Contemporary Classics March 20, 2018 Celebrating Contemporary Classical Music At the Big Ears Music Festival

Tonight we have three works that will be played at the Big Ears Music Festival in Knoxville TN.  This festival features a variety of different types of music but among them are contemporary classical music.  Tonight we are featuring two large works that will be performed by the artists who are performing on these recordings at the Big Ears Festival.

Anna Thorvaldsdottir: In the Light of Air.    In The Light Of Air was composed in 2013-2014 for the International Contemporary Ensemble and was premiered by them at the Reykjavik Arts Festival in May 2014.  It is for viola, cello, piano, harp, percussion, fixed electronics & installation.

In The Light Of Air has four movements, Luminance, Serenity, Existence and Remembrance, which are connected by short transitions to form a seamless flow throughout the work.

The music material is constructed with focus on subtle nuances and poetic textures that form lyrical gestures throughout the work. Melodies are generated just as much by sounds, gestures and nuances as by pitched lyrical material. Parts of the work are constructed around the idea of each performer being a "soloist" in the setting of a chamber ensemble, so that there is a constant movement between solo work and ensemble work on each instrument. Anna Thorvaldsdottir has said about this piece "Internally I hear sounds and nuances as musical melodies and enjoy weaving various sounds together with harmonies and lyrical material. Structurally I like working with perspectives of details and the unity of the whole and the relationship between the two."

The piece incorporates a lighting constellation that is a part of the work and is designed in collaboration with ICE. The lights enhance the atmospheric experience during a live performance by visually portraying certain aspects of the performance.  Unfortunately this cannot be seen on the radio. 

For the work Anna has also designed an installation of metallic ornaments that are used in live performance. Again, something you cannot see on the radio.  The installation contributes to the visual atmosphere of the music as well as to the audio experience. The ornaments, called Klakabönd in Icelandic, which translates as “a bind of ice”, are created by Svana Jósepsdóttir.

Julia Wolfe: Anthracite Fields     Anthracite Fields is an oratorio for choir and chamber ensemble.  It was commissioned through Meet the Composer's Commissioning Music/USA program, and premiered by the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia chorus and BOAC All-Stars; April 2014.  It is written as a tribute to the coal miners who in the words of Julia Wolfe “persevered and endured in the Pennsylvania Anthracite coal region.”  It is in 5 movements:

1)  The first movement “Foundation” honors those who have died in mining accidents in Pennsylvania through 1869 to 1916. Wolfe intended to sing names of victims in this movement but was alarmed by the amount. She decided to shorten the list by only including those with the first name "John" then a last name with one syllable.

2) The second movement "Breaker Boys" is a tribute to the breaker boys who removed coal from breakers, which are coal processing equipment which breaks coal into various useful sizes. The movement uses cowbell and bicycle pedals to portray the sound of coal falling into the breakers and uses the rhythm to encompass more of a 'rock feel' to the piece.

3) In the third movement "Speech", Julia Wolfe uses a speech by John L. Lewis who fought for safe working conditions for these miners

4) The fourth movement "Flowers" was inspired by an interview conducted with Barbara Powell who is the daughter and granddaughter of one of the miners. In an interview, she stated, “We all had gardens” and began listing flower names.

5)  In the last movement "Appliances", the words were taken from a coal-powered railroad ad; coal during the 20th century was a fuel source for the nation, and this is the movement's theme.

 

Applebox Double - Pauline Oliveros   Apple Box Double is an electronics duet and Apple Box Orchestra which is ten percussionists playing apple boxes.  Written in 1965, it was performed at San Francisco State College and it is considered on of the “hidden gems” of the 1966 ONCE Festival in Ann Arbor Michigan on March 28, 1966 where this recording was made.  Pauline Oliveros was fond of the resonance of apple boxes which she enhanced by placing objects in the boxes and attaching piezo-electric microphones. 

Julia Wolfe: Big Beautiful Dark and Scary Big Beautiful Dark and Scary's title track was written by Julia Wolfe, who witnessed the 9/11 tragedy. Based on her memory of standing with her young children just two blocks from the Twin Towers when the planes hit, the piece captures the feverish post-apocalyptic feeling of living in the aftermath of 9/11 with an ominous, full-throttle wall of sound. For the premiere in April 2002, Wolfe wrote, "This is how life feels right now."

David Lang: Cheating, Lying, Stealing  David Lang's impetus for this piece was focus more on appalling and snide aspects of life. His composition is like a ten-minute-long machine that drives its way forward with bass clarinet, cello, piano, and two percussionists who play junk metals on opposite ends of the stage).  The piece is angular, edgy, and repetitious. The main musical gesture is six high and low hits from the ensemble which changes with each repeat. This motion repeats time after time -- eventually with a soaring cello solo over top of it.  It is in an A-B-A form with the first section comprised of raw-boned strikes and thuds and the second section is glimmering and silky in its essence with high piano notes and triangle chimes.  The way that the second section transforms itself back into the first section for the recapitulation is one of the most brilliant aspects of this piece.