Category Archives: Minnesota

GVSU’s “Return”, an Intoxicating Adventure in Sound


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                                                                        Innova 983

OK, I’ve listened to this lovely CD numerous times and greatly enjoyed it each time. So why has it languished as a draft and why have I failed to publish this?

Procrastination aside there are several things I can identify as things that make this reviewer pause. First (and perhaps least significant) is unfamiliarity. The disc features three composers completely unknown to me: Daniel Rhode, Adam Cuthbert, and Matt Finch all of whom are listed as doing the additional duty of acting as mixing engineers (they are all students of the ensemble director as well).

GVSU  hails from the state of Michigan and it’s new music ensemble (consisting of Hannah Donnelly on piccolo, flute, alto flute, bass flute; Ryan Schmidt, clarinet, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet; Darwin McMurray, soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones; Makenzie Mattes, percussion; Reese Rehkopf, piano; Jenna Michael, violin; Kirk McBrayer, cello; Niko Schroeder, sound engineer; and Bill Ryan, director and producer) is also new on this writer’s radar. Add the participation of the extraordinary violinist Todd Reynolds (on one track) and one’s attention is further piqued. Reynolds is an artist who chooses his repertoire and collaborations judiciously so his presence certainly functions as an endorsement.  But “unknown” is the heart of my interests both as listener and reviewer so that can’t be the reason though the lack of liner notes is a bugaboo (though hardly a fatal one).

On the positive side this is an Innova release and that fact alone lends credibility. Anything that Minnesota based label (the official label of the American Composers Forum) is worth your attention. Label director Philip Blackburn has a finely tuned radar which has led to many revelatory releases over the years.  Truly anything released on this label is worthy of your attention if you are a new music fan.

So we have hear a 15 track CD of 15 new works whose sounds seems to travel between ambient and postminimal. The pieces merge nicely with each other in a production which assures a fine listening experience. One can put this on either as background or for more intensive listening. It works either way. The playing is dedicated and insightful and the recording is top notch.

The pieces range in length from 1:32 to 7:32 and all seem to be just the right length communicating substance but never dallying too long. They’re bite sized, so to speak but they each have their charms as well as their complexities.  All are premiere recordings and all are commissioned by the ensemble.

Check it out. Click on the links provided in this review. And simply enjoy.

 

 

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Thomas Jefferson Anderson, II: American Composer Turns 90 This Year


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T. J. Anderson (1928- )

Born in Coatsville, PA August 17, 1928 Thomas Jefferson Anderson, Jr. is an American composer, conductor and teacher.  He earned a B.A. in music from West Virginia State College in 1950  and an M. Ed. in music education from Pennsylvania State University in 1951.  He studied at the esteemed Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in 1954 and earned a Ph. D. in music from the University of Iowa in 1958.  He subsequently also studied with Darius Milhaud at the Aspen School of Music in 1964.

I first encountered his name in the American Music series (Volume V) which came out on Nonesuch records.  His work, Variations on a Theme by M. B. Tolson (1969) was paired with works by Anderson’s contemporaries Milton Babbitt and Richard Wernick.  I later encountered his  Squares (1965) for orchestra on volume 8 of the wonderful Black Composers series (released 1975 on Columbia Records) curated by the late great Paul Freeman.  The same disc contained works by Olly Woodrow Wilson and Talib Rasul Hakim.  (That entire 9 volume set remains available on vinyl in a nice box set through the College Music Society and distributed by Amazon for only $55.00)

Anderson was awarded an appointment as composer in residence with the Atlanta Symphony beginning in 1968 and ending in 1972.  This coincided with the beginning of Robert Shaw’s tenure as conductor.  Shaw’s affinity for contemporary music (including black composers like Anderson and Alvin Singleton).  Anderson prepared a performing version of Scott Joplin’s only extant opera Treemonisha resulting in the first full staging of that 1911 work (premiered by Shaw with the Atlanta Symphony and broadcast via NPR) during this time and premiered several of his own works with the orchestra along with his educational and outreach duties.

His teaching appointments have included Langston University in Oklahoma, Tennessee State University, Morehouse College, Tufts University, the University of Minnesota, California State University, Northwestern University, the University of Michigan, and Ohio State University.  He is as of 2005 a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and is the recipient of a long list of honors.  Dr. Anderson is the author of numerous academic publications and is the past chairman (1972-76) of the Black Music Caucus which is now known as the National Association for the Study and Performance of African/American Music (NASPAM).

Sadly his discography is rather limited (discogs lists only five) but there is a wonderful set of download links on the composer’s web site where you can download complete recordings of no fewer than 37 of his works as of the time of this writing.  Trust me this is a cornucopia with recordings from about 1974 to as recently as 2006.  Here’s hoping that his large catalog of compositions can get the attention they deserve in the near future.  His works include solo, chamber, orchestral, concerto, choral, art song, opera and other arrangements and orchestrations.

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Dr. Anderson lives in Chapel Hill, NC with his family (his son Thomas Jefferson Anderson, III is a poet and professor at Hollins University in Virginia).  He will be turning 90 at the end of this summer.

 

 

 

The Ensemble Formerly Known as Zeitgeist (?), Music by Scott Miller


Scott Miller- Tipping Point (New Focus fcr 161)

Scott Miller- Tipping Point (New Focus fcr 161)

ADDENDUM:  Mr. Miller kindly supplied the correct composition dates for the pieces in this album and they have been placed in the text.  Also I was pleased to receive a link to their discography:(http://www.zeitgeistnewmusic.org/discography.html)  I hope that is a recent addition and not my oversight (apologies if it’s an oversight).

 

I was particularly pleased to receive this disc for review as I am a long time fan of the Minnesota based Zeitgeist ensemble.  This varied ensemble has been a vital part of the new music scene in Minnesota since about 1977 (I still have some of their vinyl LPs).  Happily they are in the process of making these out of print items available again on CDs via their website.

Curiously there is very little on the ensemble’s web site or on the internet in general on the history of this group prior to about the year 2000  A Google search yields few references to this group and Discogs does not have much listed in their discography of Zeitgeist.  Their Wikipedia page is also in serious need of updating. The Innova records site is perhaps the most useful in identifying the albums released by this group in its various configurations and solo or other collaborations by its members (though the re-release of the older discs are not distributed there).  I realize that this group began in the pre-internet era but perhaps it is time to clarify this and present a comprehensive history and discography of this significant new music ensemble.

Scott Miller

Scott Miller

The present disc is a collection of recent works by Scott Miller, a Minnesota based composer and teacher whose association with Zeitgeist goes back to 1993.  He is currently the president of SEAMUS (Society for Electro Acoustic Music in the United States) and professor of music at St. Cloud State University.  You can find his work on youtube and Sound Cloud.

Now let me say here that it is my observation that electroacoustic music, while not an uncommon genre, seems to be a specialized one which, like Zeitgeist, is not consistently well-promoted.  At least that is my explanation (excuse perhaps) for my limited knowledge of Mr. Miller’s music up to this point.

The CD is a collection of six tracks with vocals by soprano Carrie Henneman Shaw on tracks  2, 4 and 6.  Each track is a separate work and they are listed in the proper order on the back of the CD case but are discussed out of order in the notes for some reason.

But now I must stop my whining and criticisms (and thinly veiled references to Prince) and turn to the actual music. This is really wonderful music, well-performed and well worth your attention.  And if the term “electroacoustic” puts you off don’t worry.  What we have here is an artist who has managed to integrate a variety of techniques into an effective musical language that transcends mere experimentalism to yield some really good music.

The first piece, the one from which the album receives its title, is Tipping Point (2010) and was originally included on the SEAMUS CD Volume 20 (EAAM-2011).  This is a remixed and remastered version of that recording from 2010.  This writer hears echoes and homages to (or influences by, you decide which) Terry Riley, Steve Reich as well as perhaps Morton Subotnick and even the thornier sound of Mario Davidovsky at times.  To my ears this is an integration of many ideas which work effectively together.

The second track, Forth and Back (2003) is the longest track and is a setting of the poem by Catalan poet Felip Costaglioli.  The setting is atmospheric, appropriate to the lovely texts and the vocal writing is simply beautiful.  Carrie Henneman Shaw delivers this work with the success of interpretation that one would expect of a musician who understands the composer’s intent.  Not an explicitly virtuosic piece it nonetheless challenges the performer with sotto voce passages that I imagine are quite a balancing act for a singer.  This is a beautiful piece and the fact of its electroacoustic aspects take on far less important place than the effectiveness of the setting.

Next up is Pure Pleasure (2008) is a percussion piece.  The composer goes into some detail in the notes as to the genesis of this piece and that is interesting but so is the act of listening to it.  This is one of the more obviously experimental works here.

Twilight (2008-13) is actually a portion of a larger work, a collaboration between Miller, Pat O’Keeffe and video artist Rosemary Williams called, The Cosmic Engine.  This is a multi-media chamber opera which premiered in 2008 and this section was revised in 2013.  The text is by Walt Whitman.  Again, Shaw does a lovely job with the lyrical vocal lines.

Funhouse (2003) is a marvelous use of electroacoustic methods.  It is a piece with rather complex origins as explained in the notes but, consistent with its title, this is a fun piece to hear and, I imagine, to play.  Along with the percussion piece it represents the more overtly experimental work of this artist.

The final track, Consortia (2013), as  with Twilight, is an outgrowth or by product of work on the multimedia opera, The Cosmic Engine.  Here the composer enlists computer processing to create a sort of live polyphony with live mixing of tracks of pre-recorded and live improvisational structures based on some renaissance tunes and techniques.  I will leave it to the listener to read through the technical details but the result is a pretty entertaining piece of music.

Zeitgeist does a wonderful job here playing with passion and dedication.  I can only hope that we hear more from both Zeitgeist and Mr. Miller.

The recording done at Wild Sound Recording Studio in Minneapolis (Mark Zimmerman, master engineer on tracks 1 and three; Steve Kaul, master engineer on tracks 2 and 4-6) is lucid and warm.  The art and design by Raul Keller makes for an attractive product.  This release from New Focus Recordings belongs in the collection of any new music fan and certainly every Zeitgeist fan.