I went to two excellent concerts recently which served as great illustrations of what happens when a composer really understands what the instruments he or she is writing for are capable of. The first was a concert by cello/percussion duo Odd Appetite at Symphony Space in New York on March 12. Percussionist Nathan Davis and cellist Ha-Yang Kim are both composers, and they usually play some of their own music on the Odd Appetite concerts. Both embody the composer-performer aesthetic, although to a certain extent I am imposing that terminology on them–last summer when I asked Ha-Yang how she would describe herself she replied simply “I’m a musician” saying that she doesn’t see her composing and performing as distinct activities. In both cases, because they know their instruments so well they can write music which covers the full range of the instruments capabilites–“extended technique” begins to lose its meaning. In fact, for many composers I find that extended technique can feel forced, as if it is being used for the sake of having used it, but in this case the “extended” technique is treated as merely part of the standard repertoire of available sound. Because they work so colaboratively, they understand eachothers’ instruments almost as well as their own. The result is a music which often seems to be not so much about some abstract conception of music but about the instruments themselves. The whole concert was excellent, but the final piece was Ha-Yang’s “Samtak” which is absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous.

Then this past week I attended a concert by the International Contemporary Ensembe (ICE) on April 2nd at The Tank in downtown Manhattan. This concert was all music by Nathan Davis, and again revealed Nathan’s deep understanding of the capabilites of the instruments. He made a point of telling the audience that he hadn’t simply written music for the instruments but had worked closely with the players who would be performing the pieces in order to learn about both the instruments and the capabilities of the musicians playing them. This strategy especially paid off in the haunting final piece “The Bright and Hollow Sky” for flute, clarinet, trumpet, guitar, and percussion. The title is taken from a line in Iggy Pop’s song “The Passenger,” and Nathan told me that he felt that the line captured the feel of the piece, which seemed to him related to the Iggy Pop song, and that he simply loved the combination of those three words. I’m not sure I see the connection that he was talking about, but the ensemble of treble instruments mixing the “bright” of the trumpet and the guitar with the “hollow” of the clarinet and the flute worked for me anyway.

With both of these musicians, I am reminded of composer-performer Evan Ziporyn (they’ve all played together) whose extended-technique-laden clarinet album was entitled “This is Not a Clarinet.” In the same way, in Nathan’s and Ha-Yang’s hands the percussion battery and the cello are not merely percussion and cello.

6 thoughts on “A Few Thoughts on Composer-Performers”
  1. I totally agree with Ha-Yang’s ‘musician’ terminology. I’ve actually said the same thing myself. I’m pursuing a degree in comp – and consider myself a subpar performer in some cases. However, I do see the two as means to the same end and am writing for myself more and more often. The historical composer/performer division is strange; some cast it as only recently subverted, yet most know that’s not true, with Liszt as a prime example.

    The danger of ‘instrument-focused’ composition is just that: too much focus on the capabilities of an instrument and its performer and too little on an overall ensemble, or simply abstract musical, sound. Still, Ha-Yang is an example of someone who doesn’t let her cello chops or interest in extended technique get in the way of the music, and instead uses them effectively to her advantage. Her ensemble work, Metasmatter, is really great, too. I actually helped organize an Odd Appetite residency at my undergrad (Brown), where they packed the house for their Friday night show.

    I also agree on Ziporyn’s release. A clarinet player myself, I couldn’t believe some of the controlled harmonies he pulled off.

    In reference to the Bob Dylan thing: you might also be interested in the ZMF Marimba commissioning project. They have commissioned Paul Simon to write a solo piece, in the company of 11 other composers such as Milton Babbitt, Gunther Schuller, and Steven Stucky.
    http://newmusic.zmf.us/composers.cfm

  2. Everytime I read an article about a successful new work being performed, I gain heart. It is difficult getting new works performed, particularly works for large ensembles (I consider a orchestra in this category), and to hear about concerts where the music was well received is good news for future concerts. As a composer about to premier my Symphony No 1, it’s important new works get performed – but even more important that they get well received.

    It’s also great to hear Bob Dylan included in a Classical music context. Yes, he is a great composer-performer – and Classical music could learn a lot from composers like him.

  3. I think piano and percussion, though I hope that someone will correct me if I am wrong. (He is also a conductor; and I recall hearing a broadcast of him conducting the Cleveland Orchestra in his Eating Living Monkeys — again, someone correct me if I have misremembered the conductor of this broadcast.)

    He studied with Hans Werner Henze, among others.

  4. What’s David Lang’s instrument? I’ve never seen him perform and have always thought of him just as a composer (not that there’s anything wrong with that–I love his music).

  5. Thanks, Galen.

    I think that David Lang and Bob Dylan are both exciting American composer-performers.

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