Sequenza21/The Contemporary Classical Music Weekly

Quintet of the Americas; Merkin Concert Hall, NYC

Composing for Wind Quintet is probably one of the hardest tasks a composer could be assigned. A common practice group, the Wind Quintet, i.e. flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and French horn, is an amalgam of somewhat disparate entities of ranges and timbers whose forces must somehow be combined and shaped into some semblance of sonic order; or not. Some composers are happy just to embrace and celebrate diversity (and chaos) and let them be the wild and different things they are.

Last Tuesday evening, in Merkin Concert Hall, the Quintet of the Americas performed works by 5 composers: Elliot Schwartz, Laura Kaminsky, Jon Deak, Carl Maultsby, and Robert Paterson, all present by the way to talk a little about their pieces after the intermission.

For this evening I formally recused myself from critiquing the concert. I had had a long day of standing on my feet and rushing about helping people pick out the right Elgar cello concerto and Bach musical offering and whatnot and was tired when I got to the hall. Trying to liven myself up helped some but not enough to be fully present and give it my inspired concentration. Having said that, the general feeling that I got was that these pieces were competent and displayed some solid writing but did they really tame the beast or celebrate its wildness? Good question.

Jon Deak�s �Bremen Town Musicians� composed in 1985, awakened my mood. It�s a rather wild story of an old donkey who is about to meet his fate as his master has decided that the donkey would better serve being served; i.e. reduced to soup bones and glue. The donkey decides to avoid becoming the first course and runs away to the town of Bremen to earn his living as a musician. The story is told with words, by the musicians, and by vocal passages interpreted by their instruments. �Take that! You good for nothing!� it starts; then the phrase [Take that!] is played on an instrument mimicking that rhythm and accent. There is the potential for at least a few good jokes and ironies in this story told by wind quintet. Please muse about them at will. The piece captures, with wry wit and excursionist passages, the amusing ability to poke fun at itself.

Another highlight of the evening was Carl Maultsby�s, �The Journey�, which was the only work to incorporate additional musicians (percussion instruments). It displayed solid writing with the percussion serving as its featured voice. The piece wove nicely layered poly-rhythms and percussive textures into the fabric of the African pentatonic wandering rhythms. In this the Quintet was not sent out on the expedition and was mostly at home to serve as the subtext of The Journey�s travel log.

Elliot Schwartz�s �Rows Garden� was snatches of 12 tone �rows� from the compositions of the second Viennese school of composition; Berg, Webren, Schoenberg.

Laura Kamknsky�s "Cadenza Variations for Woodwind Quintet� brought home an interesting insight. Most of the instruments of the wind quintet are used as solo instruments in ensembles and in the orchestra. Horn being the exception and the one used mostly but not entirely in supportive roles.

The last piece of the evening, the premiere of Robert Paterson�s �Wind Quintet�, was a fun romp and evoked an awakening of, well, of me I guess; finally.

The Quintet of the Americas is a fine, fine wind quintet and played with polish and professionalism. They are an ensemble playing together, listening to and working with each other to bring something new to their performances and to the challenging genre of wind quintet music.

Quintet of the Americas:
Sato Moughalian, flute; Matthew Sullivan, oboe; Edward R. Gilmore, clarinet; Barbara Oldham, horn; Laura Koepke, bassoon
Guest artists:
Eric Halvarson, drums; Jack Mansager and John Hadfield, percussion

posted by Duane Harper Grant 4/21/2005