September - 21st Century Music

Generally speaking, the piano does not present the most
favorable domain for microtonal music. The only purely
microtonal compositions performed in the concert, were those
for bassoon. On one of the most unwieldy instruments in the
orchestra, Reinhard obtained rare qualities of grace and
virtuosity, comparable to the violin technique of Paganini. His
ability to perform any pitch in any tuning.
Giacinto Scelsi's Maknongan quizzed everyone with its
quizzical sound and mood. The music remained for a long
time as simply one note with barely audible microtonal
digressions, which very explicitly demonstrated the
composer's life-long mystical quest for the "third dimension in
sound." Reinhard successfully brought out the mystical
conception of the piece.
The premiere of Reinhard's Ultra, demonstrated the virtuosic
qualities of the bassoon. The work has an abstract,
philosophical mood. His Zanzibar is written in an entirely
different manner. In this piece, brilliant theatrical effects are
prominent, presented with great artistic qualities and a marked
sense of humor. Reinhard started performing the composition
by taking the bassoon apart and hitting its middle section with
the palm of his hand as if it were a bamboo stick.
Accompanying his music with elephant calls, he played
several long passages containing tremolos and glissandi and
was wildly entertaining.
Anton Rovner's Johnny Spielt Auf, dedicated to Johnny
Reinhard, contains several types of microtonal temperaments.
The work is both abstractly athematic and yet extrovertively
humorous. There are passages where the bassoonist leaves the
instrument aside, and starts to sing in a dramatic and at the
same time a comic voice. At the end, Reinhard took the
instrument apart and then put the upper part of the bassoon to
his eye, as if looking into binoculars.
A joint jazz-influenced improvisation of the three American
musicians, Reinhard, Pierce, and Ellis brought out not only
great lyrical and virtuosic qualities, but a masterful sense of
form.
Positivissimo
JEFF DUNN
World premiere of Rapture, by Christopher Rouse,
commissioned and performed by the Pittsburgh Symphony
Orchestra, Mariss Jansons, Music Director, dedicatee and
conductor. May 5, Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts,
Pittsburgh, PA. Repeated May 6.
In Eye of Newt, Reinhard depicted the Witches' Sabbath from
Macbeth, where the crones prepare potions with recipes
featuring various strange components. This piece, performed
recorder, featured a simple, tonal melody in minor (with a few
microtonal distortions of the intervals) and subsequently
passed on to more virtuosic textures, including multiphonics
for the instrument and howling sounds from the voice.
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