Aide Memoire: Gustav Holst's Wagnerian Influenced Opera "Sita"

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Abstract: "Everyone Knows that several of Gustav Holst's early works are concerned with subject-matter derived from Indian mythology. The most significant, though by no means the only, examples are the operas Sita and Savitri, the cantata The Cloud Messenger, and the various settings of Hymns from the Rig Veda. His knowledge and use of that subject-matter, however, has received little critical appraisal. Conventional formulations such as that in John Vinton's Dictionary of 20th Century Music (‘his studies of Sanskrit … introduced him to Eastern thought’), themselves derived from Imogen Holst's biography of her father, have been allowed to stand unscrutinized. There has, in particular, been little or no discussion of the relationship between Holst's sources, compositional style, and creative achievement in these works – which constitute, after all, his first really personal contribution to European music. Yet these are vitally important considerations if the music of Holst's ‘Indian’ period is to be rescued from the picturesque. Just as important as the literary and philosophical aspects is the cultural context; a discussion of that will help to explain why Holst should have been looking towards India in the first place."

Tempo

Image credit: (c) Copyright © 2011 Smithsonian Institution/Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

So Begins The Post-Classical Ensemble's Tribute Week To The Music, Spirituality, And Anti-Nuclear World Vision Of Lou Harrison

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First, a film screening at the National Gallery of Art tomorrow, Saturday:

Lou Harrison: A World of Music
February 26 at 4:00PM

East Building Concourse, Auditorium
World premiere
Director Eva Soltes in person

Music pioneer, writer, and activist Lou Harrison (1917–2003), an early experimenter with alternate tunings and intricate mergings of Western and Eastern styles, has been a legend of the American music scene since the 1950s. The culmination of two decades of research and documentation, Lou Harrison: A World of Music features rare footage, personal recordings, and informal conversations with Harrison, as well as extended passages of his hauntingly beautiful scores. The director leads a post-screening dialogue. Presented in association with Post-Classical Ensemble, The George Washington University, and the forum “Sublime Confluence: The Music of Lou Harrison.” (Eva Soltes, 2011, HD-Cam, 90 minutes)

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Then, next Friday, from 7:30 to 9:30 PM, a Post-Classical Ensemble evening of Indonesian Chamber Music and Keynote Presentations by Lou Harrison scholar Bill Alves and documentary filmmaker Eva Soltes at the Embassy of Indonesia, on Mass. Avenue, near Dupont Circle and the Phillips Collection.

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And then, a rare and full chamber, choral, and orchestral tribute Concert Celebrating Lou Harrison by the Post-Classical Ensemble at Lisner Auditorium of the George Washington University next Saturday evening, March 5, at 8 PM:

Javanese gamelan music

Harrison: Concerto for Piano and Javanese Gamelan

Harrison: Bubaran Robert for Trumpet and Javanese Gamelan

Harrison: Strict Songs for chorus and orchestra

Harrison: Piano Concerto

This festival is made possible with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Embassy of Indonesia, and by major national and local foundations.

Get 2-for-1 Tickets w/ discount code LOUH

Lou Harrison biography by Leta E. Miller.

Image credits: (c) Copyright controlled 2011.

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I remember seeing Mr. Harrison during rehearsals by the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra of his "Pacifika Rondo" with an anti-Nuclear Warhead testing central movement, which was recorded; as well as at an early Cabrillo Music Festival in which he and Elliott Carter were the composers in residence. (The previous season I met Hans Werner Henze, who was that season's composer in residence.)

I also attended the 1975 world premiere, by the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra, of Mr. Harrison's beautiful "Elegaic Symphony" -- which along with the Piano Concerto, to be performed next Saturday, and "Lo Koro Sutro" for chorus and gamelan is one of Mr. Harrison's crowning achievements and a monument to 20th century classical music.

What does it really mean to be a composer?

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Erkki-Sven Tüür: 7 Etudes in Pictures (2010) A film portrait of Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tüür

February 24, 2011 at 4 pm

The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. (Auditorium)

What does it really mean to be a composer? How is a musical work born? How to the first shivers of a thought and a graphical image turn into the first bars and further to a whole piece? What is a composer's respensibility toward his audience?

The documentary by Marianne Kõrver observes the different sides of being a composer - from writing a piece in the solitude of the woods of Hirmuste in the island Hiiumaa to orchestral rehearsals in co-operation with acclaimed conductors Paavo Järvi and Anu Tali.

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Lou Harrison: A World of Music (2011)

February 26 at 4pm

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
East Building Concourse, Auditorium

World premiere
Director Eva Soltes in person

Music pioneer, writer, and activist Lou Harrison (1917–2003), an early experimenter with alternate tunings and intricate mergings of Western and Eastern styles, has been a legend of the American music scene since the 1950s. The culmination of two decades of research and documentation, Lou Harrison: A World of Music features rare footage, personal recordings, and informal conversations with Harrison, as well as extended passages of his hauntingly beautiful scores. The director leads a post-screening dialogue. Presented in association with Post-Classical Ensemble, The George Washington University, and the forum “Sublime Confluence: The Music of Lou Harrison.” (Eva Soltes, 2011, HD-Cam, 90 minutes)

Photo credits: (c) Art Frisch for the San Francisco Chronicle 1976/2011 and (c) Eamonn Mccabe 2010. Both copyright controlled.

In The Fertile Winter Shadows Of The John F. Kennedy Center For the Performing Arts

Thanks to a special Estonian Independence Day celebration grant from the Embassy of Estonia, tomorrow (Thursday) evening’s 6 PM Erkki-Sven Tüür portrait chamber concert, with the New Tallinn Trio and the composer, at the Phillips Collection is free of charge (with reservation). Remaining seats are limited. (If doable, the museum requests a $20 contribution to help it further its contemporary classical music programming and commissioning projects.)

On March 3 at 6:30 and 7:30 PM, the Phillips Collection hosts Roger Reynolds for two evening sets of music in the large upstairs special exhibition gallery featuring two solo guitar pieces "imAge/guitar" and "imagE/guitar" and an extended "transformation" of them in a work called "Dream Mirror" as performed by guitarist Pablo Gomez and computer musician Jaime Oliver.

And on March 10 at 6 PM, the Museum hosts a special concert focusing on the relationship between painter Philip Guston and Morton Feldman. The Red Light Ensemble performs Feldman’s ‘The King of Denmark’, ‘Palais di Mari’ for solo piano, and ‘Why Patterns?’ There is also a conversation between Philip Guston curator Susan Behrends Frank and Feldman protégé Dr. Nils Vigeland.

The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.

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Next up: The National Gallery of Art, the Embassy of Indonesia to the United States, and the Post-Classical Ensemble, Washington, D.C. celebrate Lou Harrison.

Photo credit: Gaddafi (c) Associated Press 2011. Copyright controlled.

An Understudy To History?

Photo credit: (c) Getty Images 2011. Copyright controlled.

Older Master Musicians And Younger Student Musicians To Celebrate Fantasy And Humanism Of Gluck And Handel

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GLUCK'S FANTASTICAL IPHIGENIE EN TAURIDE LIVE IN HD FROM THE MET -- THIS WEEKEND!

HANDEL’S FANTASTICAL ALCINA IN CONCERT AT THE S.F. CONSERVATORY – FREE!

"A sorceress, a magic island, enchanted plants and animals, and at the heart of it… a love story. It’s George Frederic Handel’s 1735 opera Alcina, presented in a concert version at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music on Saturday, March 5 and Sunday, March 6. Featuring students from the Conservatory’s acclaimed Historical Performance program, Alcina is led by the Conservatory Baroque Ensemble’s co-directors, Corey Jamason and Elisabeth Reed, with stage direction by Kathy Cathcart. Admission is free, though tickets are required.

Alcina is a sorceress who bewitches men into loving her before turning them into stones, animals and plants. The hapless knight Ruggiero falls under Alcina’s spell, only to be rescued by his fiancée Bradamante. “Although the tale is at first glance somewhat incredible, it is in truth a very modern story which explores love in all its different aspects,” says Jamason. “And it’s filled with astonishingly beautiful music.”

Aside from the chance to hear exquisite music while supporting talented young singers as they begin their careers, this production of Alcina offers a glimpse into the Conservatory’s burgeoning Historical Performance program. Over the last several years this program has grown by leaps and bounds, presenting early music through the Baroque Ensemble as well as through faculty concerts, guest artist appearances and master classes by celebrated artists such as countertenor David Daniels, trumpeter Gabriele Cassone and Jeffrey Thomas, director of the American Bach Soloists. Each spring the program focuses on one large-scale composition, usually an opera by Handel, the most successful opera composer of his day."

Photo credit: Iphigenie en Tauride (c) Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera 2011.

Now Bahrain -- When Will Government Violence Surrender?

Photo credit: (c) Associated Press 2011. Copyright controlled.

Requiem in Iran

The Iranian opposition Kaleme Web site reports that the University of Tehran's arts faculty has been taken over by pro-government forces who beat and arrested anti-government students.

Requiem

Photo credits: (c) Copyright controlled 2010 -2011. All rights reserved.

Renaissance

"In the name of God the merciful, the compassionate, citizens, during these very difficult circumstances Egypt is going through, President Hosni Mubarak has decided to step down from the office of president of the republic and has charged the high council of the armed forces to administer the affairs of the country. May God help everybody."

Photo credit: Pakinamer (c) Copyright controlled 2011. All rights reserved.

Did Mubarak fully transfer all power prior to democratic elections?

Statement #2 issued on Friday by Egypt's Armed Forces Supreme Council:

"In view of the ongoing events that will determine the future of the country, and in line with the continuous monitoring of the internal and external developments and the president's decision to delegate his power to the vice president, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces decides to guarantee the implementation of the following steps:

First:

• Ending the state of emergency once the present circumstances end.

• The outcome of the (court) appeals against the parliamentary election and the measures that will follow.

•Implementation of the constitutional amendments and holding a free and fair presidential election in line with the agreed constitutional amendments.

Second:

• The armed forces are committed to shepherding the legitimate demands of the people and strives with firmness and accuracy to ensure their implementation within a definitive timetable until the realization of a peaceful transition that produces the democratic society to which people aspire.

Third:

• The armed forces stress that there will be no detention of the honorable sons of the nation who rejected corruption and demanded reform.

• It [Egypt's military] stresses the importance of resuming work at government's services, the return of normal life in order to preserve the interests and the achievements of our great people."

Mubarak may transfer power prior to democratic elections

Human Rights Watch has confirmed 302 deaths in the Egypt upheavals, based on visits to hospitals in three cities, and says the real toll may be significantly higher.

Despite Challenging Financial And Cultural Climate, San Francisco National Opera To Stage Two American Operas in 2011-12

Christopher Theofanidis and Donna Di Novelli's "The Heart of a Soldier" and John Adams and Alice Goodman's "Nixon in China."

Joshua Kosman "S.F. Opera sets 2011-12 schedule" San Francisco Chronicle January 19, 2011.

Photo credit: American opera champion, Rene Fleming. (c) Karin Cooper/Washington National Opera [of the Kennedy Center] 2010. Copyright controlled. All rights reserved.

'Nixon In China' Broadcast Notice; And Sunday New Music Update For Berkeley And San Francisco (Shadow Of Cairo Edition)

The Metropolitan Opera

Nixon in China
February 12, 2011, 1:00 pm

Composer: Alice Goodman
Conductor: John Adams
Cast: Chiang Ch'ing: Kathleen Kim
Pat Nixon: Janis Kelly
Mao Tse-tung: Robert Brubaker
Chou En-lai: Russell Braun
Richard Nixon: James Maddalena
Henry Kissinger: Richard Paul Fink

Source: Classical WETA Opera House, Washington, D.C.

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U.C. Berkeley, Hertz Hall, Sun Feb 6th 2011, 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Eco Ensemble, David Milnes, conductor

PROGRAM
- Liza White: Groove II for solo piano; Ann Yi, pianist
- David Coll: Derive for bass clarinet, cello, and electronics; Matt Ingalls, clarinet; Leighton Fong, cello
- Jason Levis: Dub Concrète II for tape
- Dan VanHassel: Poised to Make Gains for piano with live audio and video processing, played by the composer
- Nils Bultmann: improvisation for viola and live video processing, played by the composer and a video artist
- Evelyn Ficarra: Vagues / Fenêtres for String Trio and Electronic Sounds; String Trio with electronics
Hrabba Atladottir, violin; Ellen Ruth Rose, viola: Leighton Fong, cello

San Francisco Conservatory of Music New Music Marathon, Sunday Feb. 6,2011 2-8 PM

Recital Hall 2:00 hour:
Michael Gordon: Industry
Lou Harrison: Concerto for Violin and Percussion
Osvaldo Golijov: Dreams and Prayers of Isaac The Bind

Recital Hall 3:00 hour:
Paul Bergel:Winchester House of Mystery Suite
Atanas Ourkouzounov: Objects Futiles
Gary Eister: Chasing Light
George Crumb: Vox Balaenae

Recital Hall 4:00 hour:
Alden Jenks: War of Words
Pierre Jalbert: Trio; Life Cycle; Agnus Dei
Derrick Spiva Jr.: Dies Veneris
Jon Russell: Night Dance
Christopher Porter: Tenebrae

Concert Hall 5:00 hour:
Jerry Liu*: Suite 7 Days
Louis Cruz*: Mentalese
Mason Bates: Red River
Pantawit Kiangsiri: Snapshots

Recital Hall 5:00 hour:
Anthony Porter*: not quite what i was planning
Harry Whitney*: Chipping Away
Luciano Chessa: New Work
Alden Jenks*: War of Words
Steve Mackey: Interior

“We could have done so much more"

“I’ve always said that my age is 60, but I haven’t lived for 30 years,” said Leila Abu Nasr, walking with her husband, Sharif, in Cairo. “We could have done so much more.”