Chamberfest: Berg's Lyric Suite and Gellman's Musings.

Today at noon marked the third to last concert of this year’s Chamberfest, which included not only Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite performed by the St. Lawrence String Quartet, but a world premiere of Steven Gellman’s Musings, commissioned and performed by none other than this year’s Chamberfest artistic directors, the Gryphon Trio. Hosted by Gary Kulesha, there was chance for the performers and Mr. Gellman to illuminate different aspects of the works presented.

The concert began with Steven Gellman introducting his work, giving the audience a chance to see into the inner workings of the composer. Gellman expounded on his phases as a composer, ranging from the extremely experimental, to his current take on creating works of greater depth and accessibility. While I disagree with the notion that experimental composition lacks depth, I understand his desire to more readily connect with his audience. With that in mind, his work showed a heritage of experimental practice combined with a sensibility of accessibility. Although I wasn’t that ‘into’ the work in it’s entirety, feeling like some things did not really come together, there were many interesting ideas in contrast and texture, and I found that the slow movement, a duet between the violin, stood apart from the rest.

The second piece on the program, Berg’s Lyric Suite, began with St. Lawrence String Quartet’s own Geoff Nuttall detailing not only the inner compositional workings of the piece, but also the ’secret’ programmatic aspect. Basically, nearly fifty years after the work’s inception, a score was discovered amongst Berg’s possessions that contained a detailed programme outlining how the piece relates to his love affair with a woman named Hannah Fuchs-Robettin.

The Lyric Suite being amongst my favourite works, I was excited and pleased to hear the St. Lawrence String Quartet perform. They attacked the music with the sort of intensity required to draw out its passion, moving from idea to idea, contrast to contrast in nearly seamless transition. To add to it, they also played with a sort of dramatic flair that much of the standard string quartet repertoire does not allow for.

Finally, the audience, as was my listening partner, seemed a little shaken by the police sirens and loudly revving motorbike accompinament provided by the street outside. However, it may be seen as testament to St. Lawrence’s engaging performance that the audience truly wanted to stay focused. I also cannot help to add that we do live in a loud modern world, and that post-John-Cagean philosophy tells us to embrace all listening moments, especially when we can’t to anything to change them!

Craig Pedersen
www.craigpedersen.com
www.newmusicottawa.blogspot.com
www.chamberfest.wordpress.com

Creative program at Chamberfest 2009

I feel like I have been attending more and more concerts and writing less and less. I went to three concerts yesterday, and one today! I am extremely impressed by the level of thoughful programming that has gone into this festival. I hate to pick favourites, so I won't! I will say, however, that every couple of days I find myself telling a friend that they missed something amazing, possibly the "best concert yet". Needless to say, I think it's time to let go of the quantifying and get to some qualifying, in an effort to pinpoint pieces of what it is that I find successful about the concerts I have attended.

I think it is safe to say that the concerts I have enjoyed the most have all taken place at the festival's late night "club" at St. Brigid's Centre for the Arts and Humanities. What is it, though, that makes this space so special?

For starters, the atmosphere is casual. Listeners are afforded the opportunity to have a drink, eat some food and share a conversation between songs without drawing too much attention. Second, the space, albeit crowded and hot, provides a sense of intimacy and connection between audience members and performers. Third, while it may seem safe to say that all the performers at the festival are performing at a high quality, there is something that seems to set some performers apart, that goes hand in hand with having an alternative venue. For me, alternative venues leave room for ALTERNATIVE AND CREATIVE PROGRAMMING that isn't always considered appropriate in the concert hall.

Take for instance the late night concerts which I have attended: Jonathan and Jennifer Swartz's violin/harp duo playing their own arrangements of twentieth-century classics. Fratelli Della Casa using barebones 'lead sheets' to arrange and improvised upon seventeenth-century popular tunes. Fright Night with Poe, in which performers created a theatrical and musical re-telling of Poe's works, including narration, visuals, acting and of course, great music and storytelling. Finally, this evening's concert with the New Berlin Ensemble and their set of music entitled L’accordéoniste in which they performed German, Italian and French cabaret music.

What here, is the common trend which the late night venue aptly supports? Musicians who think outside of the box and are involved in not only performing music, but arranging, writing and perhaps most importantly, interacting with it. To quote Gary Kulesha at last night's "New Music Dialogues": Music is a living art form!

Craig Pedersen
www.craigpedersen.com
www.newmusicottawa.blogspot.com
www.chamberfest.wordpress.com