The AMAZINGNESS that is eighth blackbird in concert

eighth blackbird just performed an incredible concert here at Music10. This concert was devoted to works by the three principal composers that I mentioned in my last post: Joel Hoffman, Stephen Hartke, and Martin Bresnick. The whole concert was good, congratulations to all involved, etc., etc., but the standout works of the night were, undoubtedly, Hartke’s Meanwhile: Incidental Music to an Imaginary Puppet Play and Bresnick’s My 20th Century. The two works, as staged by eighth blackbird,  would seem to warrant the term “music drama” more than anything Wagner ever wrote, if only that term weren’t so fraught.

Every season, eighth blackbird completely memorises a work and choreographs it; Meanwhile is one of these works. Before composing the work, Stephen Hartke looked up clips of different types of Asian puppet theatre on the internet. He said to me after the concert that he basically took on the role of “fake ethnomusicologist” in this piece, and created new instruments that he thought would be appropriate for some kind of puppet theatre. I think Hartke summed up the piece best when he told the audience before the performance that the instrumentalists in this piece narrate some kind of story, but he’s not sure what that story may be. Throughout the performance, the members of eighth blackbird moved around the stage, acting with their instruments and with each other as much as playing. Here are some photos:

Look ma, no music! Lisa played one of Hartke's "fake ethnomusicologist" instruments for a large part of the piece, in addition to her usual instrument, the piano.

Nick rocking out on the cello (apologies for the blurriness)

This was a really intense moment

So was this

Martin Bresnick’s My 20th Century was my favourite work of the night. It sets a poem by a close friend of his, Tom Anderson; you can read the whole poem on Bresnick’s website: http://www.martinbresnick.com/programnotes/mytwentieth.htm . Bresnick doesn’t set the poem to music in the sense that someone sings the text; rather, the music that he composed surrounds the poem, which is recited by the members of eighth blackbird, stanza by stanza, at significant moments throughout the piece.

Before the performance, Bresnick told the audience that the poem was at times funny and at times deeply meaningful. This is how I feel about Bresnick’s piece, as well. The work starts with an energetic, driving ostinato that is catchy enough in its own right, but accrues layers of meaning and beauty as Bresnick transforms it throughout the piece. Also  breathtaking are the moments when the ostinato drops out altogether.

Here is a shot from My 20th Century. Michael and Matthew are reciting lines of the poem to each other while the others play.

It was so inspiring to get to see eighth blackbird play together in the midst of these crazy two weeks of rehearsing with them, eating with them, hanging out with them. They are an incredible group of performers, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn with them and to get to know them in such a unique setting.

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One Response to “The AMAZINGNESS that is eighth blackbird in concert”

1. Chris Richardson says:

   Jun 29, 2010 at 11:32 am

   Naomi,

   Thanks for these posts. It’s been nice for me to get a glimpse of what’s happening out in your musical mountain retreat. Take good care of my birds, be sure to beer them regularly and tell them their mom misses them terribly.

   Cheers,

   Chris

   Reply