October 24th: Fourth Sundays Chamber Music Concert with Loadbang
Posted on 06. Oct, 2010 by danikadruttman in Arts, Chamber Music Series, Events, Hotel
FOURTH SUNDAYS CHAMBER
MUSIC SERIES
PRESENTS:
LOADBANG
OCTOBER 24TH, 4pm
THE PENTHOUSE AT
THE ROGER SMITH HOTEL
TICKETS $15 INC. WINE AND CHEESE
Pseudorandom
John Cage: Four6 (1992)
Jeffrey Gavett: Proverbial (2009)
John Cage: Five (1988)
Nick Didkovsky: Firm soapy hothead (2010)
Nick Didkovsky: Firm Soapy Hothead (2010)
Performed by Loadbang
The personal computer has transformed modern life in areas both mundane and exalted, and composition is no exception. Computers are very good at processing data and carrying out instructions exactly as they are programmed to do; they are not, however, very good at true randomness. Computer-generated random numbers satisfy general tests for randomness, but are generated by a definite computational process, and are therefore known as pseudorandom. loadbang presents a program of works composed with the aid of computers and pseudorandom numbers.
John Cage had been composing using chance for decades before the personal computer was invented. With the aid of the I Ching, an ancient Chinese oracular tool, he would determine aspects of his work by tossing coins. Near the end of his life, and with the help of assistant and computer programmer Andrew Culver, Cage turned to a computer program to simulate these I Ching coin tosses. The efficiency of the system helped Cage, despite his failing health, to compose some fifty late works known as the “Number Pieces”, as they are named for the number of players they are scored for with a superscript number to indicate further works for the same number of players. The works also make use of “time brackets”, a method Cage devised of specifying the range of time in which a given action was to be performed. Four6 is one of Cage’s final works, and in typical anarchic fashion, is scored for any way of producing sounds. Each performer chooses twelve different sounds to perform which correspond to numbered time brackets in the score. Five is one of the earliest number pieces, and is scored for unspecified instruments or voices. Since loadbang is a quartet, we have commissioned composer Jude Traxler to program a Max/MSP patch to perform the fifth part, complete with pseudorandom deviations within the score’s time brackets, approximating a true human realization of the score.
Loadbang’s own Jeffrey Gavett has been working with modern software for computer-assisted composition (IRCAM’s OpenMusic) for pseudo- and non-random purposes. Proverbial is a setting of three Proverbs of Hell from William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. The work’s recasting of the traditional images of Heaven and Hell is reflected in the texts, which express progressive ideas in an outwardly gruesome fashion. OM was used to determine pseudorandom microtonal deviations around central structural pitches, as well as to build the form of the piece. The unique syllabification of each proverb in each language in which it is presented determines the rhythmic structure of the instrumental and vocal parts.
Nick Didkovsky is a guitarist, composer, band leader and software programmer based in New York City. He is the creator of a programming language and the author of many computer programs specifically intended for music composition. The short movements of Firm soapy hothead are entirely composed by this software, with no ex post facto editing by Didkovsky; versions of the works are simply generated, evaluated and selected.
***
The members of Loadbang met as part of the first class of Manhattan School of Music’s Contemporary Performance program, and have been playing together ever since. In the past two years they have premiered more than 20 works for their unique instrumentation (bass clarinet, trumpet, trombone, baritone voice), including several works written by members of the band, and a new arrangement by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang. They also perform works for indeterminate ensemble, including such New York School classics as Brown’s December 1952 and Cage’s Four6. Not content to dwell solely in the realm of notated music, Loadbang is known for its searing and unpredictable improvisations, exploring the edges of instrumental and vocal timbre and technique.
Most recently they have ventured outside New York, performing in art galleries, restaurants, and churches in Boston, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. They have performed alongside musicians and ensembles such as So Percussion, Lukas Ligeti, and Newspeak. Their recent performances in New York include appearances at The Tank, The Stone, The 1st Annual New York New Music Bake Sale, and an all John Cage evening at the Gershwin Hotel.
For more information please contact Danika Druttman on 212.339.2092 or email rogersmitharts@rogersmith.com
QUICK INFO:
Fourth Sundays Chamber Music Concert Series
Performance by Loadbang
October 24th, 2010 at 4pm
Concerts take place in The Penthouse at The Roger Smith Hotel
501 Lexington Ave, at 47th Street, New York NY 10017 (map)
Cross Street: 47th Street and Lexington Avenue
Subway: E, 6, V to 53rd and Lexington or 4, 5, 6, 7 to Grand Central
Tickets: $15 inc. cheese and wine (cash only, paid at door)
Reservations: Please contact Danika Druttman on 212.339.2092 or email rogersmitharts@rogersmith.com
Further info: www.rogersmithlife.com
ALSO
Be part of the Roger Smith Hotel’s Lobby Show: As part of The Roger Smith’s latest Lobby Show Lobby Series #18: iheart variation 003, attendees of this concert are invited to create their own variation of the artist’s work in the lobby corridor, following Loadbang’s performance. Every individual ‘re-mix’ will be documented as part of a 3 month evolution of Seth Carnes’ work, on http://iheartvariation.tumblr.com http://artwelove.com and http://rogersmithlife.com
