The Music of Louis Andriessen at Le Poisson Rouge - New York, NY (April 18, 2010)

April 18, 2010

Doors open: 6:30 PM
Show time: 7 PM


ACME (American Contemporary Music Ensemble), led by cellist and artistic director Clarice Jensen, will perform a concert at (Le) Poisson Rouge entitled The Music of Louis Andriessen, presented by (Le) Poisson Rouge and Carnegie Hall as part of a month-long celebration of the eminent Dutch composer’s music and his 70th birthday. The concert will be preceded by a discussion with the composer and Robert Hurwitz, president of Andriessen's longtime U.S. record label, Nonesuch Records.


The program will include a screening of Peter Greenaway’s 1991 30-minute video film, M is for Man, Music, Mozart with a live performance of Andriessen’s score, conducted by Jeffrey Milarsky and featuring soprano soloist Mary Elizabeth Mackenzie. In addition, pianist Eric Huebner will perform three solo works, Image de Moreau, Trois Pieces, and Trepidus. Andriessen’s Facing Death, for amplified string quartet, completes the program.


M is for Man, Music, Mozart was made for television by Greenaway and Andriessen (who would later collaborate on the operas Writing to Vermeer and ROSA, The death of a composer), in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Mozart’s death. It features four nude dancers representing the Gods, and a singer who sings a list of objects starting with each letter of the alphabet. When the letter “M” is reached, the Gods choose to create Man, then Music – and in order to have Perfect Music – Mozart.


Originally written for the Kronos Quartet in 1990, Facing Death for amplified string quartet is based on the music of Charlie Parker. The composer writes, “Be-bop had been an important influence on my musical development when I was young, and I decided to do something with this music from my youth . . . I literally quote fragments of Charlie Parker improvisations. I also quote one original melody: Orinthology (which is based on How High the Moon). The 7th and 8th bar of Orinthology became an important motif in the piece.”


ACME players for April 18 include Yuki Numata, violin; Ben Russell, violin; Caitlin Lynch, viola; Clarice Jensen, cello; Kelli Kathman, flute and piccolo; Patrick Posey, soprano saxophone; Luke Gay, tenor saxophone; Matt Marks, horn; Gareth Flowers, trumpet; Nathan Botts, trumpet; Jeff Missal, trumpet; John Vera; trombone; Michael Engstrom, trombone; Will Lang, bass trombone; and Logan Coale, bass.


This is a first-come seated event. Seating is limited and not guaranteed; please arrive early.


Artists


The Music of Louis Andriessen


Born the Netherlands in 1939, Louis Andriessen grew up in a musical family – his father, uncle, and brother were all composers – and studied with Luciano Berio, drawing from a diverse range of influences from Stravinsky to jazz, funk, and rhythm and blues. Through his varied background in both jazz and avant-garde composition, as well as his rejection of traditional musical forms, Andriessen’s music has often been viewed to be a revolt against the legacy of German Romanticism. He has developed a style employing elemental harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic materials, as well as distinctive – if not idiosyncratic – instrumentation (having never written a work for a traditional symphony orchestra). Through music Andriessen has explored such seemingly disparate subjects as politics, time, velocity, matter, and mortality. It is this openness and willingness to reach beyond the traditionally accepted range of music that has made Andriessen a catalyst and provocateur in the Dutch contemporary arts scene. Andriessen’s work as a composer, author, pianist, firebrand, and teacher over the past 40 years has established him as a central figure in the international new music scene and as the most significant composer working in the Netherlands today. He was named Musical America’s Composer of the Year for 2010. Louis Andriessen is published by Boosey & Hawkes.


pre-concert discussion with Louis Andriessen and Robert Hurwitz of Nonesuch Records
musical accompaniment of Peter Greenaway's film "M is for Man, Music Mozart"


Tickets
General admission $ 15


Le Poisson Rouge
158 Bleecker Street
New York, NY 10012
P: 212-505-3474
http://www.lepoissonrouge.com/