Concerts like this are magical – something really worked for both settings of the enigmatic poem, Voyages, by Hart Crane. At the pre-concert lecture, Robert Convery told us he set the entire poem in eight days. On the score, he had noted the date June 16, 1993, twenty-five years and one day prior to the… Continue reading Concert Review: The Crossing’s MONTH OF MODERNS 2: Voyages
When I heard the cut “Pastorale (for Robert Schumann)” on the album, Solo Fred Hersch, I could not believe my ears. The music was Robert Schumann, but sounded as if Schumann was doodling in a jazzy way with a smooth legato line, dynamic finesse, and impeccable phrasing. I immediately became a Fred Hersch fan. The… Continue reading Concert Review: The Fred Hersch Trio at the McCarter Jazz Festival
A rehearsal was still in progress at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill on Germantown Avenue ten minutes before the start of the preconcert lecture, but the 26-page program, a polished work in itself, provided ample entertainment as we took seats in the chapel for the preconcert lecture. Donald Nally strode in just in time,… Continue reading Concert Review: The Crossing’s MONTH OF MODERNS 1: a house
James Tenney (1934-2006) was an American composer who studied with Chou Wen-Chung, Edgard Varèse, Carl Ruggles, and Harry Partch. He spent much of his life promoting the music of other composers, including Steve Reich. Tenney was a pioneer in digital synthesis, working at Bell Telephone Laboratories from 1961-64. He was constantly exploring new avenues of… Continue reading Concert Review: Arcana New Music Ensemble plays James Tenney
