Momenta festival 2017

Momenta Festival 2017 ___________________________________________________________________________

October 1 Air from Another Planet Curated by Emilie-Anne Gendron With Elizabeth Brown, theremin and featuring video art by Lothar Osterburg Dixon Place Theater www.dixonplace.org 161A Chrystie Street New York, NY 10002 Program: Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704): Rosary Passacaglia for solo violin in g minor, C. 105 (“Guardian Angel,” ca. 1676) (11 mins) John Cage (1912-1992): Chorals (1978) for solo violin (4.5 mins) I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX.

Très sonore Andante Lent Sans lenteur (Rude) Pas trop lent Sans lenteur Lent Très large Grave

Kee Yong Chong (b. 1971): Silence Cosmos (2005) for string quartet (12 mins) Michael Small (b. 1988): White Space - Meditation on Saenredam (2015) for solo violin *US Premiere (7 mins) (Projection) Elizabeth Brown (b. 1953): Piranesi (2007/12) for theremin and string quartet, with video by Lothar Osterburg *written for Momenta (16 mins)

I. Arches and Caverns - II. Hive/Waltz - III. March - IV. Machine Dreams - V. Arches and Caverns with Elizabeth Brown, theremin Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951): IV. Entrückung (“Rapture”) from String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10 (1907-08) for soprano and string quartet (12 mins) with Elizabeth Brown, in a world-premiere version for theremin and string quartet “Air From Another Planet” assembles six fearlessly introspective works that manipulate our sense of time and space—using the force of memory, imagination, or emotion to render what was once familiar strange and unearthly. Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber’s Rosary Passacaglia (1676) for solo violin directly embodies the struggle between the earthbound and the otherworldly. Florid variations struggle to break free of an impassive, relentless ground bass—an apt metaphor for the struggle for faith in the here and now. John Cage directly merges consonance and dissonance in his microtonal Chorals (1978) for solo violin, exploring conventional pitches and the seemingly infinite space between them. The resulting polyphony, at once grating and sublime, recalls Cage’s famous line that “the purpose of music is to sober and quiet the mind, thus making it susceptible to divine influences.” Contemplation can lead to anguish, however, and this is confronted in Kee Yong Chong’s suspenseful yet volatile quartet Silence Cosmos (2005), prefaced by Tang Dynasty poet Chen Ziang’s expression of existential angst: “Where, before me, are the ages that have gone?

And where, behind me, are the coming generations? All alone, overwhelmed by the thought of the eternity of heaven and earth, my tears fall.” Michael Small’s White Space (2015) for solo violin (receiving its US premiere on this concert) is inspired by the hauntingly desolate church paintings of Dutch painter Pieter Jansz Saenredam (1597-1665). Small juxtaposes tense silences and disparate musical ideas to create an atmosphere that is “self-consciously glacial...and as pregnant with possibility as those churches where something may or may not be about to happen, something terrible” (Jonathan Meade, BBC). The possibility for imagined spaces to be fanciful, nostalgic, yet unsettling is further explored in the fantastical Piranesi (2007/12), written for Momenta. A collaboration between filmmaker/photogravurist Lothar Osterburg and composer/thereminist Elizabeth Brown, Piranesi pays homage to the exaggerated Carceri (etchings of imaginary prisons) of master printmaker Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778). Brown’s hallucinatory score for string quartet and theremin is performed live to Osterburg’s stop-motion animated film, which uses miniature models and variations in perspective to gradually reveal multiple simultaneous realities. Brown and Momenta conclude with a world-premiere version

of Entrückung (“Rapture”), the mystical finale of Arnold Schoenberg’s second quartet (1907-8), with theremin replacing the usual soprano part. Inspired by Stefan George’s transcendent poem, it begins with the words “I feel air from another planet,” marking the culmination of tonight’s wide-ranging aural and visual journey. ____________________________________________________________________ October 2 Tyrants and Liberators Curated by Stephanie Griffin With Telmary Diaz, reciter; Vicky Chow, piano; and Hilliard Greene, bass Americas Society 680 Park Ave. NYC http://www.as-coa.org/ With Cuban rapper Telmary Diaz, piano virtuoso Vicky Chow and jazz bassist and composer Hilliard Greene Program: Alvin Singleton (b. 1940) (African American): “Somehow We Can” for String Quartet (1994, dedicated to the memory of Marian Anderson) Agustín Fernández (b. 1958) (Bolivia): Sin tiempo (2013, commissioned for Momenta by the Koussevitzky Foundation) I. Profecía II. Plegaria III. Acción Negro Spiritual: “Sometimes I feel like a motherless child” as interpreted by violist Stephanie Griffin and bassist Hilliard Greene Schoenberg (1874-1951): Ode to Napoleon (1942) for string quartet, reciter and piano – translated into Spanish by Sebastian Zubieta and performed by the Cuban rapper Telmary Diaz, pianist: Vicky Chow

Over the past six months, I have spent many hours meditating on the consequences of bad government and despots who do not understand the Rule of Law. Musically, this thinking brought me back to Arnold Schoenberg’s “Ode to Napoleon Bonaparte,” which I had performed many years ago with the Argento Chamber Ensemble. I reread Lord Byron’s poem and was alarmed at how topical it seemed. Byron’s disillusionment with Napoleon as channeled through Arnold Schoenberg is an even more chilling reaction to the horrifying politics of his time. History does repeat itself, sadly, and we find ourselves in a position where Byron’s “Ode to Napoleon Bonaparte” and Schoenberg’s setting of it are all the more relevant. I started to imagine a fusion of Schoenberg’s piece with today’s thriving spoken word art forms: rap and hip-hop. The Canadian-based and politically motivated Cuban rapper Telmary Diaz was willing to take it on, in the new, rap-able Spanish translation by the composer and concert producer Sebastian Zubieta. Having the Ode rapped in Spanish by a Cuban artist seemed all the more poignant, considering the antiimmigration policies of his country’s current government and the fights against corruption all over Latin America.

Along those lines, my program also features a major string quartet by the renowned Bolivian composer, Agustín Fernández (b. 1958), commissioned for the Momenta Quartet by the Koussevitzky Foundation. His String Quartet No. 2: Sin tiempo (2013), reflects upon a specific episode in Bolivian history: the guerrilla campaign at Teoponte in 1970, which, in Agustín’s words, “encapsulates the dreams of a generation, its struggle to make that dream true, and its inglorious, bloody failure.”

This program is more about the fight for freedom than about the despots who encumber it. A particularly powerful example is the African American rise out of slavery and continuing struggle for equal rights and respect in the face of the law and its enforcers. In honor of this legacy, I am opening my program with African American composer Alvin Singleton’s Somehow We Can (1994) for string quartet, inspired by the memory of Marian Anderson, and rounding out the program with jazz bassist Hilliard Greene’s and my interpretation of the Negro Spiritual, “Sometimes I feel like a motherless child.” ____________________________________________________________________ October 3, 7pm A Room with a View curated by Michael Haas with guests Samuel Rhodes, viola, and Marcy Rosen, cello The Italian Academy at Columbia University 1161 Amsterdam Avenue (south of West 118th Street), NYC

http://italianacademy.columbia.edu/ Program: Benjamin Britten (1913-1976): String Quartet No. 3 in G Major, Op. 94 (1975) I. Duets. With moderate movement II. Ostinato. Very fast III. Solo. Very calm IV. Burlesque. Fast- con fuoco V. Recitative and Passacaglia (La Serenissima). Slow Claude Baker (b. 1948): Années de pèlerinage: Italie “Years of Pilgrimage: Italy” (2016-17) I. Roma (Janiculum) II. Venezia e Napoli III. Firenze IV. Abruzzo *world premiere, written for Momenta Quartet Tchaikovsky (1840-1893): Souvenir de Florence Op. 70 for string sextet (1890) I. Allegro con spirito II. Adagio cantabile e con moto III. Allegro moderato IV. Allegro vivace with Samuel Rhodes and Marcy Rosen A Room with a View explores ideas of Italy through the eyes of foreigners: the composers Benjamin Britten, Claude Baker, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Though none of the three are Italian, each has been seduced by the country’s beauty, romance, and mystery. The third string quartet of 20th century master Benjamin Britten explores his psychological connection to Thomas Mann’s novella Death in Venice. A world-premiere by American composer Claude Baker portrays five Italian cities through the eyes of Franz Liszt and others who composed while traveling through the country. Finally, Tchaikovsky puts a Russian spin on his impressions of Italy with the passionate and virtuosic string sextet dedicated to Florence.

Britten’s String Quartet No. 3 was composed in 1975 and is one of his final works, completed less than a year before his death. Britten traveled to Venice where he composed the final movement, giving it the title La Serenissima. Britten composed relatively few purely instrumental works after rising to fame with his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, but was convinced to return to string quartet writing by the Amadeus

Quartet. The work is embedded with references to his 1973 opera Death in Venice, based on the Thomas Mann novella, and explores Britten’s own thoughts on beauty, the power of physical desire, and spiritual redemption.

Claude Baker’s new work Années de pèlerinage: Italie (Years of Pilgrimage: Italy) explores five Italian cities through the eyes of other composers who were inspired by their travels. There are references, both literal and oblique, to music by Berlioz, Tchaikovsky and, of course, Liszt (with a sly wink from Paganini). Serious and playful elements combine in the piece, with the two inner movements (“Venezia e Napoli” and “Firenze”) providing light-hearted foils to the more somber outer movements (“Roma” and “Abruzzo”). It is commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University, and is a Momenta Festival world-premiere.

A beloved classic of the chamber music repertoire, Tchaikovsky’s sextet Souvenir de Florence displays his characteristic lyricism, virtuosity, and passion. Commissioned by the St. Petersburg Chamber Music Society in 1887, Tchaikovsky only began to explore the main ideas of the piece while on a trip to Florence in 1890. He completed it after returning home, creating a work that is as much Russian as it is a souvenir of his time in Italy. For this performance Momenta is joined by renowned cellist Marcy Rosen and former Juilliard Quartet violist Samuel Rhodes. ____________________________________________________________________ October 4 Forces of Creation Curated by Alex Shiozaki with Nana Shi, piano The Center at West Park 165 W. 86th St. https://www.centeratwestpark.org/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/CenteratWestPark/ Program: Hiroya Miura (b. 1975): Singularity (2012, rev. 2015) (12 min) *NYC premiere of revised version Per Nørgård (b. 1932): String Quartet No. 8 “Night Descending Like Smoke” (199597) (22 min) I. Prologue - Eulogy II. Man - Animal

III. IV. V.

Voyage Night Descending Epilogue - Elegy

João Pedro Oliveira (b. 1959): Magma, for violin and electronics (2014) (11 min) Darius Milhaud (1892-1974): La création du monde, op. 81b for piano quintet (1923) (16 min) I. Prelude II. Fugue III. Romance IV. Scherzo V. Final With Nana Shi, piano “Forces of Creation” presents the physical, psychological, geological, and mythological forms of creation and destruction. The physical universe is represented

by Hiroya Miura’s quartet Singularity, written for the Momenta Quartet in 2012.

Taking its inspiration from the cosmic microwave background left over from the Big Bang, Singularity carries the listener through the almost-vacuum of space, capturing the chaos of the fossil radiation through harmonic and metric dissonances, as well as ghostly motives that echo throughout the ensemble. Miura composed the quartet in response to the astrophotography exhibit Starstruck at the Bates College Museum of Art. From the theoretical cosmos we descend into the psychological night of Per Nørgård’s String Quartet No. 8, “Night Descending Like Smoke.” Nørgård bases this work off of his 1996 chamber opera Nuit des Hommes, whose subject is the Great War and whose characters experience the gamut of emotions from enthusiasm and patriotism to horror and dehumanity. His Eighth Quartet paints the destructive side of man through its five movements: the yearnful “Prologue - Eulogy”; the brutish and militaristic “Man -Animal”; the unfaltering “Voyage”; the anxious and titular “Night Descending”; and the “Epilogue - Elegy”. Anguished in the way only microtones can capture, the quartet explores the transformation of man in the face of an unstoppable force.

In a return to the physical world, João Pedro Oliveira’s Magma depicts the creation and transformation of volcanic lava from liquid to rock. Composed in 2014, Magma features an amplified solo violin with accompanying electronics. Exploring all the timbral colors available to the violin, Magma continues to boil underneath even as the surface solidifies. To round out the evening, we come to Creation as commonly

envisioned: a mythological story of the creation of the world. African mythology is the source of Darius Milhaud’s La Creation du Monde, and his chosen musical idiom is jazz--at least, his version of it. The ballet portrays the creation of the world by African gods, bringing to life trees, animals, and mankind, and ending with a couple on stage to represent desire and procreation. In addition to the 17-instrument orchestral ballet, Milhaud created a version for piano quintet. For this performance, Momenta will be joined by pianist Nana Shi, Alex’s longtime duo partner and wife.