Tonight I was privileged to be a guest of Christina Johnson and the Kronos Quartet at the premiere of a new work by Thomas Newman. Entitled "It Got Dark," the piece was programmed on a concert series entitled "Left Coast / West Coast" curated by well
known minimalist composer John Adams.
"It Got Dark" was summed up succinctly to me by Kronos Quartet cellist Jeff Ziegler as a series of musical postcards. Like Newman's scores, these aural vignettes said only what was necessary. The work dripped with honest, simple writing. Pre-recorded electronics were used in most of the movements, featuring a few of the gorgeous and intricate pads we're used to hearing in Newman's scores. The Kronos quartet, amplified and situated in front of the orchestra, covered the more flashy and improvisatory lines and occasionally played off the orchestra in a concerto like interplay.
The piece also integrated some spoken word, but it was so sparsely used that it felt a little like an afterthought. Infact, the first entrance of spoken text surprised me so much that I thought it might have been triggered incorrectly (a possibility given that this was a premiere), as did some ambient recordings of dixieland bands that softly accompanied a movement. The appearance of these elements signified the use of a strong program to structure the work, which isn't surprising given Newman's background as a film composer. But as a listener without a strong sense of what that program was, I felt a little lost.
It's always interesting to me to hear a composer a bit out of his element. Newman's scores are iconic, singular entries into the world of film music that have pushed the craft forward into new directions. In a sense, its unfair to hold his concert work up to the same standard, particularly in that concert music has a whole has so little room left to grow. Ultimately, I appreciate the piece for what it is - small, intimate musical musings on the beauty around him that doesn't need to push boundaries. All it needs is to have emerged from the brain of Thomas Newman.
known minimalist composer John Adams.
"It Got Dark" was summed up succinctly to me by Kronos Quartet cellist Jeff Ziegler as a series of musical postcards. Like Newman's scores, these aural vignettes said only what was necessary. The work dripped with honest, simple writing. Pre-recorded electronics were used in most of the movements, featuring a few of the gorgeous and intricate pads we're used to hearing in Newman's scores. The Kronos quartet, amplified and situated in front of the orchestra, covered the more flashy and improvisatory lines and occasionally played off the orchestra in a concerto like interplay.
The piece also integrated some spoken word, but it was so sparsely used that it felt a little like an afterthought. Infact, the first entrance of spoken text surprised me so much that I thought it might have been triggered incorrectly (a possibility given that this was a premiere), as did some ambient recordings of dixieland bands that softly accompanied a movement. The appearance of these elements signified the use of a strong program to structure the work, which isn't surprising given Newman's background as a film composer. But as a listener without a strong sense of what that program was, I felt a little lost.
It's always interesting to me to hear a composer a bit out of his element. Newman's scores are iconic, singular entries into the world of film music that have pushed the craft forward into new directions. In a sense, its unfair to hold his concert work up to the same standard, particularly in that concert music has a whole has so little room left to grow. Ultimately, I appreciate the piece for what it is - small, intimate musical musings on the beauty around him that doesn't need to push boundaries. All it needs is to have emerged from the brain of Thomas Newman.
posted by Greg at
12:44 AM
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