become desert
Mar. 31st, 2018 01:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ironymaidenthis week i went to the world premiere of Become Desert, a John Luther Adams composition commissioned for Seattle Symphony.
the first half of the evening was delightful on its own: Jeremy Denk playing Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto. he's a star on his own, a pleasure to hear and fun to watch. (frex, he does this thing with his left leg where it looks like he kicks the pedal. i don't know what's up with that, i just know that i was shit at economy-of-motion when i played the piano and i love seeing the quirky way pro soloists rock out.)
after intermission, Become Desert - 40 minutes nonstop.
it's designed to be experienced live: the musicians are broken into five groups.
our seats were center-center of the orchestra section* which put us in the heart of the sound. the basic shape of the piece is a bell curve from silence to filling the space to silence again. in many ways it was a sensory overload - listening, watching, anticipating where the next layer of sound would come from, and feeling the vibration in my body. the opening was such a strong evocation of wind blowing that i wondered if there was a recorded element (there was not). sometimes i found the building of tension almost unbearable, and then the next layer would have some element that calmed me down, like the double bass. it wasn't an emotional release (which i have experienced several times at live performances when sound vibrated my body) but there were two effects: certain passages raised hairs on my arms and it often put me into a headspace similar to just before falling asleep, where my brain was firing off some random but forceful thoughts, not all of them pleasant.
it was beautiful, it was sometimes strange, and i know that it was technically difficult (so many sustained notes, things like trumpets playing very high notes very very quietly, the different ensembles playing different tempos). there was no melody to hum on the way out, and i don't know that i would even be sure i was hearing it again if someone played me a recording.
i'm very glad that i got to be there.
*courtesy my benefactressphilotera's winning a charity auction.
the first half of the evening was delightful on its own: Jeremy Denk playing Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto. he's a star on his own, a pleasure to hear and fun to watch. (frex, he does this thing with his left leg where it looks like he kicks the pedal. i don't know what's up with that, i just know that i was shit at economy-of-motion when i played the piano and i love seeing the quirky way pro soloists rock out.)
after intermission, Become Desert - 40 minutes nonstop.
it's designed to be experienced live: the musicians are broken into five groups.
- woodwinds elevated on a platform upstage, where i would usually expect the chorus.
- strings and percussion (including 4 harps) on the stage floor.
- trumpets, trombones, and chimes in house right boxes, just forward of the midline of the auditorium
- french horns and chimes in house left boxes, just forward of the midline of the auditorium
- chorus in the rear of the auditorium in the absolute nosebleeds
our seats were center-center of the orchestra section* which put us in the heart of the sound. the basic shape of the piece is a bell curve from silence to filling the space to silence again. in many ways it was a sensory overload - listening, watching, anticipating where the next layer of sound would come from, and feeling the vibration in my body. the opening was such a strong evocation of wind blowing that i wondered if there was a recorded element (there was not). sometimes i found the building of tension almost unbearable, and then the next layer would have some element that calmed me down, like the double bass. it wasn't an emotional release (which i have experienced several times at live performances when sound vibrated my body) but there were two effects: certain passages raised hairs on my arms and it often put me into a headspace similar to just before falling asleep, where my brain was firing off some random but forceful thoughts, not all of them pleasant.
it was beautiful, it was sometimes strange, and i know that it was technically difficult (so many sustained notes, things like trumpets playing very high notes very very quietly, the different ensembles playing different tempos). there was no melody to hum on the way out, and i don't know that i would even be sure i was hearing it again if someone played me a recording.
i'm very glad that i got to be there.
*courtesy my benefactress
philotera's winning a charity auction.
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Date: 2018-03-31 09:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-01 07:21 pm (UTC)