Rewrite: Bach, Reich & Radiohead

12 instrumentalists; 60 minutes of music, no intermission

In a program that explores recreation, iteration, and inspiration, two tectonically important contributions to music and two equally original responses. Songs by British indie-rock phenom Radiohead frame the program, and iconic American composer Steve Reich, responds with Radio Rewrite, in which he weaves the music of Radiohead into his own inimitable musical voice. The dazzling outer movements contrasted with the deeply heartfelt central movement make J.S. Bach’s Fifth Brandenburg Concerto one of his most beloved works. Gabriella Smith shows her love for the piece in her Brandenburg Interstices, which also draws on American folk music, the blues, Ligeti, and more.

Radiohead, arr. David Bloom: Jigsaw Falling Into Place (2007; 4’)
fl, cl, 2 vib, 2 pno, e-bass, strings (1 1 1 1 0)

Gabriella Smith: Brandenburg Interstices (2012; 13’)
Solo flute, solo violin and solo harpsichord | strings (1 0 1 1 1)

Steve Reich: Radio Rewrite (2012; 19’)
fl, cl, 2 vib, 2 pno, e-bass, strings (1 1 1 1 0)

Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 (1721; 20’)
Solo flute, solo violin, and solo harpsichord | strings (1 0 1 1 1)

Radiohead, arr. David Bloom: Everything In Its Right Place (2007; 4’)
fl, cl, 2 vib, 2 pno, e-bass, strings (1 1 1 1 0)

La belle et la bête

4 singers + 18 instrumentalists; 94 minutes of music, no intermission

Philip Glass’ La belle et la bête is performed in conjunction with Jean Cocteau’s 1946 film, projected with the original soundtrack eliminated entirely. Four singers sing the lines originally spoken in perfect unison with the scenes onscreen. Presented as a simple fairy tale, an extraordinary alchemy of the spirit transforms the ordinary world into one of magic. The power of the creative and the raw world of nature, represented respectively by Beauty and the Beast, finally emerges and allows the world of imagination to take flight.

Grooving in an irregular meter and floating along with bold colors of brass, winds, and off-kilter drums, French composer-pianist Christophe Chassol’s Reich & Darwin serves as a contrasting curtain-raiser.

Christophe Chassol, arr. J. Paul Bourque: Reich & Darwin (2015, arr. 2022; 6’)
fl (pic), cl, bcl, sax (sop & alt), bsn, 3 hn, 2 tbn, 1 perc, hp, syn, strings (1 1 1 1 1=eb)

Philip Glass: La belle et la bête (1994; 88’) — with film by Jean Cocteau
soprano, mezzo, 2 baritones; fl (pic), cl, bcl, sax (sop & alt), bsn, 3 hn, 2 tbn, 1 perc, hp, syn, strings (1 1 1 1 1)

Songs for the Earth

Mezzo-soprano & Tenor + 16 instrumentalists; 74 minutes of music, no intermission

Gustav Mahler’s seminal masterwork Das Lied von der Erde concerns itself with the “eternal beauty” of the earth versus the fleeting mortality of human life. The staggering beauty of the piece and the contemporary relevance to the texts compelled photographer J Henry Fair to create a multi-media visual component to project with a performance. The chamber reduction, started by Arnold Schoenberg and completed decades later, lends a potent intimacy to the work, set aside Fair’s often chilling images.

Featuring a narrator reading selected poems, Aaskah Mittal’s work-in-progress, All We Can Save, is inspired by the eco-feminist book of the same title. Opening the concert, native Hawai’an composer Leilehua Lanzilotti's stirring ao kuewa tells a story of renewal and care for the land.

Leilehua Lanzilotti: ao kuewa (2021; 5’)
1 1 1 1 | 2 0 0 0 | 3 perc | strings (1 1 1 1 1)

Aakash Mittal: All We Can Save (2026; 6’)
narrator; instrumentation TBD

— Intermission —

Gustav Mahler, arr. Schoenberg / Riehn: Das Lied von der Erde (1908-1909, arr. 1983; 63’) — with film by J Henry Fair
alto (or baritone) & tenor solos; 1(pic) 1(Eh)  1(Ebcl/bcl)  1 | 1  0  0  0 | 3 perc, pf, cel/harm | strings (1 1 1 1 1)

Street Scenes

19 instrumentalists; 66 minutes of music, plus intermission

This program of music inspired by artistic traditions from around the world kicks off with an instrumental transcription of a stunning performance by Gambian kora virtuoso Alhaji Bai Konte. With music about the composer’s childhood memories of street theater performances in the suburbs of Seoul, Unsuk Chin’s Gougalōn is an epic journey of its own. The piece would be thrilling with an original choreography, should spaces allow.

In response to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, musical polymath Vijay Iyer evokes India’s chaotic and colorful spring celebration of Holi in his RADHE RADHE. The work was created along with filmmaker Prashant Bhargave, whose video paired with the music contains gorgeous and compelling imagery from the celebration itself.

Alhaji Bai Konte, arr. David Bloom: Alla l’aa Ke (1973, arr. 2018) (7’)
1 1 1 1 | 1 1 1 0 | 2 perc, pno | strings (2 1 2 2 1)

Unsuk Chin: Gougalon (Scenes from a Street Theater) (2009/2011; 24’)
1(=picc,afl) 1(=CA) 1(=Ebcl,bcl) 0 | 0 1 1 0 | 2 perc, pno (2 players) | strings (1 1 1 2 1)

— Intermission —

Vijay Iyer: RADHE RADHE: Rites of Holi (2013; 35’) — with film by Prashant Bhargava
1 0 1(=bcl) 1(=cbsn) | 1 0 0 0 | 2 perc, 2 pno | strings (2 1 2 1 1) | electronics

Love Lost

1-2 singers + 22 instrumentalists; 63 minutes of music, plus intermission

Arnold Schoenberg represents a critical link in the continuum of music. His knowledge of and reverence for the repertoire, his undeniable ingenuity as an artist, and his genuine interest in pedagogy amplify his contributions to culture immeasurably. Schoenberg created a great tradition of music for large chamber ensemble, both with his own music and with his chamber reductions of large symphonic works for the medium.

In the tradition of these chamber reductions, this program is headlined by Azerbaijani composer Faradzh Karaew’s arrangement of Schoenberg’s monument of modernism: the one-act opera Erwartung, with a libretto by Marie Pappenheim. The omnipotent music delves into the psyche of opera’s sole character as she desperately searches for her lost husband, and the chamber arrangement allows for a fresh experience to the singer’s vulnerability and the audience’s voyerism.

Among Schoenberg’s several reductions of the orchestral music of Gustav Mahler is Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, a song cycle the composer wrote in the wake of the composer’s unhappy love for a soprano. The extravagantly emotional poems, written by the composer, lament the speaker’s unrequited love. Schoenberg’s deft reduction of one of Mahler’s more transparent scores make for chillingly intimate statement.

The program opens with its most optimistic work: Dylan Mattingly’s Seasickness and Being (in love), which points to the destability of the self and modes of experience. Opening in a violent spasm of sonic motion sickness, the work continues exploding outwards in a kaleidoscopic opening, journeying from life as a person to life as a planet. The work is performed in its original chamber orchestra instrumentation, a flourishing medium that owes its origins to the pioneering work of Schoenberg.

Dylan Mattingly: Seasickness and Being (in love) (2015; 15’)
1 1 1 1 | 1 1 1 0 | 2 perc, pno, kbd(=cel), e-bass | strings (1 1 1 1 0)

Gustav Mahler, arr. Arnold Schoenberg: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (1893, arr. 1920; 18’)
Medium voice | fl, cl, pno, harm, perc, strings (1 1 1 1 1)

— Intermission —

Arnold Schoenberg, arr. Faradzh Karaew: Erwartung, Op. 17 (1909, arr. 2004; 30’)
Soprano | 1 1 2 1 | 2 1 1 1 | 3 perc, hp, cel | strings (1 1 1 1 1)