CROSSROADS 2016

Since Monday, I have been in the beautiful city of Salzburg for this year's Crossroads International Contemporary Music Festival. This festival is a growing festival which aims to bring composers from different nations to celebrate ideas and challenge each other in an intensive few days of concerts and lectures. This year was the largest festival and included a lecture by the Italian Simone Fontanelli who discussed his creative work and the conundrum of how to address other people in your own music. Ensemble Synaesthesis have been resident for the whole week, and in the second night of the festival gave a performance of works by Andriessen and Lang. The penultimate night I had the opportunity to discuss elements of my recent research to date.

But ultimately the point of focus was last night's finale. All the work and anticipation was geared towards this performance of two Austrian premieres and three world premieres presented by the resident ensemble Synaethesis. The first work was Rytis Mazulis's De plus en plus, which was first premiered in Druskomanija 2016. Those of you that read my review of the premiere, will remember my astonishment at the fact that this work was so upbeat and perky in comparison to many other of Rytis's works. Last night's performance in Jazzit:Muzik:Club in Salzburg was the perfect venue for it, and a perfect way to open a wonderful concert.

Then after a bit of shuffling came a little ditty by myself, but noone wants to hear about that so lets move on to the more interesting stuff. After even more shuffling came the Austrian premiere of Matthias Leboucher's Underwards for ensemble and electronics. The work was premiered in Synaethesis's GAIDA debut, and I was really struck by the work for its ability to be knee deep in the wonderful worlds of Romitelli and Grisey, without sounding like cheap knock-offs of either. After talking to the composer at the original premiere, he pointed out there were a few hiccups with the electronics, so last night's performance was an extra joy to hear as all the electronics were present and gave the work that extra little something. The gestures, the shape, the colours, were all immaculate; my only thought is how would Matthias tackle a large scale work? I imagine if he did it successful it would push him into a really truly fascinating realm. I highly recommend you check out his soundcloud.

After slightly less shuffling came a work by Karolina Kapustaite, a composer whose development I have watched with the same keen interest that a kestrel watches a mouse in a cornfield. Her work White Light, which was the second world premiere of the night, was written for a slightly smaller ensemble but was by no means less colourful or powerful. The use of harmonic space, combined with strong direct gestures made the work highly memorable, and an interesting step after her work which was premiered in Druskomanija 2016. Ultimately listening to this I was reminded of the works of Magnus Lindberg where the sense of energy was the result of an elaborate combination of natural overtones and building chromatic fields. The other thing I found myself loving, was the fact Karolina and Matthias were a wonderful compliment of each other. Their works inhabited similar spaces without sounding like imitations of each other. Also check out Karolina on soundcloud!

The finale came in the form of seven steps from the top by Dominykas Digimas, another composer I have observed with a lot of interest. I have often found myself witnessing Dominykas exploring the start of a very curious rabbit hole, and last night's premiere was no exception. The piece drew inspiration from Lithuanian Sodai, beautiful folk art sculptures with many layers of symbolism and spirituality.

The piece for quintet was an interesting departure as it was a work straddling the line between refined elegant sounds and filthy noise. The pulsations and circling round singular pitches were bold and strong, but after a while the effect began to thin out as simply the originality of the gesture wasn't strong enough to hide some of the weaknesses in the construction. The harmonic field was the main weakness, simply because it wasn't strong enough to give the work a point of reference. This being said, there is a lot of space to explore in this kind of world, it is a world I have a lot of love for ever since I first discovered the works of Radulescu, Iancu Dumitrescu, and Ana-Maria Avram. This could be why I found faults with the piece. I am looking back up from the rabbit hole, knowing how much further Dominykas can go. As long as he lets himself fall further into the warren there is potential for something very curious to come out of him. See more of Dominykas's works here.

The ensemble Synaesthesis were on good form, and tackled the bold task of performing the premieres in their stride. They have really come on a long way in the year I have been watching their performances. The one trick I particularly adored about the concert, was the simple fact all the works complimented each other, the concert as a whole had a wonderful shape to it, something which is far to rare in contemporary music concerts. So bravo Synaesthesis and bravo Crossroads for a wonderful festival.

Blog post of pure reason

After a week of allowing ourselves to have a breather and a chance to gather ourselves after last week, I thought it'd be nice to return to a familiar name to this blog to at least bring a smile to everyone. This has turned into a brief return to Rytis Mazulis. I sincerely hope for those reading this blog need no introduction to the work of Rytis (if you do, I must find a way to be more blatant). 


For those unfamiliar with the composer, Rytis Mazulis is one of the most seminal composers of the Lithuanian landscape. He occupies a fascinating space which tapping into intense intellectual drive as well as a complete rejection of the past. His music draws influence from the likes of Conlon Nancarrow, as well as having the same intensive microtonal obsessions of James Tenney and Horatiu Radulescu. Many commentators on Rytis's work label him as a 'super-minimalist', I have two problems with this title; firstly it sounds like a terrible superhero name, secondly because Rytis's work is intensively concerned with canons surely if he is a minimalist, Ockegham must be a minimalist too! Even though Rytis's music does show some of the habits of other minimalists, but to place him in the same field as them is ultimately wrong. 


For those who spotted the terrible pun in the title of this post, today's featured work is Rytis's 'Clavier of Pure-Reason' (1993). The title of this seminal work is an amalgamation of J.S. Bach's Well-Tempered Klavier and Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure-Reason. This profound obsession with philosophy and intellectualism is another characteristic which separates Mazulis from the American and British minimalists who saw minimalism as an opportunity to renounce intellect. 


The Clavier of Pure-Reason is a very straight forward work. A humble work for 24 pianos or one pianist and electronics, the work layers many canonic adaptations of an original idea and slowly introduces into an violent haze before slowly fading them out. The result is a wacky, almost hyperactive work full of an oddly sadistic sense of humour. The complexity of the layering and the use of the piano has many similarities to Conlon Nancarrow, but to suggest this is pastiche of him would be shortsighted. Ultimately the Clavier of Pure-Reason is like Conlon Nancarrow on a cocktail of speed and red bull, or alternatively like listening to J.S. Bach while overdosing on acid. It is oddly familiar but oddly terrifying. A truly unique work, from a magical composer. Enjoy! 

 

Druskomanija 2016 - Day Three

Another day, another concert in the Druskomanija festival. Audience members wandered in from the lovely early summer heat, ensemble Synaesthesis wandered in looking cool and ready to drop something heavy.

Ensemble Synaesthesis is an ensemble built of young daring musicians wanting to do something new in the Lithuanian scene. It is a very noble move indeed, and the ensemble sure do have the energy to give it a bloody good shot. 

Their concert featured four works by composers, including two of the larger stalwart composers of the local scene; Rytis Mazulis and Gintaras Sodeika. The first work, Chrystal Images by George Halloway starting with rich harmonies appearing above a particularly resonant trombone fundamental, sumptuous colours burst from the density. As the piece progressed, the episodic break down of material became a tad cliched and stopped the piece from just sitting in a magical space. Each section was happy to sit still and ponder but then, became pointlessly broken. In short the piece opened up a space that could have been explored hours, allowing a glimpse at something infinitesimal. But instead skimmed the surface of an endless ocean never finding land, or gold.

Following this came Walking Cat Counterpoint by Aleksaj Kalinin. As soon as the piece started it stank with the stench of Steve Reich. The use of repetitive patterns and phasing and other 'minimalist' devices, gave us nothing new. We have heard it all before, maybe if the past 70 years didn't happen, I might have been impressed. To confound the problem, the work lacked the core ideal of American minimalism, a clearly audible structure or going through a process.  What we were given were smatterings of different pastiche Reich ideas which lasted a little while and were replaced by new ones. For a supposedly minimalist piece, there is a lot happening. The ideas weren't explored in a decent way by a minimalist's standards, or by any other kind of composer's standards.


The following work surprised and stunned me. It opened with a bright, brilliant burst of energy, the ensemble were pulsing slowly growing. The work was as charming as it was hypnotic. It was definitely the perfect tonic to cure the ailments of the preceding work. Then the moment that surprised me was the ending, seeing Rytis Mazulis walk up to the front. The work was very similar and very different to anything I have ever heard from Rytis. It had the same dependency and invention of canon that I have known and loved for a long time, but there was something wildly different about it. It was the happiest and most optimistic work I have ever heard by him. I have heard 'modal' pieces by him, like his Canon Solus, but it had a calmer more austere quality, and his more intensive works like Canon Mensurabilis, were brutal heavy handed and dark. I was stunned and surprised, and struck with a gleaming smile on my face. I am curious to see is this a new phase in the Mazulis saga, or is it merely something he needed to get out of his system? Either I do love it went giant figureheads evaluate their work and produce something wonderfully out of sync.


The finally was Dru Ka Ja Mu Di by Gintaras Sodeika. It started with whistles and scraps shuffling in the intimate space. The work continued to grow gradually and evolved into quite a magical ritual for ensemble. As the ritual intensified, the noise grew, leading to roars and growls from electronics. The work descended into an intense but awe inspiring anarchy. Then gradually the work came under control again, almost coming to a complete stop, before the electronics went nuts. The introduction of drum loops and screaming grooves were striking, but sadly felt a bit more comical under the circumstances. It felt more like Gabriel Prokofiev than a nice strong Romitelli. The work was so promising but the ending ultimately shattered the work. If the piece had started with more intense use of drum loops or had hinted at them more strongly I would have been convinced. Its quite a shame really, there are some really great pieces by the composer, this just didn't quite match the previous greats.


Ensemble Synaesthesis were very strong throughout and their conductor Karolis Variakojis was as steady and calm as a rock. When dealing with heavy minimalism I know how mind bending it can be to conduct or page turn for it, so hats off to a skilled conductor. My only issue is the ensemble are extremely talented and are hungry to bite into a good chunk of new music, I am curious with their obsession with minimalism. Mostly in the sense of it is far more mainstream than it used to be, admittedly composers like Laurence Crance, Eliane Radigue, and La Monte Young still scour the edges, but I am sure Synaethesis could tackle something with more grit and oomph. Seeing them try harder minimalists like Eliane Radigue or La Monte Young would be spectacular, or even getting their teeth stuck into some of the more violent avant-garde composers alive today like Iancu Dumitrescu, or Ana Maria-Avram to name just two. They did extremely well, I would just love to see them broaden themselves even further.


Following this came a late night shindig with a mini-moog and three pieces. I was one, I made some noises to start it off, the piece started, grew, then ended. I know noone reads this blog for me to talk about myself.

Alongside myself were two teams of composers, firstly the self proclaimed Voyage Voyage performed their MMVXLEtude. It was quite an intense exploration of the mini-moog and the two performers, Karolina Kapustaite and Dominykas Digimas, had a great interaction and rapour. 

The finale came in the form of Monika Zenkeviciute and Jura Elena Sedyte. Their Trys Saltiniai, was equally as impressive to witness and the two really found some fun areas and sounds to ponder. As their energy grew, they ended with a ring modulated scream and the 'late night' concert came to a close before 10pm. It was a wonderful light hearted event and everyone seemed impressed and content.


Now to bring on tonight's concert with the St. Christopher's Chamber Orchestra!

Diana Cemeryte: Still

This week I am going to introduce a truly wonderful composer. Diana Cemeryte is a wonderful discovery I have made since I moved to Vilnius. A composer whose music is just wonderfully still and hypnotic. A student of Teistutis Makacinas, Rytis Mazulis, and Osvaldas Balakauskas Diana currently resides in Frankfurt.

Due to her study of gregorian chant and desire to not 'chatter' her music is extremely austere. The austerity is not a coldness or lack of sensation, but a chilled beauty like a singular snowflake. A snowflake is quite a wonderful comparison as the stillness is not just an empty space. In composers like Morton Feldman the stillness is frozen music moving extremely slowly, whereas in Anton Webern and Diana Cemeryte the stillness is extremely and elegantly layered. The fixation on gregorian chant and early polyphony means her work flows and moves seamlessly from space to space.

The music draws you in and forces you to focus on a singularity. As soon as you do this, you see how complex and sophisticated the construction is; like zooming in on a snowflake you see the symmetry, the skilled and perfect construction which was invisible from a distance.

The piece that first drew me into her astounding work was Still (2004) for solo piano. A work which in its seven minutes takes you away to something distant and profoundly mystical. The opening is intensely quiet, with lines bouncing around the highest reaches of the instrument. Notes hang in the air as the counterpoint thickens. Despite being so still and silent, the listener is frozen in place. You slowly begin to pick out small instances of the harmonic language, but due to the sparsity and modesty of it all these hints fall into insignificance. The flowing lines steadily pick up momentum and you gain the sensation of a rippling energy under the surface, like a river flowing under the ice.

The sensation of form has disintegrated in this piece, this isn't to say there is no form in actuality the form ceases to matter. The 'climax' around the five minute mark is striking, almost startling, and you calmly return to the meditative stillness and just follow the work to its end. The piece flows, the moment arrives, the moment passes. Once its gone it never returns, hints of a past are dropped every so often, but you just sit and watch the world flow by; like a monk meditating. A thought arrives and a thought leaves.

Such an elegant work indeed, you can listen to it here on soundcloud. I will definitely be on the look out for more work from this stunning composer. 

Rytis Mazulis - Canon Mensurabilis

Before I start my usual ramblings, my brief absence has been the combination of having my first visitor from the UK and being knee deep in other tasks. It has allowed me to spend some time thinking about who on earth do I discuss next. It then suddenly struck me, it has to be Rytis Mazulis next. Having been in Vilnius now for three months, I have been able to see the magnitude of Mazulis's cult status. A quiet man, who is regularly found walking up and down the corridors of the academy, from my own encounters coffee is one of the main motivations for Mazulis's wanderings up around the academy.

Rytis Mazulis (1961*) when he was a student studied with Bronius Kutavicius in the M.K. Ciurlionis School of Arts, then went on to study with Julius Juzeliunas in the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. Mazulis is often described as a 'machinist' composer (not to be misread as 'masochist' composer), for those unfamiliar with the title; 'machinism' supposedly music which ultimately is very mechanic. Ultimately this is kind of true, but tells you nothing about what the music sounds like. I also dislike the title because of its use as an extension of minimalism. This is something that also misses the mark, a significant amount of Mazulis's music is canonic, ultimately a never ending canon, or a perpetually circling canon which is positively medieval, not minimalism.

Rytis Mazulis also often incorporates microintervallic gestures into his music, which is often used to blur the landscape or to simply distort the canon, but always producing hypnotic results. I remember just over a year ago Rytis told me about how when Horatiu Radulescu was in Vilnius, Radulescu kept telling Mazulis off for using microtones in the 'wrong' way.

 I digress, another element of Mazulis's music is the form. Ultimately in Mazulis's works, the form is in one direction, going from start to 'finish'. Inside the music, will be small evolutions and distortions, but never recapitulating in any sort of 'classical' sense. This combined with the hypnotic sounds is one of the many things that drew me to Mazulis's works, they hold you and simply are, there isn't any real extra nonsense on top of it. Any listener can hear the results.

The piece I wanted to show is 'Canon Mensurabilis' written in 2000 for the ensemble 'Ensemble Court-Circuit'. Like the medieval canon, the work is focused on a canon with different voices moving at different speeds. But on top of this Mazulis has some fun fluctuations and distortions running at the same time. Firstly the beat patterns change in patterns of:

(12-6) (10-5) (8-4) (6-3) (4-2) (3-6) (4-8) (5-10) (12-6) (10-5) (8-4) (6-3) (4-2)

This irregular pulsing ultimately distorts all sensation of rhythm as the predictability is constantly distorted. The semi-quaver pulse in the piano feels unrelenting and constant. On top of this the use of microintervals also distorts the soundscape. The piano from C3-B4 are tuned a quarter down. C4-C5 are unchanged, and C#5-C#6 are tuned a quarter up. On top of this the violin and flute (who are with C#5-C#6) play a quarter tone, the clarinet and viola do not play microintervals. The cello (who is within C3-B4) plays a quarter tone up. This combination of microintervals produces 'out of tune' semitonal clashes, which resolve. But always circling. The result is hypnotic and mind boggling, if 60s hippie bands had access to this instead of the sitar they would have had their brains fried.

But enough chit-chat here is the piece:

 Until next time.