Modern Classics- Concert Review

On the evening of Wednesday, October 5th, I attended the fifth annual Kentucky New Music Festival concert, where a program of modern classics and percussion ensemble music was performed. Here, I will review the first half of the concert, "Modern Classics."
The evening began with a performance of Debussy's Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune arranged by Arthur Lavandier. The orchestration of Lavandier's arrangement differed slightly from Debussy's original score: instead of multiple players on each part (as Debussy's original version intended), Lavandier's arrangement is scored for single flute, oboe, horn, cello, and bass; additionally, no English horns, bassoon, crotales, or harps were on stage at this performance. However, percussion and piano lines were added. As a result, Lavandier's arrangement provided a fresh approach to Debussy's frequently performed work, while still maintaining the fullness of texture and timbral variety so characteristic of Impressionist composers.
Despite the fact that the title of this concert series seems to suggest the performance of more contemporary works than those of Debussy, it is questionable whether audience members who were not musically trained would have recognized the timbral shifts present in Lavandier's arrangement of Debussy-- after all, the work still opens with the famous flute solo, here excellently performed by UK flautist Aaron Sexton. In fact, all of the instruments deserve mention for this excellent performance. The real star, however, was the conductor: Cesar Leal, internationally travelled conductor and musician, emphasized Lavandier's contrasting arrangement by injecting new life and expression into Debussy's work, resulting in beautifully expressive phrasing and dynamic disparity throughout the performance. Leal's conducting emphasized the contrasting sections of the piece, causing my dissonance-addicted self to thoroughly enjoy an Impressionist composition for the first time in years. The only downside of the Leal's performance lay in the balance: in the classic "modern" concert setting, the strings were amplified and were at times far too loud, occasionally causing the winds to be lost. Furthermore, this amplification created a timbre that seemed ill-suited to a chamber-music performance.
Next, lone percussionist Kyle Forsthoff performed John Cage's "One"-- accurately representing the contrasting styles available in the "modern" music genre and the progression of music in the 20th century. The sudden awareness of our sonic surroundings-- rustling, coughs, and other sounds made by the audience-- created a tense, almost uncomfortable environment, highly contrasted with the beauty of the recently performed Debussy. The silence created by the monophonic percussion line of the work allowed for the introduction of many sonic interruptions, or, as Cage would call them, additional musical parts : mixed with the percussion line, I heard occassional "melodies" from audience members or from the distant pop-music songs being performed in a nearby concert hall. However, despite the unaccompanied nature of the piece, Cage's instrumentation and use of creative extended techniques created a timbrally rich and visually interesting musical work.
Like the Debussy, a review of this piece requires a recognition of superior performers. Forsthoff did an excellent job of portraying the visual aspect of Cage's work-- matching the music by moving a shaker around frenetically, with a frustrated expression on his face, or by striking a wood-block with a musically-appropriate and definite sense of finality. Despite the unusual aesthetic of Cage's music, concert-goers saw the skill of the performer, and, in my opinion, of the composer, because of the carefully timed and measured, expertly prepared performance on the part of Forsthoff.
The next piece, Gordon Jacob's Miniature Suite for Clarinet and Viola, was expertly performed by professors Scott Wright and Deborah Lander, both professors on their respective instruments. This work consisted of four movements, with textures ranging from monophony, homophony, polyphony, and heterophony. In this manner, Jacob manages to keep his audience interested despite the lack of timbral variety as the suite progresses. The tone of the opening movement was set with Dr. Wright's expert articulation and phrasing, creating a bright, bouncing, and lively work. Despite the expertly performed part of Dr. Lander, the clarinet line overpowered her at times. When imitation occurred between the viola and clarinet, Dr. Wright's aggressive playing was not matched by the more timid style of Dr. Lander. The second movement of Jacob's suite had similar balance issues: although he performs beautifully on more energetic pieces, the aggressive tone and slight "glimmer," or subtle vibrato which Dr. Wright applied to his sustained notes seems inappropriate in this slow movement. Moreover, despite the distinctive and lyrical melodic lines of Jacob's music, the music lacked direction, with the result that the frequent repetition and sequencing of his melodic ideas rambled on monotonously. The second movement in particular lack climax, ending suddenly after another seemingly insignificant melodic repetition. The third and fourth movements revealed similar compositional issues, my review of which may admittedly reveal a personal aural and/or stylistic bias. However, Jacob's Miniature Suite did contain some beautiful and interesting moments: A particularly striking moment occurred at the end of the fourth movement, where Dr. Wright, who played sustained notes on a playful trills, was accompanied by forte double-stops in the viola line. Here, Jacob's music takes full advantage of the skill of the instrumentalists used in this specific performance.
The last work of the "modern classics" section of this concert included another piece by John Cage, entitled Composed Improvisation, again performed by Kyle Forsthoff. This work included a lesser variety of percussion instruments than Cage's One: various membranophones (drums) are paired with combined idio- and membrano-phones (tambourines). Like the earlier Cage work, Forsthoff did an excellent job of captivating the audience both aurally and visually. He often exaggerated his movements as if to emphasize the unusual playing techniques being called for in the piece; his techniques were solid and deliberate. Composed Improvisation is even more concerned with Cage's definition of music as "organized sound" than One-- a fact which Forsthoff seemed acutely aware. At one point, Cage's work calls for the performer to hold a drum in the air, but not strike it. This performance accentuated the composer's ideals by using a drum with a clear head for these moments, and by the purposeful expression of the performer's face during these "silent" sections. Again, the audience seemed to hold their breath here. The creation of "music" during these silences, however, was inescapable: at one point the door opened, allowing the jumbled speech and laughter of the halls of Singletary to creep into the Recital Hall; a percussion line was added by an audience member accidentally dropping their keys. I myself unwittingly took part in this performance, creating music with the scratch of my pencil taking down notes.
Despite the occasional amplification or balance issues, this concert was both enjoyable and informative, giving audience members a chance to hear expert performers and conductors, new arrangements and unfamiliar musical compositions, and exposure to foreign musical aesthetics all in a concert of "modern" classics. Although the inclusion of Debussy's popular work initially seemed inappropriate to me-- it seems neither particularly "modern," nor necessary for yet another performance of this work-- by the end of the concert I realized that the inclusion of Debussy acted as a familiar face in an unfamiliar crowd of more "modern" works, adding to the comfort of the audience and the success of the concert.