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SEQUENZA21/
340 W. 57th Street, 12B, New York, NY 10019

Zookeeper:   
Jerry Bowles
(212) 582-3791

Managing Editor:
David Salvage

Contributing Editors:

Galen H. Brown
Evan Johnson
Ian Moss
Lanier Sammons
Deborah Kravetz
(Philadelphia)
Eric C. Reda
(Chicago)
Christian Hertzog
(San Diego)
Jerry Zinser
(Los Angeles)

Web & Wiki Master:
Jeff Harrington


Latest Posts

The Little Prince in Boston
My Ride's Here
What's New?
Last Night in LA--The Green Umbrella
The Brave New World of Maria Schneider
Penn Sounds: Maya Beiser - World to Come
The Transmigration of John Adams
What's New Today?
Last Night in LA--Salonen the Composer
Who's Your Grammy?


 

Record companies, artists and publicists are invited to submit CDs to be considered for review. Send to: Jerry Bowles, Editor, Sequenza 21, 340 W. 57th Street, 12B, New York, NY 10019


Thursday, February 17, 2005
One of Sequenza21's Own Does Music Proud

There are twenty cool people in New York. I just counted them. (Though Martin Bresnick left after intermission, so I�m not sure he counts.) Anyway, these twenty were the folks at the Brian Sacawa concert tonight at Miller Theater. The fifteen million other New Yorkers out there missed out on a good time. Get with the program, you guys!

And what a program it was: Lee Hyla, Chris Theofanidis, Alvin Lucier, Bresnick, Philip Glass, Charles Wuorinen, Derek Hurst, and Michael Gordon � all on one show. If there�s another contemporary music concert happening in New York this year with the stylistic breadth of Sacawa�s, someone send me an e-mail right now. Furthermore, Sacawa�s playing was consistently intense and energetic. On a program that called for multiphonics, key-popping, coordination with spatialized electronics, singing while playing, and all varieties of tonguing, Sacawa kept his poise and turned in a terrific performance.

Hyla�s frenetic, contrapuntal "Pre-Amnesia" opened the program. The piece was so interesting, I wish it had lasted longer. Instead, after less than two minutes, Sacawa segued from it attacca into Theofanidis�s "Netherland." "Netherland," for alto sax and piano, had beautiful moments (the C major felt nice after the Hyla), but it failed to make good on all its ideas. The second movement descended to bombast and flight-of-the-bumblebee passage-work. The sound of an amplified electric lamp opened (and dominated) Lucier�s "Spira Mirabilis," which was too avant for my garde. But things improved with Bresnick�s huge "Tent of Miracles." Written for baritone saxophone and three pre-recorded baritones, the piece rippled through every extended technique in the book, but managed to sustain a structure that moved compellingly through fragmented, Steve Reich-like sections, to moments of raw, roof-raising dissonance. Again juxtaposing extremes of dissonance and consonance, Sacawa closed the first half with Glass�s "Piece in the Shape of a Square" � a pleasing, groovy meditation that shows early Glass at its best.

The second half opened with Wuorinen�s fabulous "Divertimento" for alto saxophone and piano. In this piece, Wuorinen proves he can be mellow and good-natured while preserving the bristling complexity those of us who enjoy his music savor. Also, the spot-on ensemble between Sacawa and his terrific pianist Wenli Zhou was breathtaking. After that, I�d rather forget about Derek Hurst�s goofy "Bacchanalia Skiapodorum," which overplayed its humorous hand. The concert closed with Gordon�s "The Low Quartet," which sounded like a kid being forced to practice his hexatonic scales before he could go outside and play. I missed the depth of "Decasia," but perhaps Gordon just wasn�t there yet twenty years ago.

The thing is, however, that, even though a concert like this has its highs and lows, the memory is one big high. Yes, I didn�t like some of the pieces, but to hear such a variety of contemporary music all on one program, and to find a performer who gives both Glass and Wuorinen everything he�s got, is just sensational. I wish Brian many more such concerts, and a speedy return to New York.

P.S. For an amusing post-concert anecdote, click on "comments."

 



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