October - 21st Century Music

But with George Crumb, Donald Erb, David Felder, LukasFoss, Philip Glass, Bernard Rands, Augusta Read Thomas,Steve Reich, Roger Reynolds, Harvey Sollberger, NilsVigeland, Charles Wuorinen, and Joji Yuasa all in residencefor at least some days between June 5 and June 15, givinglectures and master classes as well as having worksperformed, the anniversary turned into an unique andoverwhelming contemporary music heaven. David Feldercommended: "The celebration of a 25th anniversary in amillennium year gives a special opportunity for reflection. TheJune in Buffalo Festival was formed in an environment ofartistic discovery wherein composers and performerscollaborated in order to find ways towards another expression,and has sustained an optimistic vision about the possibility ofnew music for these 25 years. Such longevity and commitmentis unique in American music and merits notice andcelebration. We look back to recognize many of the individualcomposers who have contributed so much to our program andalso to our collective heritage in contemporary musicalculture, while simultaneously presenting the best of theircurrent work and their individual visions about possiblefutures."This year, only 22 emerging young composers were invited topresent their work in master classes and have one solo pieceperformed in concert, while 37 auditors had the chance toparticipate in all events. It marks a new direction for the futureas David Felder explained: "We set new ground rules. We willconcentrate more on readings of pieces and on performancesof small solo or duo compositions by between 15 and 20students. In the past we have invested a lot of energy inresources for works by emerging composers on a very highlevel. I came to the stage in my life where I realized thatsomething else is needed, particularly in America. We have alot of repertoire written by masterful senior composers, peoplewho have been on the scene for a long time, which has notbeen played and not been heard. My responsibilities havechanged. I feel more the responsibility to put this work outthere and help the students in a variety of ways, and one ofthese ways is to expose them to a high level performance ofthose works, which they are not hearing. Other people, whowant to come and observe, are more than welcome. Maybethere is even a certain comfort in not having a piece played asone does not feel as exposed."David Felder's newly found responsibility was very much inevidence during the anniversary. His emphasis was directedtowards the faculty and some late composers who had playedan important part in the history of June in Buffalo. Only threeconcerts in the afternoon were left to solo works by emergingcomposers and one has to say that there was not much proof ofa brilliant future. Merely, Inner Voices for Viola by AdrienneElisha, the bassoon piece Galapagos Lions by JonathanMcNair, the third movement of Brook Joyce's Piano Music,(his composition La Quinta del Sordo for an ensemble of 14players impressed during master classes), Sequence for pianoby Moiya Callahan, and Three Pieces for Solo Cello byMichel Kama Galante showed promise and a distinctive voiceof their own. Ten further concerts of all calibers fromorchestra to solo bass were devoted to great music of the pastand the present. It is impossible to mention all 33 works indetail -- their variety in style and contents was beyond allexpectations. The Festival opened with an unsurpassed bang:the world premiere of the concerto for percussion andextended chamber orchestra In Between by David Felder,commissioned by June in Buffalo. Felder has proven himselfmany times before as one of the very few composers whoknows the past, stands with both legs in the present and writesunbelievably strong, complex, but captivating music for a newcentury. To a certain extent, Felder reflects in his technicallydemanding but breathtaking way, and with his very owndistinctive energy, the same kind of musical fulfillment forwhich Mahler and Ives were fighting a hundred years ago.This powerful concerto is dedicated to the percussionistDaniel Druckman, who gave the world premiere conducted byHarvey Sollberger, and to the memory of Morton Feldman,"my colleague and friend." The evening contained two furtherhighlights: For Toru for flute and orchestra (1996) by LukasFoss and Morton Feldman's The Viola in My Life IV (1971)with Jesse Levine as soloist. The three movements of ForToru, an homage "to a friend I admire and miss" are deeplymoving and honest, whereby Foss describes the middle sectionas "a portrait of Takemitsu's delightful, witty, exuberantpersonality." The Viola in My Life IV came as a completesurprise to me, having never heard this work before. What agenius Feldman must have been to break completely with hisstagnant time sense and compose instead the most delicate andsensitive love letter comparable only to Mahler's Adagietto.18