March 3, 2024
Kopleff Recital Hall
Atlanta, GA – USA
“Underscore 23/24”
Sarah Kruser Ambrose, flute; Tim Fitzgerald, clarinet; Jan Berry Baker, saxophone; Adelaide Federici, violin; Jean Gay, cello; Erika Tazawa, piano; Stuart Gerber & Shelby Brooks, percussion .
Dayton HARE: An object of some concern
Amir KHALAF: Rib
Emilie LeBEL: …and the higher leaves of the trees seemed to shimmer in the last of the sunlight’s lingering touch of them…
Anna-Louise WALTON: Flex
Chris ARRELL: Breathless
Charles PECK: Kindling
Jon Ciliberto | 11 MAR 2024
I have written before of my appreciation for Bent Frequency’s energetic role in bringing new music to Atlanta ears. That the ensemble plays in such a wide range of settings is also notable toward this purpose: not only in concert halls, but in alternative music spaces, on the street, “art museums, galleries, bike trails and even on the Atlanta Streetcar.” The group, however, follows from a long tradition of composition and performance in the academic setting — of professional, teaching musicians, playing new music for audiences.
The ensemble’s energy for performing new works also brings something invaluable to composers: hearing their music realized by a thoughtful, talented group that excels, perhaps most of all, in its expressive choices across a wide range of musical styles.
This past Sunday, Bent Frequency performed six new (and newish) compositions, the culmination of its third juried Underscore competition.[1] The competition’s call was very broad and included a commitment to ongoing collaboration.[2]
Bent Frequency and three outside judges (Kevin Day, Marti Epstein, and Amy Williams) considered 538 applications. In thinking about this process, it is important to bear in mind the incredible range of styles, techniques, and musical traditions that contemporary classical music includes. The three judges, in emails, emphasized how open the process was and how they had the freedom to develop their own parameters in assessing the submissions.
Six works is a small sample size, but I noticed a lean toward minimalism (itself a “style” that holds many sub-styles). Egyptian composer Amir Khalaf’s Rib is minimal through spareness of sound and very, very soft dynamics. That type of piece requires the listener to listen closely and presume that the composer intends the room’s ambient sound to become a significant part of the performance. One finds that, upon recalibration, one has emotional and intellectual reactions to very, very little, and this is in itself a revelation. Individual listeners might, of course, not want to work so hard, but I found it worth the effort.
Another kind of minimalism is in repeated patterns, with slow, small changes. Some aspects of this were present in Dayton Hare’s An object of some concern for piano, violin, and cello. A highly textured work, I really enjoyed the perfect integration of parts that the three players brought — they created a single voice. Melodic structures found their way out, like a strange narrative in a dream. It occurred to me while listening that thinking about composition is always also thinking about performance, but when an ensemble has the time and skill to understand a composition that gives the performers the opportunity, the two thought processes become unified.
In an email, Hare also praised the performers’ unified sound, noting that hearing the work performed brought to his attention “how much a lively piano texture in the middle register will cover the other instruments if you’re not careful… I think Erika did a great job managing that very difficult element of what I wrote.”
l-r: Erika Tazawa, Sarah Kruse Ambrose, Jan Berry Baker, and Stuatt Gerber perform Emilie LeBel’s “…and the higher leaves of the trees seemed to shimmer in the last of the sunlight’s lingering touch of them…” (credit: Jon Ciliberto)
Emilie LeBel’s work, …and the higher leaves of the trees seemed to shimmer in the last of the sunlight’s lingering touch of them… (recently nominated for a Juno Award — the Canadian Grammys), also works in minimalist, meditative spaces, with an opening of repeated and spacious piano, single notes on reeds and woodwinds, and brushes on snare. Some tumult follows in the middle section. Throughout, very large drums (kettle and bass) offstage, at the corners of the hall, close-miked, bring a sonorous rumble — seemingly, the sound of the performed music activated the drum heads. Although unable to attend, the composer noted in an email to me her delight in the performers’ interpretive choices: “the subtle variations in tempo, pacing, and even things like vibrato (Jan’s vibrato was so beautiful on the [baritone saxophone]!).”
Composed music began bringing in non-musical elements at least a century ago, and thus, compositionally, this is not a novelty. Anna-Louise Walton’s Flex asks performers to play with toy mallets, knitting needles, and wooden skewers. As someone who, by choice or (more often) necessity, makes do with all sorts of objects as a musician, I appreciate this exercise, and one finds delight both in the discovery of the musicality of the non-musical and in the actual sonic results. Too, such compositions offer chances at the pure fun of music-making, something that, perhaps, being a student of one particular instrument can sometimes obscure.
Again, the trio on Chris Arrell’s Breathless brought superb tone-color and coherence. This piece offered the listener more to chew on, as it were, and occasional flights of virtuosity with modernist touches — I thought that some passages broke off rather than resolve as expected. These choices, however, didn’t come across as “for effect” but rather fit into the work’s intended manner, which is both highly thematic and also intensely internal. In Kindling by Charles Peck, the musicians had a heavier piece to work with, with a (nearly) four-on-the-floor bass drum driving and a charmingly down-home fiddle mixed in. The work grabs the listener without hesitation, thus a change in approach from the minimalist works in the program. Once more, I was reminded of Bent Frequency’s fluency across styles and how well the group plays together. ■
Concert sketch by Jon Ciliberto.
EXTERNAL LINKS:
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- Bent Frequency: bentfrequency.com
- [1] 2023/24 Underscore Winning Composers: bentfrequency.com/winners
- [2] About Underscore 2023/24: bentfrequency.com/underscore2023
Read more by Jon Ciliberto.
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