Lou Harrison review... (comments??)

LOCRIAN CHAMBER PLAYERS: LOU HARRISON, A MEMORIAL TRIBUTE, Thursday,
February 5, 2004, 8PM, Christ Chapel, Riverside Church, NYC

On the program sheet for the Locrian Chamber Players there is the
following disclaimer: "Our intent is neither to promote any
particular compositional school nor to `educate' our audience with
lengthy program notes…" Since there were no program notes, I read
the above as an excuse, basically, for somebody not wanting to type
them up. That being said, we did our best to put into context
various pieces by Lou Harrison, the earliest being 1990 and the
latest being 2000. Harrison died, regrettably, in 2003, so these
works are among his very last.

A couple of things need first be said about Harrison. For one thing,
he was a great pioneer of many trends in contemporary music which we
hold dear today. He advocated "multiculturism" `way before it became
fashionable, and for decades was weaving non-Western musics,
particularly Javanese Gamelan influences, into his pieces. He also
took a great interest in "alternate tunings," i.e. notes other than
those heard by playing our "normal" 12 "black and white" keys on a
typical piano.

It need be said that, to some Western ears, these influences create a
kind of "flat" surface to his music. This is not necessarily a
criticism, simply an observation that his music weaves around in
a "modal" or "scalar" way and doesn't really try to modulate,
or "change key" much in the traditional Western sense. In this way,
it is a bit of a precursor to our modern "minimalist" movement,
restrained in it's use of key change and what is known in theoretical
jargon as "tonicization," or making various chords predominate.

To those expecting more conventional Western chord change, there is
an appearance of something lacking. There could be an appearance of
an even greater something lacking when one Harrison piece is played
after another, a situation which provoked one composer companion
(hardly a conservative, by the way) to opine that this concert
was "long winded…" I suppose Buddhist meditation could also be
considered "long winded…", so it all depends on how one looks at it.

Another factor could be Harrison's avoidance, whether intentional or
not, of many textural elements possible with conventional
instruments. He seems just not interested in these. You will almost
never hear a sul ponticello (bowing near the bridge) or a sul tasto
(bowing near the fingerboard) in his string writing, for instance.
He's more interested in weaving melodic lines in a modal fabric, in a
practically hypnotic state, rather than having the spell broken
by "special effects." For some, the hypnotism is exhilarating; for
others, it's time for a "no-doze."

Of the six Harrison works presented during the evening, one real
standout was the most recent piece, Sonata for Harpsichord (2000).
This piece was in one of Harrison's favorite "alternate tunings,"
announced simply as "Kirnberger." Most probably this was the tuning
of "Kirnberger II," which Harrison has frequently used. Harrison is
interested in "just intonation," or creating tunings with "pure
tones" or "minimal beating" and Kirnberger II is a tuning that is
about as close as one can come to "just intonation," music with no
interval beating, and still use only 12 pitches per octave.

One feature of this harpsichord piece which made it exceptional was
the final movement, "Estampie." This is based on a Middle Ages dance
and one can imagine that it was actually "stamped" by dancers in
those days. Harrison chooses to intersperse chromatic clusters
(playing several adjacent notes of the harpsichord together) amid the
more modal elements of his style. With a brisk tempo, this work
really "livened up" the proceedings.

Another work, although very short, which seemed particularly
successful was Harrison's piece for soprano, sung here nicely by
Ellen Macdonald, and a mixed ensemble of two violas, harp and
flute/piccolo, Vestiunt Silva (Latin text) from 1995. Although in
Harrison's "expected" style, the varieties of timbres made by all
these instruments really made this piece sparkle. And, as usual,
Harrison's work is extremely well-crafted.

Of note was the last movement of Harrison's Suite (1995) for cello
and piano. This piece showed off one of Harrison's greatest
strengths, the long-long line. Move over Nadia Boulanger: this
Allegro had a theme that must have used 50 consecutive notes in one
melodic "take." Cellist Gregory Hesselink navigated this long phrase
with apparent ease.

The last work on the program was huge, or at least for the
exceedingly beautiful, but small Christ Chapel of Riverside. Fifteen
string players sawed through a nice New First Suite for Strings
(1994), filled with energetic, voluminous counterpoint, chromaticism
in the second movement "Chorale" and even the joyous percussive
slapping of the lower instruments with hands during the "Round
Dance," a fun touch.

At a conference/concert series in Claremont, California in 2001, I
had the meaningful opportunity to meet Lou Harrison, probably one of
the kindest and wisest individuals humanity can be proud to claim.
Yes, sadly those meetings are not going to happen anymore. He's no
longer with us, but his spirited and spiritual music lives on.

Joseph Pehrson