Sequenza21/The Contemporary Classical Music Weekly

Penn Sounds: Can Banging

Bang on a Can All-Stars came to Philadelphia to close this season of the Fresh Ink series, with guest vocalist and violinist Iva Bittova, to present music showing the artistic side of popular genres and the free flow of ideas.

The Philadelphia premiere of Lick by Philadelphia's Julia Wolfe is an example of unraveling ideas -- letting the music go where it wants based on the sounds she grew up with, of Motown, funk and rock. It is marked by strongly-attacked chords and lots of white space, before a set of noisy rock riffs take over -- and overwhelms. Not much to engage the ear; in fact, it sounded a lot like banging on a lot of cans.

Evan Ziporyn, BOAC's clarinetist, is fascinated by Balinese gamelan music and in this piece, Dalem & Sangat (from Shadowbang), illustrates a story from Hindu mythology, a puppet opera in four movements. This is highly textured with clarinet runs weaving strands of guitar, bass, cello and piano together, and the unifying motif shifts between clarinet and guitar in the first movement. The second, Ocean, is quiet and spare, melancholy single repeated notes of a becalmed sea. Meditasi is even more hypnotic, with a lower register and the addition of temple bell sounds and increasing volume. Head is a full out rock riff with drums and a catchy jagged
rhythm.

When it comes to math, we know there are mathematical relationships between notes, but music constructed of mathematical harmonics -- and the cracks between sounds, explores with those relationships. In Glen Branca's Compositional Recreations One, half the instruments play in one key and tempo and the other half in another key and tempo at the same time, requiring the players to wear headphones. And I wished for earplugs, as the bi-tones swept forth (...desperately trying to unclench my teeth and think of other things) for far too long.

Iva Bittova's Solo in Czech used the traditional folk vocal technique with a touch of percussion as she strolled the stage, for a mysterious and mesmerizing effect, and segued into a violin accompaniment with vocalise. Elida is a set of songs with piano and increasingly more instrumentation and varying moods that are most engaging, enhanced by her acting skills, and Bittova is a show unto herself -- whatever it was she was singing about. One piece for clarinet and strings sounded like klezmer-influenced Piazzola, lyrical, syncopated, unexpected and always surprising. Bittova's performance was the best part of the concert.

Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center
Philadelphia, PA
April 28, 2005 (Reposted from Penn Sounds 5/5/05)

posted by Deborah Kravetz 5/11/2005