At the end of ‘Antlerlope Gallante’,
part of Benedict Mason’s Animals and the Origins of the Dance (1992),
the deadpan musicians walked to the front of the stage and bent down
to turn on portable CD players -- I counted about 15 of them -- which
concluded the piece with quiet musical fragments while the human performers
walked offstage. Mason’s witty, slightly melancholic work requires
theatricality as well as musicianship, and was just one triumph for
the talented group Alarm
Will Sound, a new music ensemble with
origins in the prestigious Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New
York.
Michael Gordon’s Yo, Shakespeare, with its array of amplified
instruments divided into three discrete groups, was entertaining enough,
if a trifle too long to my ears. But it was performed beautifully,
and made a lively start to the evening that included a vivid and impressive
history of the theatre, delivered with aplomb by its executive director,
the multi-faceted George Steel. And just before intermission,
we were treated to a sly and energetic rendering of Ligeti’s Chamber
Concerto, a masterpiece percolating with irresistible rhythms and
buzzing textures.
Most successful was the finale, John Adams' rollicking Chamber Symphony,
which uses a trap set as the percussive spine, pushing the ensemble
along the composer’s cartoon-soundtrack paths. I’ve now heard
the piece live several times, and each performance leaves me grinning.
Adams’ confluence of rhythmic ideas -- overlapping lines often
played, in the composer’s words, with "alarmingly fast tempi"
-- seems fresher at each hearing.
Squirreled in between were two of Conlon Nancarrow’s Studies for
Player Piano, in chamber orchestrations by the late pianist Yvar
Mikhashoff. Nancarrow’s writing is legendary and formidable, even
when the workload of playing the complicated lines is distributed among
many, rather than relying on a single instrument. The second,
No. 6, was especially well positioned, with its drowsy blues
elements making a graceful interlude before the propulsive Adams that
followed.
With disarming assurance, Alan Pierson conducted (and occasionally played
keyboards) without using scores the entire evening. Alarm Will
Sound is an insouciant group with enthusiasm to spare, and seems happiest
if its performances strike with the fury of a rock band. I didn’t
see anyone in the packed house complaining. The group will return
to Miller on Dec. 5 with music of Harrison Birtwistle, a concert I don’t
intend to miss.
Bruce Hodges
Return to:
Music on the Web