Nadia Boulanger

Mademoiselle

A film by Bruno Monsaingeon

Ideale Audience (www.ideale-audience.com)

Mademoiselle, the DVD release of Bruno Monsaingeon’s 1977 film about renowned pedagogue Nadia Boulanger, is a fascinating document. It includes footage of Boulanger from the 1970s, still teaching as she neared ninety years of age. Her exacting standards, detailed criticism, and keen analytical mind are all on display.

Igor Markevitch and Leonard Bernstein are interviewed, discussing Boulanger’s impact on 20th century music. Markevitch shares his formative experiences as a student of Boulanger. Bernstein recounts Boulanger’s criticisms of one of his songs, including a suggestion that he had included “the wrong note.” Although he had never previously studied with Boulanger, the then 58 year-old felt as if he was “back in school” and receiving a composition lesson!

Most fascinating are Monsaingeon’s conversations with Boulanger. Her steadfast devotion to teaching is an inspiration. Any composer or educator who needs an antidote to their creative malaise or writer’s block should listen to what she has to say about the restorative and ineffable power of music.

Sunset at Montclair by George Inness 

New Jersey Arts Collective and the Montclair Art Museum are sponsoring Pictures 2008, a composition competition for high school and college students residing or studying in New Jersey.

The winning works will be performed on May 9th at the Montclair Art Museum by the Halcyon Trio (www.halcyontrio.com). The museum has also commissioned a piece from Christian Carey for the concert. A Composers Forum on April 4th at 3:20 PM at Westminster Choir College will feature readings and a masterclass with the Halcyon Trio for the competition winners.

Last year’s Pictures jury:  Frank Ezra Levy, Christian Carey (standing) 

Melinda Wagner, Andrew Lamy, and Brett Duebner, (seated)

All submissions must be based on Sunset at Montclair, a George Inness painting from the MAM’s collection. An image of the work, as well as competition guidelines, can be found at the following web link:

http://www.montclairartmuseum.org/education.cfm?id=93

The deadline for entries is March 21st. There will be a complimentary curator’s talk about Inness on Saturday, Feb. 9th at 1 PM at the MAM. Applicants are encouraged to attend.

Naxos has a spate of exciting releases coming out, including recordings of works by Carter, Wuorinen, Coates, and Hersch, all of which will be covered in subsequent columns. Today’s posting focuses on their recently released new music sampler.

Various Artists

Sonic Rebellion

Naxos

WWW.Naxos.com

Want to familiarize yourself or your loved ones with modern classical music, but not sure where to begin? Sonic Rebellion, a compilation of excerpts from Naxos recordings, is an excellent single disc starter kit. The CD features composers in most of the main stylistic idioms prevalent in recent times: modernism, minimalism, aleatory, neo-romanticism, and even electronic music. Naxos is to be applauded for selecting a nice balance of compositions — both watershed works as well as several pieces that aren’t by the “usual suspects.”

Highlights include Conlon Nancarrow’s Toccata for Violin and Player Piano, a lively piece featuring rhythmically complex music that doesn’t take itself too seriously. At the other end of the spectrum is Krysztof Penderecki’s moving string orchestra piece Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima, which employs clusters of sounds in a pileup of dissonances, signifying a long woe-filled keening. Jorgen Plaetner’s Beta bridges the gap between avant-garde electronic compositions and popular electronica. A portion of Charles Wuorinen’s Second String Quartet asserts the enduring vitality both of modernist post-tonality and the traditional chamber music milieu.

Of course, the bits and pieces here are not enough to give a thorough grounding in the music of our time. Hopefully, the CD will inspire listeners to dig further, in the process gaining greater appreciation for the abundant and diverse riches available in contemporary concert music.