September - 21st Century Music

Lou Harrison is such a famous figure that it's easy to take him
for granted, and, since only a handful of his pieces tend to be
performed by orchestras, the three-work tribute June 15 was a
welcome atonement for that relative neglect. His Symphony
No. 3 (1937-1982) is the most outgoing of his four, and its
spirit is like that of the Brahms Symphony No. 2. Yet Thomas
failed to make a convincing case for it -- the first movement
allegro moderato was taken too fast and the tempos throughout
were metronomically regular. The orchestra seems to resist
this piece; it certainly resisted Dennis Russell Davies when he
premiered it here. Things improved with the Suite for Violin
with American Gamelan (1972) which Harrison co-composed
with Richard Dee. This is a contained and seductive piece
which showcases the composer's gift for long-breathed
melodies (the Chinese parts were probably by Dee). Young
Korean violinist Chee-Yun gave an engaged yet poised
performance, ably supported by the contributions of eight
percussionists. The 1972 Concerto for Organ with Percussion
Orchestra, which Thomas led several seasons ago with the
Symphony, emerged the pick of the litter, with wide color
contrasts, and whacking and thwacking galore (the drum
boxes were painted Tiffany blue), and who's ever heard a
spiky horror movie interlude and a celeste doing tone clusters
in the same piece Harrison proved that music can be
entertaining and deep, and not many composers can manage
both.
The June 20 program showed off Thomas's training orchestra,
The New World Symphony. And though it didn't make much
sense on paper, each piece made its points. The NWS was also
acutely sensitive to matters of style. Earle Brown's 1975
Cross Sections with Color Fields is an extraordinary piece
which should be heard more often, and a workable
compromise between open form, which he invented, and the
closed form we're used to. Unfortunately the open form parts,
which can be done in any order or juxtaposed, didn't arrive
from his publisher -- only the 10 events of section H were
included. Thomas solved this problem by adjusting attacks
and dynamics throughout. This conveyed the score's essential
mystery -- the sounds well up and disappear just as
unexpectedly as they do in Takemitsu or Dutilleux, and there
are fierce, primitive sections which sound as unconsciously
bidden as the refined ones.
Steve Mackey's 2000 Tuck and Roll for electric guitar and
orchestra couldn't be more different. Brightly colored, crowdpleasing,
with glitzy Gershwin string writing and patches
which sound like music for a yet-to-be-made Tim Burton
movie.
The Ives Symphony No. 2 (1901) is as compact and
contrapuntal as the Mackey was diffuse and self-conscious.
Ives' textbook facility blends Dvorak, Mahler, and Wagnerstyle
writing with American hymn tunes and popular songs,
and there are moments where 5ths sound an archaic note in all
this polyphony. But Ives makes it all sound perfectly natural,
even logical. He was as isolated in America as Haydn was at
Esterhazy. That forced him to be original, and it's still making
our best composers original too. But what about Virgil
Thomson, Henry Brant, Roy Harris, and Philip Glass Aren't
they mavericks too Perhaps Thomas will include them in
further installments of this festival. We'll just have to wait and
see.
Goat's Voices
ROBERT WEISS
Fresh Voices. Anne Doherty's Dan (Destiny), John Partridge's
The Soldiers Who Tried to Kill Death, Mark Alburger's
Sidewalks of New York: Henry Miller in Brooklyn (libretto by
Mel Clay), Valarie Morris's Amsterdam and Paris with a Side
of Eggs, and Mary Watkin's Queen Clara: Fields of Glory,
Rivers of Blood (libretto by Lawrence Belville). June 17, Goat
Hall, San Francisco, CA. Repeated June 18.
Goat Hall Opera presented on June 17 Fresh Voices, a fivestar
performance of excerpts from new works by San
Francisco Bay Area composers and librettists, and an
affirmation that new music is alive and well. Scenes from five
new operas were presented, ranging in style from Valarie
Morris's light comedy, Amsterdam and Paris with a Side of
Eggs, to Lawrence Belville and Mary Watkin's Queen Clara
[Barton]: Fields of Glory, Rivers of Blood, a dramatic oratoriolike
array of exquisite solos with rich choral back-up. The
opening excerpt from Anne Doherty's Dan (Destiny) was a
politically oriented fantasy sprinkled with parodies of wellknown
American patriotic songs. The cast of John Partridge's
The Soldiers Who Wanted to Kill Death, consisted of three
outstanding male voices (John Adams, Douglas Mandell, and
Aurelio Viscarra) in solos and magnificent trios. In Mel Clay
and Mark Alburger's The Sidewalks of New York: Henry
Miller in Brooklyn, sex and creativity are presented in an
intricate package -- sometimes with abandon. It appears that
Goat Hall productions has earned its place as one of the Bay
Area's most inventive and imaginative musical groups.
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