~ Author: Oberon
Thursday December 5th, 2019 - Composer Bright Sheng (above), who celebrates his 64th birthday on December 6th, was fêted this evening in the popular Composer Portraits series at Columbia University's Miller Theatre.
Sheng, wearing delightful red shoes, spoke briefly, played the piano, and conducted the chamber orchestra for the evening's concluding piece: his marimba concerto entitled Deep Red. Four of Sheng's works were played - to perfection - by young artists from 20/21 Ensemble, the Curtis Institute’s new-music ensemble. The program provided a panorama of the composer's fresh and distinctive style, in which he blends musical traditions of his native China with Western classical musical forms. It was a deeply rewarding and edifying evening.
My first live encounter with Bright Sheng's music came when he was composer-in-residence at New York City Ballet (the first to hold such a distinction). providing the score for Christopher Wheeldon's touching 2007 ballet, The Nightingale and The Rose. The composer has since held residencies at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and at numerous festivals and educational institutions. He is now the Leonard Bernstein Distinguished University Professor of Music in the Composition Department of the University of Michigan's School of Music.
For tonight's Miller Theatre presentation, each of the four works was played before a back-panel saturated in colour: butttercup yellow for String Quartet # 4, silver-blue for Clearwater Rhapsody, green for Dance Capriccio, and a soft orange glow for the marimba concerto.
Sheng's String Quartet #4, "Silent Temple" (2000) was inspired by the composer's visit to a 400-year-old Buddhist temple, called Ta'er, in the Qinghai province. Following the Cultural Revolution, the site had fallen into ruin. Sheng's string quartet reflects on the feelings he experienced during his visit.
Performed in four short, nearly continuous movements, "Silent Temple" was played this evening by the Vera Quartet, currently Quartet-in-Residence at Curtis. The four musicians - Rebecca Anderson and Pablo Rodríguez Rodríguez (violins), Inés Picado Molares (viola), and Justin Goldsmith (cello) - displayed the pristine clarity of sound that is so essential to Bright Sheng's music.
From a misterioso start, with the violin sounding high and elusive, calm settles in: soft dynamics, and a gentle rocking feeling with the cello and 2nd violin providing deft pizzicati. All four players engage in a game of plucking tag, with a feeling of reverb brought into play by the slippery, sliding effects of the cello.
An insectuous passage introduces a trudging rhythm. The music becomes dramatic, and from the cello and 2nd violin, rising arpeggios are heard. The music becomes buzzy and busy, with jagged attacks. For the quartet's final segment, dreamy harmonies are in play, and a wistful atmosphere pervades. The violins and viola have lovely melodic motifs, and Ms. Anderson's luminous tone shines in an ethereal solo. Following a brief rhythmic intrusion, tranquility is restored. A skittish rising passage takes us to a final slashing pulsation.
Above: Cathy Yang with her erhu
In Clearwater Rhapsody (2018) - a musical vision of Hong Kong’s Clearwater Bay - Sheng brings forth the erhu, a sort of upright, two-stringed fiddle played to ravishing effect this evening by Cathy Yang, who is a true virtuoso. The composer was at the piano, joining violinist Claire Bourg and Mr. Rodríguez Rodríguez.
The rhapsody gives the erhu prominence, and what an evocative sound it is. Ms. Yang's mastery of the instrument shone throughout, in various cadenzas that showcased the instrument's coloristic range, which veers between dreamy, soulful, haunting, and hypnotic. Delicate trills and wavery effects highlighted the artist's control in a spellbinding performance.
Her colleagues brought forth many passages to delight the ear: I especially loved a raindrop effect from the piano while the violin plucked and the cello sang in its higher range. In the end, the music becomes animated and rich, rising to a final chord.
Following the interval, David Serkin Ludwig talked briefly with Bright Sheng, touching on such questions as "What is the music of one's time?" and "Who is music for?" The composer spoke of the power of art "..to touch audiences and make them forget the world." That is exactly what I am ever in search of as I go from concert to concert, museum to museum, book to book: something that moves and inspires me.
Dance Capriccio (2011) for piano and string quartet honors the dance traditions of the Sherpa people, a small ethnic group renowned worldwide for their skill as mountaineers, working as guides for expeditions in the Himalayas, and especially for climbers of Mount Everest. The Sherpa people love to dance, and that is the launching point for Sheng's Dance Capriccio, in which the composer borrows from elements of the Sherpa folk dances and weaves them into the Western form of a piano quintet.
Maya Anjali Buchanan and Youjin Lee (violins), Cynthia Phillippi (viola), and Albert Seo (cello) were joined ior the Dance Capriccio by pianist Zitong Wang. Dreamy chords and single tones struck on the keyboard initiate the piece; then the pianist takes up a dance as the strings pluck. The vibrant music sails along, trilling and pulsing on is way, before slowing to a passage of rich, meshing string sounds; Mr. Seo's passionate playing drew our focus.
Seemingly headed for a tranquil, sustained finish, the work instead ends with a bit of drama.
The evening concluded with a sensational performance of Deep Red, Sheng's 2014 concerto for marimba, which was originally written for the popular percussionist Evelyn Glennie. For thematic material, the composer turned to a love song he wrote when he was a teenager living in Qinghai, drawing inspiration from local folk music.
Above: Pius Cheung, soloist for the marimba concerto
The charismatic Mr. Cheung, who has the lithe form of a dancer, was wonderfully graceful to watch as he deftly handled the mallets and engaged his entire body in summoning the music from his marimba, an instrument I always love to hear.
The players who formed the chamber ensemble for Deep Red displayed not just immaculate musicianship and appealing tone, but personalities that made watching them particularly enjoyable. All shall be named: Maya Anjali Buchanan and Youjin Lee (violins), Cynthia Phillippi (viola), Albert Seo (a most engaging cellist), Jason Henery (double bass), Jihoo Yu (flute), Yan Liu (clarinet), Kip Zimmerman (oboe), Rachael Lee (bassoon), Andrew Stump (horn), and William Yang (piano).
The marimba makes a brisk opening statement, then follows up with a flow of notes laced with sudden flourishes. Achingly beautiful strings sound, and Mr. Cheung displays the marimba's dynamic palette. A mid-work mallet change brings more ping to the instrument's sound; the player is engaged in ample, wide ranging coloratura as well as swiftly brushed upward motifs.
The composer has injected solo phrases for each member of the ensemble, in which the musicians as individuals regale us with handsome, vivid playing. Pardon me if, as a former horn player, I give special note to Andrew Stump's solo forays, tonally abundant and especially fun when mixing with the bassoon-playing of Rachael Lee. And it's always a good idea to have a double bass on board: kudos to Jason Henery for plumbing the depths.
Albert Seo's deep emotional investment in the music shone in an elegiac string passage (joining Mlles. Buchanan, Lee, and Phillippi), with Mr. Cheung now giving the marimba a soft touch: a softness sustained by Jihoo Yu's flute. (Earlier the flautist also piped up on the piccolo.) Solos from Yan Liu (clarinet) and Kip Zimmerman (oboe) were attractively played, and William Yang held forth at the keyboard.
At the end of the concerto, Mr. Cheung was saluted by audience and composer alike. Then, as the crowd applauded warmly, the composer personally greeted each of the participating musicians.
A meaningful quote about composing from Bright Sheng: "You need to be able to reach the audience. You have to touch them emotionally. Down into their bones. Touch their nerves. Then you know you did your job.” It is just such an emotional connection that I am forever seeking in music, dance, and art. I found it tonight, in Bright Sheng's engrossing works.
~ Oberon