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Program Notes

by Andrew Cyr, Artistic Director

Glimpses, a title of a piece on this program by Vivian Fung, aptly describes the substance of this concert: a presentation of live musical ‘glimpses’ into the artistic process of three contemporary composers.

In thinking about next season, I planned to program a series of concerts, each featuring the work of one of the following talented and up-and-coming young composers: Vivian Fung, Cristina Spinei, Jakub Ciupinski, and Erin Gee. It soon dawned on me that the striking novelty of the compositional approaches of each composer would be experienced more pointedly and meaningfully if we were to contrast four new works in one concert.

GLIMPSES will be an intimate and interactive musical forum that is a preview of Metropolis Ensemble’s main fall concert in 2009, REVERB.

For composer Vivian Fung (b. 1975), sources stemming from her Asian identity and experiences making music in Bali influence the structure of her music subtly. The traditional Balinese orchestra of various metalophones, the gamelan, is patently non-hierarchical. Through the incorporation of certain cultural values and approaches from this tradition, Vivian creates “Western” sounding music whose conceptual underpinnings actually reflect a more non-Western dynamic between performer and audience.

Notes from Vivian Fung:

"Glimpses is a set of three pieces that each feature a different aspect of prepared piano. The name of the first piece, Kotekan, is an Indonesian term that describes the interlocking rhythms used in traditional works for gamelan orchestra. This piece uses fast interlocking rhythms coupled with different colors of prepared strings to bring out the percussive nature of the piano. The second piece, Snow, heavily relies on the colors of the upper ranges of the piano to depict light and sweeping motions. In the third piece, Chant, the pianist plays inside the piano and pulls on rosined butcher twine to simulate a long deep drone that permeates through the piece. Glimpses is written for pianist Jenny Lin and was premiered by Jenny at the 2006 ISCM Miami Festival."

Somewhat like Vivian Fung, the source of Cristina Spinei’s (b.1984) recent compositional inspiration has stemmed from an exploration of non-Western music. Having been immersed in the music and dance culture of Brazil for the past two years, her present-day compositional processes use traditional Western instruments as an extension of the sounds, rhythmic structures, and style associated with the berimbau, an Afro-Brazilian stringed percussion instrument. Similarly, Cristina is exploring ways to use the berimbau in non-idiomatic ways to extend the palette of timbres and textures found in traditional “Western” instrumentations. The two movement work to be premiered on May 6, Jolt, is a chamber ensemble study for a larger concerto, and is scored for mixed percussion, berimbau, piano, and bass.

Notes from Cristina Spinei:

"Jolt was inspired by my recent trips to Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. It begins with a solo on the berimbau and progresses into a rhythmicaly cacaphonous introduction. The rest of the piece is based on a piano ostinato that alternates between 4/4 and 5/4 throughout. I chose the title because of the fast changes that happen texturally and rhythmically."

While still respecting the acoustic foundation and instrumentation of traditional classical music, Jakub Ciupinski’s exploration of the latest sampling technology represents a modernization of conventional orchestral sound. Jakub composes using a harmonic musical language in a neo-romantic idiom inflected with minimalist and pop beats. The music is undeniably attractive on first hearing, but this music draws its deeper meaning from the culture of electronica, which informs his approach to timbre and rhythmic drive, as well as the entire structure of a composition.

Notes from Jakub Ciupinski:

"Morning Tale is a 12 minute suite for piano and electronics commissioned by Metropolis Ensemble. The electronic layer is derived from piano sounds, with speakers placed inside the instrument to achieve greater blend with natural acoustic sounds. The goal was to use electronics as an extension of the piano’s capabilities rather than as a separate medium. The style of this music is influenced by minimalism, pointillism, as well as pop music."

These three works will offer glimpses into other modes and sound worlds as well as the musical minds of three composers exploring diverse processes of compositional systemization. For this concert, each of these ‘other worlds’ or systems will be presented and explored alongside each work and will include: a special performance by the colorful Balinese music ensemble, Gamelan Dharma Swara; a dynamic demonstration/performance of the berimbau instrument by Brazilian percussion specialist Meia Noite; and finally an energy-infused live demonstration of electronic music techniques led by composer Jakub Ciupinski.

About Reverb
Metropolis Ensemble's Fall 2009 Concert

REVERB will be a concert of premieres – works by a gathering of young composers, Jakub Ciupinski, Vivian Fung, Erin Gee, and Cristina Spinei, each exploring a profoundly different source for composition, a different voice, and a different conception of (and perhaps prescription for) the future of music. A concert entirely consisting of premieres is a radical point of departure for the Metropolis Ensemble. Until this point, Metropolis Ensemble has presented new works as centerpieces in programs that complemented these works with music from the past, distant or not so distant, that highlighted or in some way commented upon their sound world. In this way, our concerts became a form of musical collaboration between artists of all eras, a play of genres and types that illuminated one another.

In the planning phases of a new premiere, I work closely with composers over many months in order to fully absorb the compositional techniques and points of inspiration inherent in their styles. I then use this knowledge as the point of reference for selecting other pieces on the program.

In getting to know these composers and the nuances of their compositional styles, I realized over time that they shared something in common that I found to be artistically fascinating and vital: an open and deep curiosity for exploring diverse source material and developing new and highly individual systems of compositional techniques to absorb these modes of representation.

Composers, after all, live – like all of us – in the present, and contemporary society and the highly divergent cultural ideas, technology, historical viewpoints, and indigenous folkways that consistently inform the present find their way into their consciousness and artistic expression. With their very different views of music, its perception, and its role in society, this concert of works by four very talented young people will represent an important contribution to the dialogue between performer, composer, and audience.