RSS 2.0 FeedFebruary 10, 2010, Classical
Solid walls of sound
A frequent complaint about electronic music is that it is dissociative, lacks humanity and physical performers. However, the three works presented by KcEMA, Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance, were organic, arresting and spoke to the soul and human condition.
Set in a bare-bones former office space - with hard angles, glue-stained cement floors, drop ceilings, and florescent lights - the coldness and inhumanity was visible and palpable. Fitting because a frequent complaint about electronic music is that it is dissociative, lacks humanity and physical performers. However, the three works presented by KcEMA, Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance, were organic, arresting and spoke to the soul and human condition.
Two movements of Cannac, Paul Rudy's newest addition to his epic 2012 Stories, bookended the performance. The piece is based on the chakra points of the body according to Mayan culture. Seated amongst a plethora of amplified world percussion instruments, Rudy's breath sounds opened Red and were transformed in massive sound blocks of ebbing and flowing timbres. The spectromorphological (the technical term used in electro-acoustic music when one sounds shifts into another) processes were subtle with breaths turning into waves of undulating African rhythms and synth pads. Closing the concert was Blue, a study in the voices of Mother Nature. Imagine monkey whales, a hybrid frog/dog, and android birds and you will have a good perception of the sonic landscape Rudy effectively navigated.
Four movements of Sacred and Profane, the collaboration of composers Daniel Asia and Kip Haaheim with video provided by Janet Davidson-Hues, found the video elements and musical component often competing with one another. Both music and video used simple filters to process their media. Because the processes were straightforward (e.g. color saturations, high-pass filters, granularization), I was surprised by the conflict as my eyes were drawn to the images at the expense of the audio and vice versa. The piece was definitely a cohesive whole though with Cry being the most successful. The images were like a pink and purple version of Edvard Munch's Scream and the expressionist shrieking soundtrack did not present the conflict that plagued the other movements.
Splitting Sacred and Profane was David Dvorin's new score to accompany Douglass Crockwell's Glen Falls Sequence. I was ready to rage about artistic integrity and original intent as Crockwell's Glen Falls Sequence was silent and how dare someone have the audacity to tamper with a benchmark piece of American film. This was a rare case where Dvorin added to the cinematic experience. Crockwell's frequently brought back figures and object - those of eyes and a melting, crucified Christ being the most striking. Dvorin created a leitmotif for many images that were easily traceable; for instance, a bouncing pink ball was characterized by a thumping bass. I found Crockwell's series of vignettes more enthralling with the Dvorin guitar-based score. It just shows that one should listen with fresh ears and watch with open eyes.
REVIEW
KcEMA KcEnnection
Friday, February 5, 2010
Urban Culture Project's City Center Square Studios
1100 Main St., Kansas City, MO
For more information visit www.kcema.net
Editor-in-Chief; Traditional and New Classical Contributor
Lee Hartman holds degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (D.M.A., M.M.) and the University of Delaware (B.M.). At the University of Delaware, he received a Dean's Scholar position enabling him to pursue an individually designed academic program combining music education and composition. At the University of Missouri-Kansas City he served for three years as the Assistant Director to Musica Nova, the conservatory's new music ensemble, while teaching a variety of composition classes.
In 2007 he was invited to both the Iceland Academy of the Arts in Reykjavík, Iceland and the Sichuan Conservatory in Chengdu, China to give lectures and master classes in composition. In the summer of 2009, Hartman served as an orchestra manager for the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble and Aspen Opera Theater Center for various performances. He serves on the National Executive Committee of the Society of Composers, Inc. as Submissions Coordinator. His primary composition instructors include James Mobberley, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Paul Rudy, John Beall, and Jennifer Margaret Barker. He currently teaches music theory at the University of Central Missouri and general music classes at Park University having previously taught at UD (2007–08) and UMKC (2006–07).
His compositions can be found at http://www.leehartmanmusic.com
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