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17 April 2010

"A fine composer not afraid of accessibility"

National Public Radio classical music reviewer Tom Manoff's review of the Oregon Repertory Singers premiere of Bartholomew's choral setting of Walt Whitman's "To a Locomotive in Winter"

Oregon Bach Festival spotlight shines on younger composers

July 11, 2002

By Tom Manoff
From The Register-Guard

AMONG ITS MANY distinctions, the Oregon Bach Festival is the only Eugene arts organization that's made a real commitment to contemporary composers. Krzysztof Penderecki, Ärvo Pärt, Osvaldo Golijov and Tan Dun are among the world's most prominent living composers who have been heard here, several of them inspired by Helmuth Rilling to create Bach-struck works. J.S. Bach as a spiritual anchor in a time of stylistic chaos - not a bad idea for composers, famous or not!

On Saturday morning, in Beall Concert Hall at the University of Oregon, the spotlight shifted to a group of mostly young, not so famous composers, participants in a biannual symposium led by UO professor Robert Kyr.

Portland's Oregon Repertory Singers and Third Angle Ensemble were the consistently fine performers in "Choral Visions II." Although the name "Bach" never came up in the endless speech-making about the music, it seemed only reasonable at a Bach Festival event to listen with the heightened sense of craft that his name implies.

More often than not, the music was thoughtful and heartfelt. In some instances it was memorable. Ingrid Stölzel, whose innocently formal string quartet was heard here some years back, has ventured into more rhapsodic realms, if her "Lucent Dream" is any indication. Scored for clarinet, cello, piano and percussion, the piece whirs with spiky ostinatos in mirrored pairs, while the occasional longer melody floats and jabs. Machine-like, but delightfully so, Stölzel's idiom rests squarely in chunky counterpoint. The result, musically, is confident and bold.

Greg Bartholomew, a fine composer not afraid of accessibility, set Walt Whitman's "To a Locomotive in Winter" in a sturdy, lyrical style. Tuneful and diatonic, the music seemed appropriately Whitman- esque.

Rebecca Oswald is not a showy composer, but she's an honorable one. "The Soul Contemplates the Creator in the Creation" is splendid choral writing. This unpretentious style isn't calculated to impress the trendy set, but in terms of craft, it sure impressed me. Spend some time with the score, and you'll find that inside the "simplicity," each voice has its own lyrical life. Oswald would win the prize for best choral-writing in honor of Bach, if there were one.

The concert did include one well known living composer: R. Murray Schafer, the symposium's composer-in-residence. Words cannot capture the rare beauty of Schafer's choral "Snow Forms." Even the word masterpiece doesn't seem quite right, although this surely is one. The performance by the Oregon Repertory Singers under Gil Seeley was breathtaking.

Schafer was limited at this concert to only this work. What a mistake not to offer more by this extraordinary composer. And he was here as a guest! Programming Charles Ives' "Sixty-Seventh Psalm" instead - simply because he's American - was flat-out silly. Not that the Ives isn't a fine piece. It just didn't fit.

We were told from the stage that Schafer, who is Canadian, was considered for the symposium's exclusively American programming because he was North American. Well, that's one step forward, now turn south. East is next. Although the composers did have a visit from Chinese composer Tan, that's just not enough; he's here because of Rilling.

Consider this: Under current symposium rules, Tan would not be eligible to replace Schafer as the symposium's next composer-in-residence. This narrow philosophy translated into musical problems throughout the series. The overall programming was particularly clumsy, made so by forcing any and every American piece into the cracks, whether it was appropriate or not.

The future of classical music - if there is one - is global. This is not a time to exclude compositional voices because of nationality. Rilling-style internationalism is the heartbeat of the Oregon Bach Festival. The composers symposium should get on board.

Tom Manoff is the classical music critic for National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." His review of "Choral Visions III" will appear Friday.

http://www.oregonbachfestival.com/pressroom/news/208

 

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