THE CONTEMPORARY CHAMBER PLAYERS
at Grace Place
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Shapey, according to the program, was a friend of Varese, who is finally getting the recognition he deserves as one of 20th-century music’s true giants of innovation. Although Schoenberg, Stravinsky, and Bartok are still generally considered to be the century’s most important composers, the true avant-garde pioneers were Charles Ives in America and Varese in Europe (though he also did important work here). Varese, like Ives, had a deep fascination with sound itself. His innovations in the 20s and 30s were so far ahead of their time that the instruments and technology available couldn’t keep up with his ever-expanding imagination.
Octandre is one of Varese’s earliest and most traditional works, although even traditional Varese sounds astonishingly fresh even by today’s standards. It is a watershed work in terms of its emphasis on musical gesture and transformation rather than theme and variation; what changes throughout the work is the density and color of the sound. The title is deliberately misleading, for although there are eight players, the flute player doubles on piccolo, and the clarinetist alternates with piccolo clarinet. The ensemble also includes oboe, bassoon, trumpet, horn, trombone, and bass viol. By continually shifting instrumental timbres and combinations, and by contrasting extreme registers and dynamic levels across the ensemble, Varese creates a new and unique sound world that seems far beyond the capabilities of such a tiny chamber ensemble.
The work’s climactic conclusion picks up in tempo, dynamics, density, and range, but returns to lower registers and quieter dynamic levels. A lyrical cadenza is played by the alto sax, making for a satisfying resolution. As with most of Shapey’s music, the work puts great emphasis on color and gesture. When given this convincing a performance, it is quite accessible.
The program concluded with Pierre Boulez’s Messagesquisse, scored for an ensemble of six cellos (only five were used) and cello soloist (Northwestern cello professor Hans Jorgen Jensen). The title refers to the “message sketch” that Boulez transmits in the score, namely notes that translate the letters of the name of his friend, the great 20th-century music patriarch Paul Sacher. The piece is quite complex structurally and yet was beautifully played–which is no small feat. Boulez lamented the fact that the CSO string section was still not playing a piece of his correctly when he was here in 1987. I think he would have been quite pleased with this performance–the ensembling was tight, the phrasing musical, the sound warm and full, and the group intonation unbroken.
