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8:30pm.John McCowen & Madison Greenstone: Mundanas
For weeks leading up to the Fagradalsfjall volcanic eruption of March 2021, there was a persistent pulse of earthquakes near John McCowen’s home in Reykjavík, Iceland—sometimes only minutes apart. At first, from silence, there would appear an incredibly low, sine-like tone. As this tone began to crescendo, it would be accompanied by an ever-increasing vibration. These vibrations would then become visceral as the building shook. With the epicenter located a 30 minute drive from Reykjavík, one could visualize the initial grinding of tectonic plates and the subsequent, earth-rattling waves emanating from the volcanic center. For John, feeling these rolling vibrations unconsciously shaped the music of Mundanas VII-XI.
The parallels between this experience and the music are unambiguous - two contrabass clarinets emanating low, sine-like tones with shifting harmonics activated by these rumbling swells. When these two contrabass clarinets are combined, there emerges a wave of combinatorial frequencies - an acoustic stream of sound almost tactile. All this said, there exists an orchestra of sound waiting to be observed as the listener goes deeper. This suite of new compositions exhibits John McCowen & Madison Greenstone at a height of ensemble entanglement - operating as a singular organism. The record has a unified aura from beginning to end - variations on a theme - silence to culmination and back. The music is more akin to the rolling waves of tectonic activity than to McCowen’s more strident works. This showcases the performers ability to remain placid with an ability to shimmer and sonically multiply at a moment’s notice.
Varo String Quartet and ~Nois play Poetics of Space Translation Symmetry by Noah Jenkins
Chicago contemporary music powerhouses ~Nois and Varo String Quartet come together for the first time for the world premiere of Poetics of Space Translation Symmetry by Chicago composer Noah Jenkins. The 45-minute octet features a spatial arrangement with the strings centered in the performance space and the saxophones posted around the perimeter. Tones, players, and quartets sound individually and fuse together into composites, melodic shapes blur into vertical harmony, and just-intonation harmonies are animated as their constituent tones take shape in spatiotemporal patterns.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
3111 N Western Ave Chicago IL 60618, 3111 N Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60618-6409, United States,Chicago, Illinois
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