Boston: Gunther Schuller's 'Encounters'

Author(s): Rodney Lister

Source: Tempo, Vol. 58, No. 228 (Apr., 2004), pp. 62-63
Published by: Cambridge University Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3878936
Accessed: 18-03-2020 11:53 UTC

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62 TEMPO

coming out of America and the European avant- anachronisms, the video by Jaap Drupsteen
garde, Andriessen created an ensemble andappeared a to be based on a kind of Grand Guignol
language with an overt non-elitist agenda. with pop-video colour.
Modelled initially on Andriessen's second The deeply intense and introspective stasis of
ensemble ('Hoketus'), Icebreaker took an evenDiderik Wagenaar's Pantomima had considerably
more extreme stance: they played amplified and more impact. It offered the most keenly heard of
assertive music, aiming for a communicative and all the textures of the programme; taut harmony
distinctive style created from a seamless fusion of and tightly-controlled gestures made this a com-
diverse modern vernaculars. For both ensembles, pelling - though by no means broadly popular -
repertoire was carefully chosen to suit political experience. The video by Hexstatic, a stately affair
and musical agendas. of blossoming stone-in-a-pond circular waves,
Some may have found it surprising, therefore, was attractive enough in itself for short periods,
that the pieces in the Big Noise programme were but its Mickey Mousing of the salient events in the
in many ways uncharacteristic of both ensembles. Wagenaar soon proved irritating and intrusive,
New works were commissioned from two British and its apparently automated progress was no
and two Dutch composers, yet the 'sound' most in match for the carefully-crafted subtleties of the
evidence was distinctly of the variety pioneered music.
by Andriessen in the late 1970s and formalized by The strongest of the evening's collaborations
many in Dutch orchestral music of the 80s and was that between Cornelis de Bondt and Tom
beyond. The distinctly 'classical' bent was reflect- Hadley. De Bondt had written for a similar project,
ed in the concert's stiff presentation (complete Kaalslag, in the 1980s, one involving de Volharding
with orchestral layout and the tradition of giving and Hoketus. The new work, Gli Toccha la Mano,
bouquets to the frontline participants); in many exhibited many of the same characteristics as de
ways, the videos that accompanied each work Deuren Gesloten, the work written for the earlier
were the main concession not only to these event: a deliberately orchestral approach to the
groups' aesthetics, but also to modernity. It is per- combined forces, harmonies hinting at Purcell's,
haps a reflection of this that the performances, structures of imposing scale and a frequently over-
although mainly of good quality, seemed rather whelmingly powerful passion. De Bondt's ability
formal and constrained: they lacked the gleeful to combine Minimalist extension with enormous
abandon, the ecstatic energy, that characterizes musical complexity is a beguiling paradox. The
the two groups at their best. presence of singer Cristina Zavalloni initially pro-
Yannis Kyriakides' Lab Fly Dreams most duced an operatic effect which was truly bizarre
avoided the 'Dutch' sound, opting instead for the given the groups involved, but her impressive
kind of lively and iridescent rhythmic layering range of vocal styles soon proved effective in this
(and even closely similar rhythms) of Michael work of extremes. Hadley's sensitive and starkly-
Gordon's 1992 Yo! Shakespeare for Icebreaker. It shot video counterpointed de Bondt's music
was one of the stronger of the collaborations beautifully; the combination was considerably
between composer and video artist - in this case more than the sum of its parts.
H.C. Gilje - with the music's twitchy rhythms John Godfrey
and insectile electronic clicks counterpointed
energetically and humorously by the video's itch-
inducing colour- and speed-modified close-ups of
frantic moths. Boston: Gunther Schuller's 'Encounters'
Joe Cutler described his Jack the Diamond's
Jamming Station as 'mostly full-on', but the distinc- Boston's Symphony Hall is celebrated as one of
tion between mere bombast and the emotional the finest concert halls in the world. It is generally
intensity and sheer resolve so ably demonstrated less well known that Boston also has the smaller
by Papa Andriessen seems to have escaped him and
on equally fine Jordan Hall, located in the New
England Conservatory. A fixture of Boston's
this occasion. The work's jazzy ending may have
been intended as a concession to the importance
musical life,Jordan Hall is also literally the heart of
of jazz in the outlooks of both groups, but its the
suc-Conservatory, being the venue not only of vis-
cess both as a conclusion and as a contribution to
iting celebrity solo and chamber music recitals,
but of a multitude of the whole range of the
an apposite sound-world was dubious. It was not
Conservatory's student concert activity.
the only point at which the language was unset-
tlingly outdated (I couldn't help recalling the In celebration of Jordan Hall's centennial in
October of 2003, New England Conservatory
climaxes of Schoenberg's op. 16 no.4 on frequent
occasions); responding, perhaps, to thesecommissioned a major work from Gunther

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 FIRST PERFORMANCES 63

Schuller, one of the school's former presidents. performed onJordan Hall's inaugural concert. For
Scored for a mammoth orchestra (including two the performance of Encounters, the stage of the
Pianos - one tuned to quarter tones - and littered hall was full to the brim with the New England
with such rarely-encountered instruments as bass Conservatory Philharmonia, consisting of more
trumpet, bass oboe, and contrabass clarinet), plus than 150 devoted players, led by the wonderful
jazz band, vocalists, and three improvising jazz jazz soloists, Allan Chase (alto saxophone),
soloists, Encounters is in the tradition of Schuller's Seamus Blake (tenor saxophone), and Dave Ballou
'Third Stream' works from the 1950s and 60s, (trumpet). Schuller feels, with some justification,
particularly Conversations, and those others writ- that he was truly inspired during the composition
ten for the Modern Jazz Quartet with various of his work; the performers seemed also to have
'classical' ensembles. But its scope, in terms of its been inspired, both by the occasion and by the
forces, its length, and its vision, makes all of those music which celebrated it.
works seem to be prefatory sketches. Schuller's Rodney Lister
Third Stream music was purported to be a fusion
of Jazz and Classical Music; in fact, those two
streams never really fused, but ran side by side in
the same channel. In the earlier pieces this sepa- London, Barbican: Masterprize Final
rateness was a function of Schuller's insistence on
adopting a 12-tone idiom for his 'classical' music, a There's no doubt that Masterprize, the interna
language which the jazz players he worked with - tional composition competition with a mission 't
all of whom were indisputably among the greatest bring music lovers and composers closer togeth
of their time - were not able to incorporate into er', is a slick and professional operation, with
their playing style; this made necessary a calcula- tremendous outreach. The CD with the six piec
tion which kept the styles discrete. Encounters also which made it to the final (of some 1,000 entrie
presents its classical and jazz elements in alterna- was stuck on the front of both Gramophone an
tion and juxtaposition, but there is more overlap Classic FM magazines, with a joint print-run o
of the styles - accounted for both by the fact that around 100,000. The 'gala final' in the Barbican o
jazz players today have a general greater familiari- 30 October, when the London Symphony
ty with more complex tonal languages, and by a Orchestra was conducted by Daniel Harding, w
more comprehensive range of organization of broadcast live on Classic FM (which reaches 6
material in the non-jazz music. million listeners a week), NPR in the States (1
Encounters is in four continuous movements, million) and Radio Latvia (you tell me); and NP
tracing a dream-like continuity encompassing a also packaged it for their deferred 'Symphon
large variety of different textures, ranging from Cast'. These are scarcely believable figures fo
dead still to turbulently chaotic. These follow one contemporary classical music: Masterprize
after another in a way which, although not follow- plainly doing an enormous amount of goo
ing an immediately apparent logic, is always Another statistic worth celebrating is that 1,30
completely convincing. The jazz aspect of the children were involved in the associated education
work, represented by a big band and three impro- project, playing the six works up and down the
vising soloists, threads its way through the UK. It's just a pity that most of the music that
argument of the piece, evolving in style from early made it through to the final was so dull, a post-
Duke Ellington to Miles Davis and beyond. The Hollywood syrup of feel-good consonance and
whole work, bristling with a multitude of musical glittering over-orchestration - slickly wrapped
events evoking a whole world of experience, empty boxes.
traces a giant arc which is both inherently satisfy- The finalists, for the record, were Les Fleuves
ing and also moving in what it reveals of Schuller's engloutis by Bechara El Khoury (France, b. 1957),
many musical interests and pursuits over the Tango (in fact, a tango suite) by Arturs Maskats
course of his life. and of his tirelessly generous (Latvia, b. 1957), Einstein's Violin by Robert
personality. Although there can be no question of Henderson (USA, b. 1948), You Must Finish Your
'influences' on a mature master composer, Journey Alone by Anton Plate (Germany, b. 1950),
Encounters nonetheless bears witness to the two the Symphony No. 6 by Nicolas Bacri (France, b.
composers who are the closest to Schuller's heart:1961) and Rainbow Body by Christopher
Ives and Ellington. Theofanidis (USA, b. 1967). The last-named was
The composer conducted the concert whichthe ultimate winner, though only, I suspect,
concluded with his new work and which began because it harmonized a chant (Ave Maria, 0 auc-
with the Melpomene Overture by one of his pre-trix vitae) by Hildegard of Bingen - if you can call
decessors, George Chadwick, which had been bunging a pedal point under something harmo-

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