Chamber ensembles have been around for centuries, with one instrument to a part, but on this episode of New Sounds, we will hear chamber ensembles that are testing the limits of what this kind of group can sound like, from traditional string and wind quintets, adding in percussion, voices, and more.
Lou Rogai, who frequently performs as Lewis & Clarke, is known for his avant-folk-pop, but has stepped out to compose an instrumental piece for a slightly altered string quartet - subbing a double bass for the second violin. This piece is slow and almost melancholic as it moves slowly to a release we are never fully given, but there is a sense of hope sprinkled throughout. Another singer and composer who has written for strings is Donna Mckevitt. She is also a skilled violist, which led her to her ingenious writing and arranging of her Suite for Strings. It keeps the listener on the edge of their seats, and breaks form slightly in the second of the three movements which adds in a piano.
Rudolph Aigelsreiter is an austrian painter, visual artist, and occasional composer. He wrote a piece that was performed at the Pompidou center in Paris in 1988 alongside a video installation. The center is close to the river Seine and near the train station by Notre Dame Cathedral, which may inform the title of his chamber piece Die Ufer. Eine Station. (The Shore. A Station.) Performed by a small ensemble of strings - five violins, a cello, and a bass - and about half way through, they are joined by three singers. While this piece fits into the framework of chamber music, with one instrument per musical part, it develops into quite a large, almost orchestral sound by the end.
While there are countless pieces of music about trains, very few are written about them standing still. Wind Quintet #1 by American composer David Maslanka was written while he was living in New York off of the 200th street subway station where he would see and hear out of service subway cars idling with their air compressors whirring. The noises and tones the subway emitted through its various valves are what Maslanka is evoking through extended technique on woodwind instruments in the second movement of his Wind Quintet #1.
Moving west from New York, Janice Giteck’s Breathing Songs From a Turning Sky is inspired by the music and culture of the Native American people of the Pacific Northwest. The piece in its entirety is 30 minutes long, and we will hear its finale. There is sextet with strings, winds, and one percussionist. Through the piece, the percussion rises, and at moments almost dominates the sound of the piece, and by the end it does just that.
ARTIST: Rudolf Aigelsreiter
WORK: Die Ufer. Eine Station. [1:15]
RECORDING: 1988 performance at the Pompidou Centre
ARTIST: Lou Rogai
WORK: Implications in D Major [5:40]
RECORDING: Implications in D Major; Adagio For Chamber Strings
SOURCE: La Société Expéditionnaire
INFO: la-soc.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Lou Rogai
WORK: Implications in D Major [5:40]
RECORDING: Implications in D Major; Adagio For Chamber Strings
SOURCE: La Société Expéditionnaire
INFO: la-soc.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Donna McKevitt
WORK: Suite for Strings [10:26]
RECORDING: Private recording
SOURCE: Not yet released
ARTIST: Rudolf Aigelsreiter
WORK: Die Ufer. Eine Station. [1:15]
RECORDING: 1988 performance at the Pompidou Centre
ARTIST: David Maslanka
WORK: Quintet for Winds No. 1, Mov. 2 [6:04]
RECORDING: David Maslanka: Quintets Nos 1-3
SOURCE: BIS
INFO: bis.se
ARTIST: Janice Giteck
WORK: Breathing Songs From a Turning Sky, Kingdom [7:00]
RECORDING: Breathing Songs From a Turning Sky
SOURCE: Mode Records
INFO: www.moderecords.com
ARTIST: Arvo Part
WORK: Psalom for String Quartet [2:00]
RECORDING: Early Music (Lachrymae Antiquae)
SOURCE: Nonesuch Records
INFO: www.nonesuch.com