged 70-foot wires
with rosined gloves, tapped the floor (and each other) with long, resonant
tubes, all alternating their action and focus of attention between two
points. One was the rather bookish, sweetly geeky figure of Dresher
outlining principles of sound phenomena on a chalkboard. The other was the
awesome presence of the instrument, a 17-foot high behemoth with swinging pendula. This piece of instrument design challenged P.D.Q. Bach's Hardart (of his "Horn and Hardart") for the number of sounds it could produce. Strung like a zither across one face, festooned with percussive objects on the other, it proved an irresistible target for plunks, thwacks and bonks, all of which could be activated by the slow, stately swings of the rotating bars.
As the piece evolved, Dresher came down off of his podium to join Zeitgeist
in the process of musical interaction. Each acoustic principle would be
humorously explored, then realized as a moment of tonal ecstasy. The
mechanics of sound moving down a tube would somehow end up as a long solo for Patrick O'Keefe on bass clarinet, eventually joined by other tubular
instruments like a marimba. The vibration of a taut string was analyzed,
then demonstrated by the fluid and evocative fiddling of Yuri Merzhevsky.
The studies in periodicity and musical motion were spooky and energetic,
with percussionist Heather Barringer doing a pas-de-trois with two
flashlights. And the antics would always merge into heartfelt sessions with
all five musicians exploring the conceptual themes through Dresher's
compositions.
But the success of the demonstration hinged on its overall identity as a piece of music. The form was impeccable. There were preludes, codas, culminations, suspense, release. Developments of concept and musical theme caught my ear and held it with a tight if indulgent grip. The style seems to be simultaneously more casual and intense than Dresher's previous works, as if the composer is finding a way to combine the many directions to which his muse has been tempted into one esthetic with its own logical center of gravity. And yet it was also first-class fun, and educational to boot. At the close, the audience were invited to come down and have a try on all of the installed musical objects. It is then that the revelation of the power of this music to hypnotize and enchant became clear. Many of the audience were children, who had remained silent and attentive throughout the entire hour and a quarter. They lost no time in giving the instrument a try, and soon the application of musical fascination by adults and children filled the Yerba Buena Forum with a delightful cacophony. And I was quick to join in the fray. (Thomas Goss is resident composer for Moving Arts Dance Collective, and is a member of New Release Alliance Composers, the Cabaret Composers Consortium, and sits on the steering committee of the Bay Area Chapter of the American Composers Forum.) ©2002 Thomas Goss, all rights reserved |