Two Faces of America: The Dark — The Light

The Miró Quartet Explores our American Identity through Music.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was a time of light, it was a time of darkness…”—Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

Today the United States of America seems confronted with a crisis of identity – who are we, its people? We seem surrounded by threats of darkness without, as well as evil within. Where does the good in us and in the world outside lie? What do we Americans as people believe in – what do we as a nation stand for?

On November 29 and 30, 2007 at the University of Texas at Austin, the Miró Quartet presents “Two Faces of America: The Light-The Dark”: two programs, each comprised of three American works for string quartet, which explore the many musical faces of our nation: both its lighter and its darker sides. These eclectic programs include works from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, including the premieres of two new works commissioned by the Miró for this series.

The first program “THE DARK”, features:

• “THE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE: a Marriage of Church and State” (2007) A new work commissioned by the Miró Quartet from Austin native and Pulitzer Prize nominated composer P. KELLACH WADDLE.

Waddle, double bassist and composer, is a funky, irreverent, and witty guy; one of the people that epitomizes the Texas capital's rallying cry of " Keep Austin Weird"; his dichotomous eccentricity reflected in his combination personality of true Austin character (via his bluegrass homeland of Kentucky, complete with accent) mixed with the heady noir of the brooding Goth. His quartet “American Nightmare” is a tone-picture of our nation today: by using traditional Protestant hymn tunes (a-la Charles Ives) as characters in his musical dramatization of contemporary America, he depicts the corruption of our nation’s ”Christian Values” into something malevolent, an excuse for violence, war, and intolerance. The work’s clever language is both persuasive and accessible, painting a wry and dramatic portrait that deeply explores what it means to live up to our nation’s ideals today. www.under.org/cpcc/pkwaddle.htm

• “NECRONOMICON” (2003) by JOHN ZORN,
one of the most difficult pieces ever written for string quartet, is a transcendent five movement work of unparalleled ensemble virtuosity and brilliant formal beauty; even now, 4 years after its premier, it has only been performed a handful of times any where in the world! Borrowing from his experience in a variety of genres including jazz, rock, hardcore punk, classical, klezmer, film, cartoon, popular and improvised music, Zorn has created a work in which each movement is a different diabolic vision from the “Necronomicon”, a fabled book of magical and demonic incantations. This remarkable piece contains some of the most extraordinary sounds ever produced by four acoustic string instruments unamplified: all of it evocative of a sorcerer’s visions--from the softest diaphanous hazes, to medieval incantations, clouds of voices, bursts of sonic fireworks, shrieking storms of sound, culminating in the very apparition of the Evil One! It is a marvelous magical journey for player and listener alike, by one of the most infamous American composers of our time, John Zorn!

www.tzadik.com

• “BLACK ANGELS (Images I)” (1970 ) by GEORGE CRUMB.
One of the classics of 20th century American Modernism, this groundbreaking work is written for Electric String Quartet. The amplification plunges the familiar sound of the violins, viola and cello, into a totally radical and unfamiliar sound-world. The 4 players use innumerable alternative techniques on their instruments to evoke the work’s dark imagery, as well as speaking, chanting and playing various percussion instruments, including tuned glasses. The work’s many images, from “Night of the Electric Insects” to “Sounds of Bones and Flutes”, from “God Music” to “Ancient Voices”, together conjure up a terrible sonic vision of America in the midst of the Vietnam War, as well as a mystic vision of its redemption, mystic transformation, and ultimate peace.

www.georgecrumb.net

The second program, “THE LIGHT”, features:

• The Quintessential New England of CHARLES IVES String Quartet No. 1: “A REVIVAL SERVICE” (1898)
This playful work was written by the young Ives while still a student at Yale University, and is based on his own improvisations as a organist at the Center Church in New Haven. Based on gospel tunes from the Salvation Army Hymnal of the kind Ives grew up hearing in camp meetings with his father, each movement of this exuberant quartet represents a different element of a Protestant church service: the Chorale/Processional, the Prelude, an Offertory, and a Postlude/Recessional, evoking at the same time the joyful ecstasy of a 19th century revival meeting. Enjoy the sounds of America’s old time religion mixed with a taste of revolution!

www.charlesives.org

• “CREDO” (2007) An inspiring new commissioned work by New York composer Kevin Puts commissioned by Chamber Music Monterey Bay for the Miró Quartet.

This moving work is yet another musical reflection on what and who America is today—but this time based on the theme of belief (“credo” is Latin for “I believe”); belief in an ideal, a hope, a promise, even when reality seems to discourage faith. Puts takes the images of inspiration drawn from his own life experiences: whether in a violin shop in Katonah New York, beneath the bridges and highways of Pittsburgh, or watching a mother teaching her daughter to dance in a Manhattan apartment, and captures their emotional essence in sound. From the sparkling music of the quartets opening, to the restless and yearning “infrastructure” at the music’s center, to the “Credo” hymn that closes the work, this quartet speaks directly to the America of our times.

www.kevinputs.com

•Quartet in F Major, Op. 96, “ THE AMERICAN”(1893) by ANTONIN DVORAK

Written in Spillville, Iowa and inspired by the positivism of 19th Century Midwest America, this beloved work is replete with distinctively American sounds and melodies: from the African American spiritual to Appalachian fiddle tunes, from the sounds of the railways to the calls of an Iowa songbird. No Romantic String Quartet depicts our country’s most beloved images better! Even more clearly captured by Dvorak’s music is the bracing emotions of the immigrant discovering the unlimited promise of the New World—this is some of the most invigorating and inspiring music ever written!

When he returned to his native Bohemia, Dvorak himself said, "As for my New World Symphony and F major String Quartet -- I should never have written these works 'just so' if I hadn't seen America."

 

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