June in Buffalo in Brief

This year’s theme at June In Buffalo was “Music and Computers” at which I had the pleasure of being able to go to play Matt Barber’s piece Interfaith Chapel. I didn’t participate in any of the masterclasses, but I was able to attend lectures, concerts and such throughout the week, not to mention meet some wonderful people. There were about 20 “student” composers this year at the festival. I was very happy to find out that the festival accepted works that were computer assisted composition (i.e. acoustic), as well as pieces for tape, instrument(s) and tape, and interactive works. Too much to say to recant the whole week, but here were some highlights:

Advice of the week

When making a patch for an interactive work, assume that it will be used 95% of the time for rehearsal.

Charle Dodge’s For Baird: Etudes for Violin and Tape

Wonderful, wonderful pieces. Each was extremely understated and simple; so much so that the pieces seemed to be more avant-garde than others (not to suggest a contest in any way, just surprising). Filtered Noise in unison with the violin glissandi. Very simple sine tones reverberating against harmonics on the violin. Although the pieces were understated, they never felt fragile or weak (both terms could be used as compliments in a hypothetical musical texture that these pieces were not). I believe you can order this pieces from Frog Peak music, and if you play the violin, I suggest that you do.

Ben Thigpen

Ben Thigpen’s pieces 0.95652173913 and malfunction30931 were the highlights of the “faculty” pieces for the whole festival for me. 0.9… for 8 channel playback is a fairly violent work with the most pristine, crystalline sounds one could imagine. It was a work that was extremely emotive, if not downright romantic, although almost entirely devoid of pitch in any traditional sense of the word. It’s bombastic sounds, give way, rarely, to a few moments of stasis, and one of silence. malfunction30931 I believe was a premier. This piece was created entirely from recordings of broken computers and poor cable connections. This work was much more supple than the first, almost entirely a “drone.” Thigpen used some extreme filtering on the recordings and brought out some of the most beautiful minor thirds I’ve ever heard (strange to hear pitches/intervals in malfunctioning computers). The work seemed much more contemplative, as a friend described, it was like the hum of your refrigerator in your cabin in the woods. It’s some that’s not working quite right (malfunctioning) but it’s home, sentimental.

Stockhausen’s Capricorn

This was the final work performed at the festival. The concert opened with Stockhausen’s work Kontakte for piano, percussion and tape, which was a very nice performance to hear. Sound was run by Hans Tutschku who was the giver of the advice above, as well as someone who worked with Stockhausen running sound. Needless to say, the balance and such was beautiful and flawless. After an intermission there were a few pieces performed by Nicholas Isherwood, undoubtedly the most amazing bass voice I have ever heard in my life.

After a second intermission, we experienced Stockhausen’s Capricorn. The piece begins in a dark hall, the electronics emerge: pristine, beautiful. About 3 or 4 minutes into the piece, a light sitting on the stage turns on, lighting Isherwood from below, singing a very forte low pitch (somewhere around a D). Isherwood is in a silver costume, with face painted silver (matching), and silver headphones on. I suppose he is dressed as an alien from SIRIUS here to tell humans about the knowledge there is to be found upon that star. The piece is practically impenetrable, there is not much to say other than it is an experience to be had. There’s no way to say, or point in saying whether I “liked” or “enjoyed” the piece at all: it is a piece that you are confronted with, and it is captivating in the fullest sense.

Summery

All in all, it was a wonderful festival that made me extremely excited to be involved in not only contemporary music, but in electronic music as well. For those of us concerned with the future of western classical music, heck, American classical music, specifically music assisted by a computer, this past week convinced me that there is nothing to worry about.