‘America keeping secrets,’ whispered tenor Thomas Buckner, ‘keeping
secrets’. The unison chant of the accompanying bass clarinet, viola and
electric guitar were equally hushed as composer Erik Griswold made a pointed
comment on Wikileaks in his dramatic Mendax Redacts. The work was one of two
Australian world premieres performed by the Montreal-New York Quartet at the
opening night of their Australian tour.
The quartet featured a collaboration of four all-stars from
the international new music scene: baritone Thomas Buckner, viola player Pemi
Paull, bass clarinettist Lori Freedman and electric guitarist Tim Brady. The
unusual combination of instruments made a surprisingly well-balanced ensemble. The
players were well attuned to each other and equally proficient playing the
complex notated music in Brady’s Road Songs as when channelling their own
creativity in the interpretation of Christian Wolff’s graphic score Edges.
Brady’s guitar gave a contemporary edge to the group, most
overtly in John Encarnacao’s No Direction Home. This was the second Australian work
on the program, a curiously compelling mix of distorted guitar, viola and bass
clarinet rock riffs underscoring refugee stories.
Paull’s viola brought warmth to the ensemble with improvisations
characterised by mutterings, scoops and insistent attack. Lori Freedman’s impressive fluidity paired
with her experimental ingenuity was a highlight, especially in Brady’s
Improvisations for Bass Clarinet. Buckner’s vocalese of growls, gags, and splutters
were engrossing. His muddy diction and loose vibrato made it hard to comprehend
the text but his emotional account of Annea Lockwood’s For Richard was
delivered with intense sonority.
Cage’s FOUR6 required the performers to improvise music
within set time slots. The quartet’s improvisations included tapping on strings,
vocal overtones and vocalising into instruments which, while lacking the flair
of recent Cage performances by Decibel ensemble, gave a moody intensity to the
work. The ability to communicate their emotional commitment was the bedrock to
this successful ensemble and their interpretation of new music.
This review copyright The West Australian 2014.
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