On Saturday, March 30, 2024 Brightwork newmusic offered I Will Learn to Love a Human being, a concert of new new music at Boston Court Pasadena. Brightwork musicians Aron Kallay, Stacey Fraser, Brian Walsh and Nick Terry contributed excellent performances of will work by observed composers.. The 6 performs on the concert system dated from 2012 to 2024 and highlighted abnormal mixtures of vocals, piano, woodwinds and percussion.
The very first piece on the concert system was Wagon Wheeling (2012) by Tom Flaherty and published for Aron Kallay. This piece was impressed by those outdated western movies where the camera body charges gave the illusion of wagon wheels functioning backwards. This was scored for piano and percussion and opened with a constant rhythm in the vibraphone reminiscent of a trotting horse. This enhanced in volume just right before a sharp cymbal crash signaled the entrance of a impartial piano line that include a contemporary sense of motion. This made into a nice groove that occasioned a peaceful, mellow experience. As the piece proceeded, a solid beat in the piano engendered a much more purposeful sensation. The precise taking part in of Aron Kallay on piano put together with Nick Terry’s animated percussion, made an attention-grabbing texture. Differences in the rhythms between the two players evoked the notion of a new tempo, a great deal as the variation in velocity of the wagon wheels in those people aged movies.
A forceful series of solo passages on the tom-tom and cymbals added some ability in advance of falling again to a softer, mysterious come to feel from the piano and marimba. Wagon Wheeling is far more about rhythm and pulse than harmony or melody, and there was an participating wide range to the several sounds developed by just the two players. With Wagon Wheeling Flaherty effectively deploys what is available from the sonic palette of piano and percussion.
The 2nd get the job done on the plan was Murmurations (2018) by A.J. McCaffrey, scored for piano and clarinets. A murmuration is a huge flock of birds who swarm alongside one another in near-order aerobatics, virtually like a rapid-going cloud that darts off in sudden instructions. Murmurations opened with a brilliant arpeggio from the clarinet, evoking chicken phone calls and a magical environment. The piano supported in the reduce registers and the clarinet line morphed into delicate and sustained tones above. The arpeggio was repeated by the clarinet, but its opening optimism was offset by a collection of darkish chords in the piano. The contrast between the vivid passages and the darker accompaniment produced a sense of speedy-shifting uncertainty.
As the piece continued, the passages in the clarinet grew to become progressively more agile and intricate . As the dynamic increased, the clarinet culminated in a collection of sharp shrieking sounds, expertly played by Brian Walsh with ability and superb regulate. Meanwhile, the piano persisted with chords in the reduce registers. The clarinet appeared to be seeking to break out from the uncertainty with a additional subdued and lighter seem, but in no way quite managed to escape in advance of a tranquil end finished the piece. Murmurations delivers a surprising sum of movement and emotion from the piano and clarinet duo.
Lost Borders, (2024) by Pamela Madsen, followed, and this is from the past act of Why Girls Went West, her multi-media chamber opera. Why Gals Went West is based on the story of Mary Austin Hunter, a 19th century mid-westerner who journeyed on your own throughout the continent to California in the early times of the settlement in the American considerably west. The opera is partly about the hazards and rigors and of touring cross region in that era, but a lot more generally about Austin’s prolonged odyssey of self-discovery. The method notes condition that the opera chronicles “ …Mary Austin’s escape from persecution to transformation of white woman’s privilege and enthusiasm for preservation of character, heritage, and indigenous tradition.” Lost Borders is a type of summing up of Ms. Austin’s metamorphosis over her life span in the west.
Stacey Fraser has sung the soprano guide in Why Females Went West and has the ability and endurance to carry the part. Shed Borders opens with silent, pensive chords in the piano and marimba, accompanied by a dark bass clarinet line. A briefly spoken narration opens the tale. The soprano vocals start off, typically in the center registers, but change quietly potent – “Save me, O Lord…” is heard. As the piece carries on, the devices combine to establish a darkening mood. Potent, solitary beats from the percussion add a bit of pressure. Ms. Fraser’s expressive singing has to get the job done from the somber texture in the accompaniment. For all of that, the scoring for just four instruments masterfully supports the complicated and switching flow of thoughts in the textual content. Lost Borders is only a compact element of an opera truly worth dealing with in its entirety.
Following a short intermission, Xarja (2017) by Kareem Roustom was future, and this was scored, unusually, for voice and percussion. The text is taken from from the “Waterfire” muwashshah by Al’Ama al-Tuttli (d. 1126 Tudela, Spain) and other poets of that era. ‘Xarja’ is a Spanish translation of the Arabic term for ‘exit’ or ‘final’. In the program notes the composer writes that, in some means, the piece is a metaphor for the existing evolution of music: “Like the grief stricken lover, ‘death is my state’ can be applied to the musical language I’ve been utilizing for someday. Nevertheless, out of ‘death’ comes ‘rebirth’ and the option to start anew.”
A sluggish beat on a hand drum opens Xarja and this develops into a nice groove. The soprano voice entered in a silent, conventional line and there was an engaging interaction concerning the vocals and the percussion. The tempo raises and the tones of the vibraphone are heard as the voice rises in dynamic and climbs higher in pitch. Drama was additional with a soaring soprano line from Ms. Fraser, the outcome of equal sections of vocal electricity and command. The complex texture was a excellent contrast to the opening and outstanding given just the two performers. At a single level Nick Terry was bowing the vibraphone plates and this proved to be both equally unique and really expressive. In direction of the conclusion of the piece the performers were clapping and stamping their toes in a stirring complete. Xarja manages to extract the most enthusiasm from the unorthodox pairing of voice and percussion.
A Sonatina (2016) by Monthly bill Alves adopted, done by Aron Kallay and Stacey Fraser. Influenced by “A Sonatina Adopted by Another”, a 1921 poem by Gertrude Stein, the composer writes in the plan notes, “I have extracted lullaby-like bits of the text that frequently seem to refer to her lifetime husband or wife, Alice Toklas.” A Sonatina opened with a wonderful running piano line and a reliable vocal entrance that lifted up sustained tones. There was an intriguing truly feel to this and the structure aided easily accessible listening. The piece darkened considerably as the operating piano line slipped into a reduce sign-up. The drama increased as the piece proceeded, and when mixed with the vocals, a beautiful over-all sound was the result. A Sonatina is skillfully crafted audio with this effectiveness by Fraser and Kallay, equaling the intentions of the composer.
The closing piece on the concert method was I Will Master to Adore a Individual (2013), by Chris Cerronne. This is a music cycle about individual interactions as expressed in songs with every single part immediately adhering to the previous soon after a brief silence. This was done by Aron Kallay on piano, Brian Walsh playing clarinets, Nick Terry on percussion and Stacey Fraser, soprano. Two peaceful notes from the piano opened the piece with the vibraphone entering in the similar sign-up. The ensuing blend was straight away successful and had a haunting feel. The soprano enters with words and phrases about a marriage, deepening the mystery. The clarinet joins in, supporting the vocals with a sequence of sustained pitches.
A series of continuing tremolos in the piano and clarinet followed, creating a pleasingly active texture. The voice enters, now stronger and with far more self-assurance. As the piece proceeds, the dynamics grow to be softer as the soprano sings quietly declarative vocals towards sustained notes from the relaxation of the ensemble. The quite a few feelings present in particular relationships are read all through this piece, often with a skillful and refined nuance. Later, the interweaving of the voice and instruments is fantastically expressive. Soon after a small return to the tremolo texture, the emotional electrical power increases as the voice rises increased in pitch and stronger in tone. The near coordination of the performers and their interest to element make I Will Study to Really like a Particular person an exquisitely intimate inventive journey.
This concert confirms Brightwork newmusic as a single of the top ensembles performing in Los Angeles. The addition of vocalist Stacey Fraser this time has expanded their artistry to new degrees.