The 2008 ACA Festival
by B.L.C.
The 2008 ACA Festival, once again held in New York, ran from Wednesday, June 4th through Saturday, June 7th. For the second year in a row it was held at the Peter Norton Symphony Space. Featured were outstanding artists Harold Rosenbaum and his New York Virtuoso Singers, violinist Maria Sampen, clarinetist Naomi Drucker, pianist Christopher Oldfather, sopranos Nicole Pantos and Patricia Sonego and many others. Some of the composers featured included John Eaton, Elliott Schwartz, Margaret Fairlie-Kennedy, Beth Wiemann, Elizabeth Bell, Marc Blitzstein and John Melby. Our critique of Program #2 is offered here. Much more of the festival will be covered in the next issue of New Music Connoisseur, Vol. 16#2, due out in January 2009.
Program #2: Thur., June 5, ”New Piano Ensemble Music.” Steven Kemper: Run from Fear — Marilyn Shrude: Memories de luogi — Nathan Bowen: Cassia — André Brégégère: Vol de nuit — Elliott Schwartz: Suite for Viola & piano — Fred Cohen: Four Episodes — Anthony Lanman: Il dolce stile nuovo — Gregory Hall: The Waking — Joyce Hope Suskind: Meditations on War and Peace.
Although the piano may have been intended as playing the essential role on this program, at least according to the title, it was the timbral diversity that stood out along with some outstanding performances. The one work which dispensed with the keyboard, however, Brégégère’s Night Flight, (credited to George Perle’s influence) could have used a bit more octaval stretch to keep it from coming off as just too understated, despite the subtle counterpoint interpreted well by the assigned quartet of flute, clarinet, violin and cello. Two other brief works under six minutes, Mr. Kemper’s and Mr. Bowen’s, seem to have more energy and harmonic interest, the latter especially, a flavorful four-minute composition with interesting complexities. Mr. Kemper’s piece, inspired by wordplay, one of our pet devices, offers contrasting segments between terror and dark humor, parallelling a witty spoonerism (Run from Fear/Fun from Rear).
But the longer more ambitious selections held sway. Prof. Shrude’s Memories of Places (made up of “Tangled Paths/Water … still and undisturbed/Born of Mountains”) are highly descriptive, with many extended techniques for the violin, accompanied by piano, notably passages with a lot of tremolo and uptempo rhythms, not to mention some lovely moments of peace and rest, all as a reminiscence upon time spent in Bellagio, Italy.
The very longest work ended the concert impressively and, at the risk of resonating a bit of sexism in reverse, meant that the two women composers stole the evening. Truly Ms. Suskind’s “Meditations” – note the implicative proximity to “Memories” – is a remarkably inspired vocal setting of profoundly felt poems by Morgan Alexander, Gerard Manley Hopkins and W.B. Yeats. Especially notable is the use of a major key in Hopkins’ “War” and the unexpectedly march-like rhythm in Yeats’ famously resounding “The Second Coming” ending with the much quoted words, ”And what rough beast, it’s hour come round at last/ Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born.” Paradoxically, this music moves into the realm of great art by being uplifting rather than depressing or alarming.
We found Fred Cohen’s Four Episodes (“Flash/Breath/Arioso/Pure”) to be well-conceived for the clarinet and piano. Mr. Lanman’s work has dramatic impact as it reaches its climax. Looking at Mr. Schwartz’s early suite retrospectively, we see it as a bit unfinished in some of its segments; perhaps the composer was holding back those powers that were to eventually emerge. Gregory Hall’s Waking also seems to want to say more, although the Theodore Roethke poem of just six stanzas is milked for all it is worth. It does show a writer for voice who knows how to put the right note(s) to every word, something not always evident amongst other composers of song.
May we say this event celebrated the idea of June busting out all over, as it was rich and unbridled in musical interpretation. Every player was on their game, but especially noteworthy was the playing of four women, in addition to the fine performances of violist Tawnya Popoff (in the Schwartz) and soprano Jeannie Im (in the Hall). Maria Sampen, Marilyn Shrude’s daughter, is a violinist to ponder. Not only was her technique spot-on and exciting, but she projected an unbridled joy in her playing through body language that was close to terpsichorean. Asuko Yamamoto’s clarinet had a purity about it that was utterly innocent, while Naomi Drucker’s tone in Memories was simply commandingly beautiful. Along with Nicole Pantos’ gorgeous singing (emphasizing legato line over diction), Ms. Drucker made the finale memorable.