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The Musiqa concert was entirely worthwhile. I was hesitating at the last moment because I fell asleep watching Orfeo and was disoriented when I woke up. But I convinced Stephan we should go, and I'm glad. The first piece, by the Musiqa participant I didn't know of, Rob Smith, was entirely fun. It was called Sprint, and it sprinted by with heavy breathing and jumping obbligato. Jalbert, who is a bad theory teacher but a good composer, wrote the second piece, which I was looking forward to. However, it was dragged down by the mediocre poetry it set. There was a very pointed avant-garde film about the uncredited black companion of the first guy to get to the north pole, with which I was not impressed (though the scenery was beautiful, filmed in Iceland and Scandinavia).
And then Karim's piece. He did a setting of the 1001 Nights fairy tale Parizade and the Singing Tree, for chamber ensemble and narrator. It was perfect, appropriate, beautiful, and entirely unpretentious. Just like Karim. The discovery of the singing tree, which was identified in the text as "the most beautiful music in the world," was utterly lovely, neo-chant-polyphonal counterpoint among the ensemble. And when she plucked the branch from the tree, which was "softer, but just as lovely", it was just the piano, with much the same material but fuller and more sonorous harmony. It actually occurred to me to make a Stephan-style musicological observation about the indications of style. The "consort" produced by the singing leaves, and the jazz piano indicated by the single branch, have similar connotations of musical luxury and entertainment. The whole piece was just so sweet and perfectly fairy-tale without being saccharine or overblown. I'm very glad we went.
Bryan's dad is billeted here tonight, so I have to find a way to get to Dan's. He has a party to go to, so it'll be awhile.
And then Karim's piece. He did a setting of the 1001 Nights fairy tale Parizade and the Singing Tree, for chamber ensemble and narrator. It was perfect, appropriate, beautiful, and entirely unpretentious. Just like Karim. The discovery of the singing tree, which was identified in the text as "the most beautiful music in the world," was utterly lovely, neo-chant-polyphonal counterpoint among the ensemble. And when she plucked the branch from the tree, which was "softer, but just as lovely", it was just the piano, with much the same material but fuller and more sonorous harmony. It actually occurred to me to make a Stephan-style musicological observation about the indications of style. The "consort" produced by the singing leaves, and the jazz piano indicated by the single branch, have similar connotations of musical luxury and entertainment. The whole piece was just so sweet and perfectly fairy-tale without being saccharine or overblown. I'm very glad we went.
Bryan's dad is billeted here tonight, so I have to find a way to get to Dan's. He has a party to go to, so it'll be awhile.