Madrigals @ Lincoln Recital Hall, PSU; 3.7.12

Madrigals are a form of Renaissance music, small ensembles of 3 to 8 voices, often singing adaptations of popular poems. I became familiar with the style first through the old, great goth band Miranda Sex Garden, and i deepened my knowledge and understanding with my surreal anglophiliac tendencies.

This evening's performance, at the lovely Lincoln Recital Hall, in the basement of the luxurious Lincoln Performance building, all gilded Corinthian columns and polished wood. One thing you can say for classical performances, even if you don't care much for the music, is you can usually count on the acoustics. The Lincoln Recital Hall did not disappoint in this regard - an intimate room that seats about 100. Most of the attendees were either performers or their families, making it a casual, non-imposing atmosphere, and anybody who knows anything knows that this is the setting in which inspired art can commence, in which song may take flight.

The song was fully mid-wing as my friend and i entered the room; the Madrigal Choir began with a rare duo of sacred choral pieces, Ave Verum Corpus and O Bone Jesus that sounded like Arvo Part and had my whole body in a cold sweat and shivers, before launching into the more familiar street numbers, odes to love and tobacco, a sonnet by Shakespeare given voice. There were songs for only the women, and one just for the men; the line-up switched constantly which shook things up and kept it invigorating, and the variety and combination of voices conjured filmy orchestras in my mind's eye, silken bassoons and golden flutes, automatic harp and a fox hunt, all played out on a dusty celluloid stage, beneath the ghost light.

The University Choir were up next, a full 80 voices! Extraordinary, the fullness and richness, and captured and set loose in such a warm, inviting room. The University Choir is open to full-time music students and hobbyists alike, they have a severe work ethic while practicing but clearly enjoy themselves. The melting-pot of styles and motivations, not to mention the genders and age differences of the choir members, made for such a richly textured music. Some were clearly bored and looking for that easy credit, but some were burning with the holy spirit! They committed several of what i usually consider mortal musical sins.

1. The Choral Rendition of a Pop Tune (And So It Goes, Billy Joel)
   
2. Predominantly white choir doing ethnic music (Balia di Sehu, Aruba)
3. Parading through the aisles, to exit the auditorium

The Billy Joel number was actually my second favorite of the evening, behind the holy choral music mentioned earlier. It tells a story of a person opening up the secret room of their heart, gifting the treasure of their heart to someone, to break as they see fit. The soloist Ariel Young clearly knew what she was talking about, singing in a smooth silky alto: pure, emotional, sincere - a rare gift when interpreting someone else's song. It left me raw and misty, dreading the coming Spring thaw and all its resultant loneliness, but the joy and purity of the evening's music would not allow cynicism to flourish in my chest, i left full of hope and possibility.

The Madrigal & University Choir's whetted my appetite for classical music, and reminded me of how much rich culture there is to be had out there, for those with discerning Eustachian canals.

Shostakovich - String Quartets 4 & 5 (Manhattan String Quartet)

"The monstrous disharmony of war has come to an end. Henceforth, the fingers of violinists will lay down the machine guns they have been gripping, and will again touch the obedient, singing strings of their violins-touch them with inspiration. Now sounds the bright melody of peace and creative work." - Dimitri Shostakovich

Yet things would not be as optimistic as Shostakovich, and many other Russian artists, composers, and film-makers would have hoped. These quartets, written during the period between 1946 - 1952, proved to be a dark one in Soviet History. Having already endured the pre-war purges and the grist-mill of WWII, artists hoped that the return to peace and security would allow Stalin and his cultural commissars to ease their grip on artists.

This did not prove to be the case, and millions were sent to Siberian labor camps, had their lives, families, and careers destroyed, under the cultural scrutiny of Andrei Zhdanov. In this climate, Shostakovich would not dare to undertake any symphonies or grandiose statements, having already been flogged by the critics for formalism, pretentiousness, modernism. Shostakovich served as a favored whipping post against the avant-garde, and other forms of 'dissident' thought.

During this period, Shostakovich frequently turned to string quartets and film music, which were considered minor and of less consequence, and thus paid less attention to. In these outlets, he would rage and poke fun, declaim his unbent spirit against totalitarian regimes, like 'signing' his work with his trademark 'DSCh' theme, a sequence of D, E flat, C, B natural, as notated in German, and standing for the composer's initials. This music is private and haunting, explosive and contemplative. It serves as a sort of diary, of a unique and troubling period in Human history, written by a man well-familiar with his emotional landscapes, and an eloquent tongue and pen, to set it down for all time.

Shostakovich's string quartets have been a personal favorite. The string quartet is one of my favorite instrumental combos, small and focused and intimate, allowing the performers to really vibe off each other, to reach soaring crescendoes of passion and revelation. I always find it invigorating, and thought-provoking to consider the risks that Shostakovich took, and the overwhelming urge to express himself and be true to his artistic vision. Often, i find his symphonies to be rather bloated and grandiose, as was expected of him, and of Soviet Realism. Militaristic, and democratic. Modern flourishes were considered self-aggrandizing, and degenerate. So he snuck it all in, in his quartets and film music.

I've been house sitting for a friend, during Nov. and have been allowed access to her music library. She plays cello, and played with a variety of New York ensembles, during the 80s and 90s. I offer this selection, to start, as its something i'm pretty familiar with, and i've been listening to a lot this week. I'm hoping to provide little slivers of insight and inspiration, in this space, pockets and corners of stories and lives. A brief glimpse behind the eyeballs, perhaps even a momentary consideration of what it is like to be someone else.

Music is all around us, every second of every day, and everybody seems to have their own passionate soundtrack. The idea of 'better' or 'best' seem to be rapidly disappearing, to be replaced by personal preference. Someone quietly murmuring, 'this is what its like to be me.'

I'm not really hoping to be authoritative, more like subjective or impressionistic, although i do hope to continue to hone my craft at writing, and making music of my own. I'm hoping to provide slivers of moments, melodies and moonbeams, pockets of prose and collected recollections.

Quartets

wiki

ps... the file name is slightly misleading, as its only the 4th and 5th quartets, but the quality is super good! I hope you enjoy.