Published on
April 22, 2008 in
Music.
Greetings American contemporary music fans. You are not numerous, but you are true. This week I’m involved in what should prove to be an enjoyable undertaking, playing ten really cool tuned gongs in John Adams’ “The Dharma at Big Sur” with the SLSO under Marin Alsop. You might be tempted to think that John Adams is being played right and left here, which isn’t exactly the case but it’s not unheard of. I’ve been involved in quite a few Adams fests in the last few years.
“Dharma” is for solo electric violin and orchestra and is pretty dang cool. I met the gongs earlier today and they are impressive, rented from LA, I think. Or maybe NYC. Somewhere coastal. For the duration of the piece I’m cocooned in a sort of gong cage along with a pair of resonant flower pots (care of Lowe’s) and some crotales. A pic would help here. I’ll try to get one this weekend.
And here we go, a pic as promised. Man, I would love to have some of these. They’re only 15k a set or thereabouts. The flower pots are not so pricey.
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Published on
April 4, 2008 in
Music.
I just noticed (nobody told me since I’m just an extra boy) that the SLSO has released a recording of John Adam’s Harmonielehre from a live concert in March 2007. This is a very good thing! That was a real highlight of my little careerette. It’s available from iTunes or Amazon. It looks to be download only; I don’t think there’s a CD involved.
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Published on
April 4, 2008 in
Music.
I’m back with wood blocks (and other things) again. This is something I mentioned a couple of months ago, how it was rare for me to play the simple but elegant wood block. Well this time I need four of them for Elliott Carter’s “Of Rewaking (2003).” I must admit that I didn’t like practicing this piece a whole lot. The part I’m playing has a bunch of random buzz rolls on hard instruments: cow bell, suspended cymbal and the aforementioned blocks of wood. There are also a lot of snare drum rim shots and notes that sort of come out of nowhere–count three bars and whack the cow bell.
As usual, I needn’t have fretted. When we actually rehearsed the piece, it was a pleasure. It’s for a mezzo-soprano soloist and chamber orchestra with three drummers. The random notes that made so little sense are often big tutti hits with the ensemble. The rolls part of intricate textures on multiple cymbals or consorts or wood or metal. A recording would have helped but this time I was out of luck; much Googling yielded no results.
The work is part of a one shot Carter 100th anniversary concert featuring the above piece, the Holiday Overture, four of the eight pieces for Timpani (played by none other than Jonathan Haas whom I’ve known since my first real classical percussion concert in GULP 1976 ) and the Oboe Concerto.
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