Beyond the Noise

Today, I'm having another one of those 'pinch-yourself-to-check-you're-not-dreaming' days. Tonight, Song Company perform alongside the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in the Metropolis New Music Festival. We just had our sound check with Robert Spano, long time director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Amongst the town cries of Gibbons and Janequin, we're performing Luciano Berio's extraordinary (and difficult) Cries of London, written in 1975.

The score for Luciano Berio's Cries of London

In performing this masterwork of the 20th Century, I've been reminded of someone from my past. Just over ten years ago, when I was still at high school, I starting taking piano lessons with a woman in Palmyra. Her name was Mrs Thompson. She had been a promising concert pianist in the U.S (very much knocking on the glass ceiling) before she was hit by a car (the driver ran a red light) crossing the street, suffering major injuries. She survived, but needed extensive rehabilitation, and slowly learnt to walk and regain fine motor skills again. Her back would never truly heal. The pain of standing would be so great that she would be mostly wheelchair bound for the rest of her life. Hopes of a concert career vanished. But, slowly, she learnt to play the piano again, and began teaching. She was an exquisite musician, a great teacher, and had the most amazing hands. I remember her laying her hands over mine and playing 'through' them to show me what pianistic 'touch' really meant.

She has been on my mind because I can point to her being one of the first people to expose me to contemporary classical music. In our lessons we of course played beautiful keyboard music by the likes of Bach, Scarlatti, and Mozart, but we also explored some little known early keyboard music, including the likes of Domenico Zipoli, the 16th Century Italian Jesuit missionary who moved halfway across the world to Argentina before dying very young of a mystery illness. But more importantly we played lots of contemporary music. We played the Bartok Mikrokosmos, serial music by American, Canadian, European, and Japanese composers, and a number of Australian works. After my lessons (which usual included at least half an hour of her time for free) we'd sit in her lounge and she'd play tapes (yes, real cassette tapes) of Copland, Cage, Stockhausen, Berg, Schoenberg etc. over a cup of tea. It was here, at the age of 16 that I first learnt to listen to contemporary music, how to get past 'the noise' and find the music. I will forever be grateful to her for that gift.

The Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne. 

Now, some ten years later, my life is full of contemporary music. Last year I premiered two new Australian song cycles at the Sydney Opera House, and premiered seventeen new vocal works with Song Company. Tonight, I perform one of the most famous works of Luciano Berio, and the next day give six world premiere performances of Australian works, specifically written by Melbourne composers for a project in the Melbourne Recital Centre.

I have no idea if Mrs Thompson is still teaching (or still living in Australia) but I am making it my mission this evening to find her phone number and call her. It may be difficult as she was a notorious technophobe (see above re: cassette tapes) but I wonder how she'll react when I tell her that I've just sung / am about to sing Berio with the MSO.

Thank you, Mrs Thompson, and all the other teachers who aren't afraid to show their students that the teaching and performing classical music doesn't have to be limited to the distant past.

In Tempore Paschali - Review - Sydney Morning Herald

Song Company reviewed by Sydney Morning Herald. Full link here.

The Song Company, St Mary's Crypt

March 30

★★★★½

Song Company - Photo Credit: Simon Gorges

In 1610, after transforming his musical style with what he called the seconda pratica, or "second practice", and creating the first musically significant opera, Claudio Monteverdi had a "retro" moment, composing a six-part Mass of gloriously intricate polyphony in the style of 16th century masters like Josquin and Palestrina.

To clinch the connection, he based it on musical motives drawn from a motet by another 16th century composer, Nicolas Gombert, In illo tempore and it was Monteverdi's Missa In illo tempore and Gombert's motet that formed the central thread of the three parts of The Song Company's radiant presentation in the acoustically miraculous crypt of St Mary's Cathedral under their new artistic director, Antony Pitts.

Standing in a circle on the terrazzo floor under the central vault, the building amplified and echoed the interweaving lines with iridescent resonance, building to a peak of intensity in the elaborate counterpoint that closes the Gloria and Credo of the mass that was quite magical.

The three parts of the concert followed an Easter theme – Tomb, Hades and Throne – and each involved a short piece by Pitts himself and music by English Renaissance composers William Byrd and William Mundy and Australians Elliott Gyger and Alice Chance. Gyger's Creator alme sideru used an old plainchant as the basis for an elaboration in sensitively tonal style which evolved towards densely voiced chords of rich dissonance, using this composer's characteristic sensitivity to vocal capacity.

Chance's piece, And the Lord said, Fiat Lux, sung by a treble subgroup from behind the audience, explored darker sounds and caressing astringent suspended dissonances to create the idea that with the creation of light comes life and pain. Pitts' music expanded classic polyphonic vocal textures to incorporate modern harmonies within a broadly consonant framework and an original and sensitive understanding of the voice.

As new director, Pitts continues and honours The Song Company's special expertise in the glories of the Renaissance under previous director Roland Peelman, while also bringing a distinct and cogent personal perspective. This was a concert of rare and transcendent beauty.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/the-song-company-review-a-concert-of-rare-and-transcendent-beauty-20160401-gnvr0v.html#ixzz46cx5oIxd 

In Tempore Paschali - Review - Limelight Magazine

Song Company reviewed by Limelight Magazine. Full link here.

Song Company in The Crypt of St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney

★★★★☆ A three-part polyphonic soothing of the soul for Easter.

St. Mary's Crypt, Sydney
March 30, 2016

In a year 11 maths class, I distinctly recall having an argument with a school peer about whether Tchaikovsky or Beethoven was the greater composer. When I proposed the question “Tchaikovsky or Beethoven?” to my teacher, he replied, “Monteverdi”. Without Monteverdi’s towering figure in Western music, none of the proceeding greats would have been possible. In the Crypt of St. Mary’s Cathedral, the a cappella vocal group The Song Company put on a performance of early music, including Monteverdi, Gombert, Byrd and Mundy, together with works in a polyphonic style by contemporary composers including The Song Company’s own Artistic Director Antony Pitts, as well as Australian composers Elliott Gyger and Alice Chance. Though the long weekend is behind us, this concert is supposed to arouse the drama, majesty and mythic spirit of Easter. Given the holy location, the superb singing and the well thought out programme, it was quite a success. 

The concert was divided into three parts, representing three aspects of Easter: Tomb, Hades and Throne. The sections ran onto one another without applause, maintaining the sense of gravitas and mystery, connected only by a few thespian readings of poems by polymath Pitts himself. Each section incorporated a movement from Monteverdi’s Missa In illo tempore, using and exploring themes and motifs from works by Gombert which in turn featured in the programme. Each section also worked in Thou wast present as on this day from Pitts’ Requiem for the Time of the End. The unifying element was the fluidity of time, the connection between past, present and future and, of course, the musical thread of polyphony that can arouse a sense of the eternal in the hands of a dexterous composer. 

The singing throughout was precise and unforced, the vocalists taking advantage of the Crypt’s natural amplification. Pitt’s direction from within a circular arrangement ensured a tight relationship between vocalists, as well a democracy of the six singers. There was some thoughtful choreography, such as in the Byrd, where the soprano solo circled the other singers, as the sun moves around the sky, the homophony drawing out the theme of light banishing darkness. The contrast of plainchant and homophony against more daring and dissonant lines in Gyger’s and Pitts’ works was striking but soothed by the ultimate resolution in the form of Monteverdi and Mundy – again highlighting the fluidity of time and composition. Though all singers played their part, Andrew O’Connor was notably strong and full-bodied in a number of the items, particularly the Gyger. The arrangement of Thou was present as on this day in the final section (Throne) was notably resonant through a series of sustained, clashing high notes before giving way to Mundy’s promise in In aeternum of salvation through belief in God’s precepts.

- See more at: http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/live-reviews/review-tempore-paschali-song-company#sthash.FAtBtATl.dpuf

Hourglass Beach - Review - Cut Common Magazine

A review of Hourglass Beach, in the Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House. 

Read the full article here.

In true form to its aesthetic and mission statement as a chamber ensemble, Sydney’s new Hourglass Ensemble provided a mix of Polish and new Australian music including two world premieres in the Utzon Room. The programming provided opportunities for each of the artists to display their solo playing as well as demonstrate their tight, chamber ensemble skills.

The evening opened with Peter Sculthorpe’s ‘DreamTracks’ for clarinet, violin and piano. This piece takes influences from the musical ideas of ‘Dijilie’, and taken from the larger ‘Songlines’ series. The three musicians rendered their intricately woven musical parts together and created a vibrant rhythmic and textural scape. Gregory Kinda’s piano part provided the rhythmic and harmonic framework over which Andrew Kennedy on clarinet and Beata Stanowska danced and floated. Here, we heard some extremely fine ensemble playing matched with an enthusiastic presentation of this work.

The next piece on offering was a world premiere by Margery Smith. ‘White Shadows’, dedicated to her brother Peter, who tragically took his own life this year, is an exploration on the themes of impermanence, loss and isolation. Before the piece began, Smith spoke to the audience about the process of writing the work and the importance of the text. Poet Lidja Simkute then took to the stage and recited the text contained in the final movement. It is certainly refreshing to hear composers talk about their personal experiences and how this is displayed in their work.

The fifth movement ‘En Plein Air’ contained text from Rita Bratovich, based on the writings of Peter. The opening of this piece set the tone for the remainder of the work and a delicate atmosphere was soon established. The flute was placed off to the left and the violin to the right, gently echoing in the distance before moving closer to the rest of the ensemble. This was an extremely well crafted and considered composition that explored many shadings of colour from instrumental combinations. Baritone Andrew O’Connor, who was a guest soloist, relieved the lines of text with tenderness and delicacy, his velvety voice gliding atop the musical lines from the chamber ensemble. O’Connor’s expression and shading in these songs brought the poetry and the text to the fore.

To conclude the first half was a new work by Australian composer Michal Rosiak: ‘Contrasts’ for flute, clarinet and piano is cast in two contrasting movements. The first movement contains spiky harmonic and rhythmic episodes that quickly move into new musical ideas. Overall, this piece contained many fast-paced ideas that quickly changed without really evolving the musical line. Frantic episodes emerged and submerged themselves in a virtuosic feast. The ensemble performed to the highest of standards and the interplay between Kowalski on flute and Kennedy on clarinet was highly charged. Kinda’s pianistic gymnastics provided a tightly woven rhythmic impetus upon which the foundation of the ensemble was situated.

Opening the second set was Ewa Kowalski performing the solo flute work ‘Orient Bis’ by Adam Porebski. The piece draws on Japanese and Chines flute playing and explores extended techniques such as triple and double tonguing, flutter tonguing and glissandi, all which demonstrate exciting tonal palettes from the flute. Kowalski’s control of tone was highly developed and her control of the instrument highly crafted. Her approach to the extended techniques explored every subtle nuance of the flute and she was able to display all of her skills, technique and stagecraft in this virtuosic performance.

The centerpiece of the evening was a solo piano performance from Gregorgy Kinda, whose musical craft and sensibility were evident from the first few notes in his rendition of Grazyna Bacewiz’s Piano Sonata No. 2. This piece was composed in the early 1950s and displays a plethora of influences, ranging from hefty Russian rhythms and dissonances to elements of jazz, French music and Impressionistic overtones. Kinda’s thunderous approach demonstrates his total command and control of the Steinway piano, much like a race car driver behind the wheel of at high speed event. He propelled highly climactic music forward with every phrase. This was a charged performance of a work that had nearly everything in it. I had always thought Horowitz was my favourite pianist – and then I heard Gregory Kinda.

The concluding piece was another world premiere. Kennedy’s ‘Hourglass Beach’, for chamber ensemble and baritone explores themes of morality in today’s world. Beginning with a modal sounding harmonic framework, the musicians wove individual lines around musical ideas. Guest soprano Suzi Stengel entered the stage midway through the work and sung a lament in the second movement ‘Three Lullabies’. The soprano voice added a change of colour and pace to the work and served as a new palette before Andrew O’Connor took the reigns to conclude the piece. Andrew Kennedy’s scoring was well considered and thoughtful. His use of tonal language included modal elements and strong melodies.

This was a stand out performance from the Hourglass Ensemble in its inaugural performance as Sydney’s newcomer to the chamber music scene. Throughout the evening the group engaged with the audience, explaining the pieces and giving personal stories about the players. The room was charged with energy and enthusiasm and if this performance is anything to go by, it is safe to say Hourglass will have a very bright future as a high calibre chamber ensemble.

http://www.cutcommonmag.com/live-review-hourglass-beach/