Thursday February 2nd, 2023 - This evening's program in the Miller Theatre's ongoing series of Composer Portraits introduced us to the Norwegian composer Øyvind Torvund, above, whose music has been described as "...simultaneously quirky, serious, frenetic, and shimmering..."
The Miller Theatre stage was set with two grand pianos and a vast array of percussion instruments. The musicians who had gathered to perform were the JACK Quartet, Yarn/Wire, Laura Cocks (flute), Rane Moore (clarinet), and Giacomo Baldelli (guitar).
Above: ensemble for the evening's opening work, Plans, photo by Rob Davidson for Miller Theatre at Columbia University
The concert opened with Plans, composed in 2020; this evening marked the world premiere of a new, revised version for flute, clarinet, electric guitar, two pianos, percussion, and string quartet. Large projections of the composer's drawings (primitive and almost childlike) and witty descriptions of what we were hearing were flashed on the back-panel.
I must confess that I was not immediately taken with the music of this sprawling, epic piece; the presence of a garbage can onstage at first seemed stale and provocative, though I admit the resulting noise was rousingly effective. But as this kozmic work progressed, fascinating textures sprang up in a melding of background noise (often drawn from nature) and strangely beautiful music. The pianists and percussionists of Yarn/Wire had their work cut out for them, deftly handling everything the composer sent their way, whilst the gentlemen of the JACK Quartet at times evoked Wagner, Mahler, and Richard Strauss in contrast to the jagged, prickly motifs that otherwise occupied them. By the end of Plans, Øyvind Torvund had thoroughly won me over.
Following a brief interview of the composer by executive director Melissa Smey, and a rather protracted intermission, the artists of Yarn/Wire returned to the stage for Untitled School/Mud Jam (from 2014). The playing of pianists Laura Barger and Julia Den Boer and percussionists Russell Greenberg and Sae Hashimoto was entwined with passages of electronic sound; throughout, projected images of artwork - sometimes quirky - filled the screen behind them.
Above: the artists of Yarn/Wire; photo by Rob Davidson for Miller Theatre at Columbia University
The music here veers from spare to noisy, with Mlles. Barger and Den Boer reveling in a long passage of staccati, glissandi, and pinpoint tinkling notes, as the percussion duo introduce novel sounds such as bowing on the edge of a standing cymbal. A pre-recorded symphony orchestra is heard briefly, as if playing in an adjacent hall, and at one point Ms. Barger takes up the acoustic guitar. There are bird calls, too. Then we are plunged into the rumbling darkness of Mud Jam, a growling and rather ominous finale.
Above: the JACK Quartet and Yarn/Wire in the program's closing work, In the clouds; photo by Rob Davidson for Miller Theatre at Columbia University
The evening's final work was the world premiere of In the Clouds (2023), reuniting the JACK Quartet and Yarn/Wire in a dazzling performance. It opens with the sound of the wind blowing, laced with beats on the bass drum. Eerie trilling from the strings, and sagging sustained notes, meet with mixes of inventive piano and percussive motifs.
A delightfully night-clubbish theme is taken up by the JACK, whilst Ms. Hashimoto introduces the sound of one of my favorite instruments: the marimba. There is also the whistling of birds, while the entwining voices of marimba and piano work their magic on me. The strings sigh as cymbals are spun on the floor, falling with subtle crashes. The JACK's playing becomes more insistent, and then Mr. Greenberg offers a big, banging percussion cadenza. We hear melismatic figurations for marimba and piano with scurrying strings lingering on high. The musics fades to a windswept finish.
The hall, which had seemed to be under a spell throughout the performance, now erupted with excited applause; Mr. Torvund came forward from the audience and bounded onto the stage in a graceful leap. The musicians took their leave, but the crowd stayed on, cheering until players and composer returned for another bow.
The moral of tonight's experience: some music might not seem to be your cup of tea at first, but you could become drunk on it by the evening's end.
~ Oberon