Sequenza21/The Contemporary Classical Music Weekly

Taking the Pulse: Birtwistle's "Pulse Shadows" at Alice Tully

by David Salvage

Of all the concerts I attended last year, the one that lingers most in my mind is the U.S. premiere of Sir Harrison Birtwistle�s "Pulse Shadows" at Alice Tully Hall. This isn�t just because I liked the music. The concert itself was bracketed by events that got me to thinking about Big Issues, like Audience and Music Appreciation.

Worried the entire New York new music scene would show up, I arrived over an hour early to secure a student ticket. When it came time for the concert to begin, however, the hall was maybe a third full. Where was everybody? Now I know contemporary music doesn�t exactly draw in big crowds, but this was a major premiere by a major international composer! And the man himself was going to be there for Q&A after the concert! Certainly tonight this was the hot ticket for the two or three thousand people in New York serious about new music.

Not only was I wrong about that, but the crowd got even smaller. Forty people must have left within the first twenty minutes.

After a luminous performance by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Birtwistle took the stage with CMS�s Bruce Adolphe. The audience�s discontent soon became manifest. One indignant gentleman asked what exactly Birtwistle wanted the crowd to take away from the music, other than a desire to go home and "blow [their] brains out." Birtwistle tried to engage the man in a conversation about tragic themes in art and why we might want to see paintings like Picasso�s "Wernicke" or plays like "Hamlet." But he didn�t make the connection with his own work clear enough and his remarks devolved into evasive poetic bluster. Bruce Adolphe tried to say something about the "life affirming" qualities of beautiful art, but he seemed more anxious to change the subject than anything else.

Two thoughts occupied my mind as I left the concert.

First were feelings of guilt. During my first two years in New York, I scarcely attended a concert outside Manhattan School of Music. Now, as an avid concert-goer, I knew there were a number of people out there who liked new music who just for one reason or another didn�t go to concerts. In my case, this was probably simple laziness. But what message does this send to institutions like the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center? I regretted I hadn�t worked harder to attend concerts like this one two years ago, and I felt like asking all the folks I was sure I would run into why they hadn�t been there. If we�re such a small crowd, we have to work harder.

Secondly, I was disappointed with Birtwistle. Whether we like it or not, whether it "makes sense" or not, composers have to be articulate advocates for their music. Why? Because this is not a culture in which the mysterious is celebrated. The simple and clear presentation of emotions and ideas is prized. With a few clear words about his text setting and a little less recourse to his "artist�s intuition," Birtwistle could have made a difference in how this indignant gentleman (who had, after all, stayed the duration) received his music. Maybe this man wouldn�t have ended up "liking" the music, but at least Birtwistle would not have come across as aloof and arrogant, which, to me, he had.

After the concert, I had the opportunity to thank a CMS official for her organization�s willingness to perform pieces like "Pulse Shadows." I learned from her also that I�d have no trouble procuring a ticket if I wanted to come to the second performance on Sunday. I didn�t go, but I should have.

posted by David Salvage 1/04/2005