THE CONCERT
At a Glance
Hailed as an ambassador of new music, eighth blackbird has secured a reputation for its astounding musical versatility, dedication to the works of today’s composers, and an unconventional performance style. Often playing from memory, the members of the group are free to move around on stage and establish direct connections with the audience. Tonight’s program showcases the talent of this iconoclastic group of performers. For Steve Reich’s Double Sextet, written for 12 players, the six members of eighth blackbird execute absolute precision in performance by playing with a recording of themselves. A collaboration involving music and dance, singing in the dead of night was specifically written for eighth blackbird by Bang on a Can composers David Lang, Michael Gordon, and Julia Wolfe, and New York choreographer Susan Marshall.
STEVE REICH Double Sextet
Born October 3, 1936, in New York.
Double Sextet
was commissioned by eighth blackbird through the generous support of The Carnegie Hall Corporation, The Abe Fortas Memorial Fund of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Liverpool Cultural Company–European Capital of Culture 2008, The Modlin Center for the Arts at the University of Richmond, Orange County Performing Arts Center, and The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music–Music 08 Festival. Completed in October 2007, Double Sextet
was first performed on March 26, 2008, by that group at the University of Richmond in Virginia. Tonight’s performance marks the New York premiere of Double Sextet
.
There are two identical sextets in
Double Sextet. Each one is made up of flute, clarinet, violin, cello, vibraphone, and piano. Doubling the instrumentation was done so that, as in so many of my earlier works, two identical instruments could interlock to produce one overall pattern. For example, in this piece you will hear the pianos and vibes interlocking in a highly rhythmic way to drive the rest of the ensemble.
The piece can be played in two ways; either with 12 musicians, or with six playing against a recording of themselves. In these premiere performances you will hear the members of eighth blackbird, who commissioned the work, playing against their recording.
The idea of a single player playing against a recording of themselves goes all the way back to
Violin Phase (1967) and extends though
Vermont Counterpoint (1982),
New York Counterpoint (1985),
Electric Counterpoint (1987) and
Cello Counterpoint (2003). The expansion of this idea to an entire chamber ensemble playing against pre-recordings of themselves begins with
Different Trains (1988) and continues with
Triple Quartet (1999) and now to
Double Sextet. By doubling an entire chamber ensemble one creates the possibility for multiple simultaneous contrapuntal webs of identical instruments. In Different Trains and Triple Quartet all instruments are strings to produce one large string fabric. In Double Sextet there is more timbral variety through the interlocking of six different pairs of percussion, string, and wind instruments.
The piece is in three movements—fast, slow, fast—and within each movement there are four harmonic sections built around the keys of D, F, A-flat, and B, or their relative minor keys b, d, f and g-sharp. As in almost all of my music, modulations from one key to the next are sudden, clearly setting off each new section.
—
Steve Reich
DAVID LANG / MICHAEL GORDON / JULIA WOLFE singing in the dead of night
Lang: Born January 8, 1957, in Los Angeles, California
Gordon: Born in July, 20, 1956, in Miami, Florida.
Wolfe: Born December 19, 1958, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
singing in the dead of night
was commissioned by eighth blackbird through the generous support of the Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Millennium Park, Chicago; Jebediah Foundation; Frederica and James R. Rosenfield (specifically towards work of David Lang); San Francisco Performances; and University Musical Society / University of Michigan. Tonight’s performance marks the New York premiere of this work.
Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe are together the co-founders and co-artistic directors of the music organization Bang on a Can. They describe the origins of
singing in the dead of night:
When the three of us met to figure out how to structure this collaboration, we began by thinking about eighth blackbird. We loved that they play so well, that they are so dedicated, so musical, so friendly, but what we really loved was that they move. They are physical; they move in space. They use their bodies on stage to show things in the music that the notes alone can’t show you. This excited us, and we wondered what it would be like if we invited our friend, choreographer Susan Marshall, to shape the movements of the players. We then wrote separate and very different pieces of music, which can be played together or on their own, with or without physical movement. What links the works is that each of us left room for Susan in the scores, giving her and the blackbirds the opportunity to do the things they all do so well. We hope you enjoy it.
David Lang writes:
The three movements of
these broken wings concentrate on three different physical and musical challenges. The first movement consists of music that requires incredible stamina and intense concentration. Sad, falling gestures dominate the slow second movement, and I gave the vague but hopefully inspiring instruction that the players should drop things when they are not playing. In the last movement I wanted to make a music that danced and pushed forward, in the hope that it would encourage the musicians to do so as well.
In Michael Gordon’s
the light of the dark, a fast, wild, late-night drunken jam session spirals out of control. A funky opening cello solo slips and slides around the instrument, colliding with high, jaunty wind figures, swirling virtuosic tunes, and unpredictable metallic crashes. In the chaos, players grab any nearby instrument to play, including a harmonica, accordion, and guitar; at one point, a noisy Mariachi band gathers around the piano.
Julia Wolfe writes:
The title
singing in the dead of night conjures up the still and surreal nighttime experience of being the only one awake. Out of the silence often comes inspiration—finding one’s way to a human song, symphony of sound. Singing in the dead of night is it’s own metaphor—beginnings always beginning in “the dead of night”—in the void into which a creation is made. The virtuosity and intensity of the music are inspired by the high voltage performers of eighth blackbird. The silences, leaves, and density are there for the thoughtful and exquisite Susan Marshall.
Susan Marshall writes:
The composers and I felt strongly that the movement should come directly from the act of music making; not as ornament, an unessential extra layer. This led David, Michael, and Julie to make some unusual musical choices, including the use of leaves, and struck or dropped metal objects. The challenge was to find expressive imagery connected to the act of sound production, but which was also metaphorically loaded. I wanted to stay out of the literal realm, of “acting” or creating a “story.” In many ways, working with eighth blackbird was not dissimilar to working with dancers, except for the fact that we were somewhat constrained by the reality that the musicians had to be able to play the music. I found eighth blackbird open to everything I suggested—sometimes even more open than I was about how far we could go.
Copyright © 2008 by The Carnegie Hall Corporation