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CONTEMPORARY MUSIC REVIEW Elemental Pleasures November 25, 2002
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By Jules Langert
Two strong and expressive pieces highlighted Monday evening's concert by The San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. One was by Pulitzer-Prize-winning Bay Area composer Wayne Peterson. The other, newly commissioned and receiving its first performance, was Chinese composer Zhou Long's The Five Elements, for flute/piccolo, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, and cello, which opened the program. Zhou, born in 1953, suffered relocation during Mao's Cultural Revolution of the sixties and early seventies. Later returning to the Beijing Conservatory, he received a fellowship to study with Chinese/American composer Chou Wen-chung at Columbia University, arriving in the U.S. In 1985. He and his wife, composer Chen Yi, are among distinguished Chinese musicians who have made notably successful
careers in this country over the past two decades.
The Five Elements is a remarkable piece, thoroughly imbued with the sound and feeling of Chinese music, while using a full range of contemporary and experimental Western techniques and a gestural language seemingly drawn from both traditions. The elements themselves, once thought to comprise the entire physical universe, are still used descriptively in traditional Chinese medicine. In this composition each element is individualized in the series of five movements. The first, "Metal," begins with the ringing of gongs. Later, bright, swift tone clusters in the piano resonate against long, slowly-oscillating two-note figures in strings and woodwinds. Occasionally pentatonic motifs fade gradually in and out. Bells, cymbals, and other metallophones dart and flicker intricately within the ensemble. Movements II and IV, "Wood" and "Fire," are in a dynamic yang mood, with rapid pizzicatos, percussion ostinatos, and strong pulsations of energy. "Water," movement III, the principal yin element, is appropriately smooth and flowing, with brief ornamental melodic phrases passing back and forth among the instruments in a chain of lyrical fragments. The final movement, "Earth," is notable for its stillness and poise, perhaps seen as the source or repository of energies for the other elements.
This half-hour composition has a large, graceful sweep and an intuitive organic shape which sometimes seems almost improvisatory; yet it contains an impressive precision of detail and textural control, with Zhou's use of percussion being especially rich and complex. Conductor David Milnes admirably kept everything in focus, and the ensemble gave a marvelously evocative performance.
Ending the first half of the concert, Wayne Peterson's lyrical, exploratory Colloquy for flute/alto flute and harp (1999) was absorbing for its thoughtful artistry and dramatic pairing of instruments. The flute writing was freely inventive, though consistently melodic, beginning and ending the single, expansive movement with a gently unfolding, questing idea. In contrast, the harp part was full of expressive surprises, like sudden, explosive chords and complex glissandi. Sometimes the harpist slapped the strings with her open palm, created special effects with the tuning key, or produced unusual sounds with the pedal. Almost always these devices were well integrated into the musical fabric, rarely calling attention to themselves as tricks or novelties. The piece evolved naturally, periodically gaining momentum and subsiding, with the instruments in a dialogue emphasizing their independence from each other. Toward the middle of the movement a faster, more agitated section took over with a repeated-note pattern and was shared by both players, intensifying its significance. When it dissipated, the opening mood gradually returned and the piece faded away, ending with a few percussive key clicks for the flute and a final harp harmonic. Flutist Tod Brody gave a sensitive, nuanced performance, and harpist Karen Gottlieb projected her difficult, volatile part with great skill and élan. After the intermission came Light Possessing Darkness (1990) for alto saxophone and piano, by John Howell Morrison. The piece began well with strong motivic tension between the two instruments. But the piano soon took on a supportive role, providing little more than a series of harmonic tremolos for some longish, ruminative saxophone solos. The instruments never seemed particularly well matched, and the piano writing was rather underdeveloped. These problems were heightened by an ensemble imbalance, the saxophone sounding too loud, and the piano played too delicately to fulfill its harmonically supportive role.
The final work was Eric Moe's three-movement Repeat Offender (2000) for flute, alto saxophone, clarinet, violin, cello, percussion, and piano. This also started well, with a rapid, dramatic figure permeating the ensemble. This motive underwent fascinating changes through repetition, gradually being twisted into other shapes. After a while, though, the repetitive patterns lost their effect, with tensions slackening and less interesting material taken on. Greater linear complexity and/or some rhythmic contrast would have helped at this point. The remaining two movements pursued a similar path, and the musical impulse was not revitalized by changes in tempo and texture. The piece — and the concert — ended anticlimactically, though the audience applause was solid and enthusiastic.
(Jules Langert is a composer and teacher who resides in the East Bay.)
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Zhou Long