jwilzewske

Friday, March 12, 2010

Meditations on the Artistry of China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra

C hinese written script is made up of several thousand individual graphs. Each consists of an invariable group of strokes executed in a set order. One of the truly unique features of calligraphy that results from these apparently restrictive guidelines is that the viewer is able to mentally retrace, stroke by stroke, the exact steps by which the work was made. The viewer also is able to observe extremely subtle nuances of execution—where a stroke was made swiftly or slowly; whether the brush was put to the paper with great delicacy or force; and so on. The ability [and inducement!] to perform such mental retracing personalizes the viewing experience and generates in the viewer a strong sense of interacting or communing with the absent calligrapher [composer] ... Calligraphy clearly had this obvious social dimension, but it also had an important ‘natural’ dimension that should not be overlooked. For example, early critics and connoisseurs often likened its expressive power to elements of the natural world, comparing the movements of the brush to the force of boulders plummeting down a hillside, or to the gracefulness of fleeting patterns left on the surface of a pond by a flock of swimming geese.”
— Charles Lachman, Asia Society.

T here were many things for me to be inspired by while listening to the concert performed this past Monday evening at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Ontario. The concert—by the China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra, conducted by Pang Ka-Pang—was a “kick-off” to both nations’ celebrating 40 years of China-Canada diplomatic relations and commercial trading.

F irst, this thought occurred to me as I listened to the 96 Chinese musicians performing: there are parallels between traditional Chinese orchestral music and certain types of traditional Chinese calligraphy!

S ome calligraphic styles involve strokes that are rapid, bold to an extreme—they are sketch-like in their spontaneity; each feature, once improvised, never to be returned-to.

B ut other Chinese calligraphy styles involve the placement of brush stroke on top of previous brush strokes—a “layer-upon-layer” effect with subsequent ink-brush strokes overlaying the ones that went before, creating extra visual, emotional ‘tension’ through the insistent, laminated repetition of a particular stroke-motion in one spot, to create part of the Chinese Hànzì character that is being written. The individual repetitions are not identical, so the effect is accumulative—a collective sonic endorsement of a single thought, one whose quality becomes now more obviously a ‘multi-faceted’ idea than we would have perceived it to be had it only been articulated once, one player to a part as one would do in most chamber music.

Li Huanzhi (arr. Peng Xiuwen): Ouverture du nouvel An chinois
Traditional (arr. Peng Xiuwen): Alors que la lune se lève
W.A. Mozart (arr. Peng Xiuwen): Sérénade pour cordes en G majeur
Tan Dun: Northwest Suite
Liu Tieshan & Mao Yuan (arr. Peng Xiuwen): Danse du people Yao
J. Strauss (arr Guang Naizhong): Pizzicato Polka, Op. 234
Li Huanzhi: Chant folklorique chinois - Jasmine
Liu Yuan: Hua Bangzi de Hebei (Cto. Pour banhu)
Xu Changjun: Danse du dragon

O n Monday evening we heard musical examples emblematic of both: some of the works were bold, soloistic improvised “texts”; and others among them were insistent, collectivized, massively-parallelized texts, with extensive doubling and repetition.

[50-sec clip, China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra, excerpt from Track 4, Disc B, ‘CBCO: 2005-2007 Season’, ISBN 978-7-880060280-9, Li Huanzhi, ‘Jasmine’, 1.6MB MP3]

T he ‘frisson’ generated by the massive parallelism—with whole sections of performers ‘doubling’ on the same part, with inevitable microtonal differences among them as they execute the part with fingers on strings 2 cm distant from the shaft/fingerboard—is just scintillating to listen to. But the polyphony of the composition may be quite small—only 8 or 10 parts. The sounds are being ‘crowd-sourced’ by 90+ performers: this may seem a very peculiar but nonetheless ‘chamber music-like’ idiom to a Western listener! Twelve erhus on one note, and twelve more erhus on another note, playing in thirds, two-part harmony. Reminiscent of cloud-computing on dozens of parallel distributed CPUs.

B owing mostly right down on top of the wooden resonator box, with its little deposit of rosin on top to insure that the bowhair keeps its grip on the strings. Snakeskin covering the resonator, with a tiny floating bridge and bit of felt—to minimize disturbance of strings’ motion to the positioning of the bridge and to optimize the sound production.

E ach erhu musician has two instruments, each with a different color of felt—tuned differently, suitable for rapidly switching to perform different compositions? Somewhat like a violinist who needs to play scordatura may keep two instruments at the ready, one of them alternately-tuned?

A second insight—novel, at least for us in the audience who do not frequently have the chance to listen to Chinese music—was the varied narrative structure of the pieces that comprised the program. In several of the pieces, there were at least three “screens” or sonic tableaux where simultaneous “action” was unfolding. One of these afforded an “area” in which each performer could execute her/his part with discreetly improvisatory gestures that are broadly consistent with the score using the language employed in the score and compatible with what the other members of your section are playing. Another: an area where each performer can control the sound elements in the small-scale context of musical phrases or motifs. In yet another, a chance for the listener to collaborate with the performers to “rewrite” a quote from the composition. And finally, a space in which users can imagine and participate (as when, near the end of the last piece of the concert, Dragon Dance, conductor Pang Ka-Pang directed the audience in clapping in-time with the percussion parts). In other words and somewhat in contradiction of the conventional notion of ‘collectivistic’ section playing in unison, etc., etc., there is in reality a remarkable latitude for individual expression and structured improvisation within the Chinese music idioms.

Five Note Scale:	Gong	Shang	Jue	_	Zhi	Yu	_
Seven Note Scale:	Gong	Shang	Jue	Bienzhi	Zhi	Yu	Biengong
Western Scale Degrees:	Do	Re	Mi	Fi	Sol	La	Ti

H armonic structure and voice-leading of these pieces was fascinating as well. For example the nominally pentatonic Chinese scale can be modulated within a diatonic context. The theory may indicate 12-notes to an octave, but most of these compositions are predominantly pentatonic with diatonic/chromatic passing tones and ornaments. The solo concerto performance by banhu virtuosa, Jiang Kemei, displayed tremendous bravura improvisations, including many executed with subtle slides of the bow and manipulation of the bowhair tension with the second and third fingers. Astonishing virtuosity.

W hat else? In some of the pieces, there were figures that were repeated, usually rapidly and over a prolonged interval of 10 or more seconds. But these repetitions are varied, with some musicians altering some pitches or ornaments.

I n other words, there is a powerful, ritualistic effort on the part of all, to sustain the collective impulse of all of the performers.

H ere and there, a small pause was inserted, a fraction of a second longer than in the previous repetition. Or the bows of the erhus slid downward on the strings (creating a tonal slide/gliss that was not present in the previous repetition) and ended in a percussive ‘knock’ of the bowstick against the body of the erhu. Micro-variations.

qupai -- different guises of a tune or figure, whose identity remains recognizable despite the changes or guises; a wide interpretive latitude of valid execution; malleability of the score; individual creativity within controlled boundaries.

O ver the years, I have seen photos of erhu and related instruments but, until now, I had not seen one played—nor had I realized that the bows have the bowhair permanently laced between the shaft (fingerboard) and the strings; I had not realized that the instrument is played by bowing with the 3rd and 4th digits pushing the bowstick ‘out’ (away from the player), so that the inner side of the bowhair is contacting the inner side of the strings to make them vibrate.

T he erhu is a 2-stringed fiddle with a 10 cm diameter cylindrical snakeskin-covered resonator box, held upright by the left hand with the resonator sitting on the player’s left thigh. The strings are about 2 cm away from the vertical shaft (which could not be called a finger board, so far away is it that the fingers never touch it).

T he fingers of the left hand stop the strings, while the right hand and arm operate the bow. By pushing the wood of the bow outward or pulling the bow hair inward with right hand fingers, the player produces sound from one of the two strings. Bowing techniques include long bow (chang gong), short bow (duan gong), tremolo (chan gong), and others. In modern erhu performance, the left hand moves to several positions. Left hand techniques, which often distinguish the special sound characteristics of erhu, include vibrato (rou yin), glissando (hua yin), appoggiatura (da yin), and others.

T he erhu is bowed with an underhanded bowhold. Bowing techniques include ‘la gong’ (analogous to ‘down bow’ technique used on violin family) and ‘tui gong’ (analogous to the ‘up bow’ ). Aside from the usual bowing techniques, the erhu and related instruments can also be plucked, usually using the index finger of the right hand. Left-hand techniques include hua yin (glisses) and rou xian (vibrato).

The outside (lower-pitched) string and inside (higher-pitched) string of the erhu are tuned a fifth apart, most often with D4-A4 (d1-a1) or C4-G4 (c1-g1), sometimes G3-D4 (g-d1) or A3-E4 (a-e1). Erhu has a range of three octaves D4-D7 (d1 to d4).

T hird insight: the diverse timbres of the various instruments make possible a very wide range of musical colors and textures. The sonic palette is so diverse that it demands tremendous expertise, both in terms of playing and orchestration.

S o-called ‘si-zhu’ chamber instrumentation can be executed by small ensembles—as few as 15 members but more typically 24 to 30. String ensemble orchestration is also done and consists of gaohu, erhu, zhonghu, cello and double bass. I wonder what some of the large-orchestra compositions that CBCO performed on Monday would sound like if they were performed instead by chamber-orchestra-sized ‘si-zhu’ ensembles…

erhu -- 2-string vertical fiddle.
pipa -- 4-string lute.
qin -- horizontal zither.
yangqin/zheng -- multi-bridge plucked zithers.
suona, guan -- double-reed with metal bell, about the size of a trumpet and with sonorities ranging between English horn and trumpet.
soprano sheng, alto paisheng and bass baosheng -- vertical free-reeds.
dizi -- flutes.
metal perc: ba (a flat plate of metal struck with a mallet) and luo (gongs), including yunluo (pancake-shaped bronze ‘cloudbells’ mounted in a vertical wooden panel and struck with a small beater).
drumhead perc: da-gu (large drum) and tang-gu.
wood perc: bang-zi (wood clappers) and mu-yu (wood blocks)
many more…

P ang Ka-pang was born in 1965 in Anhui Province. He studied composition and conducting at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and later at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. In addition to leading several orchestras in Mainland China, he has conducted many other orchestras and has been a juror and guest conductor in Asia, Europe and the USA. He has conducted the Kyushu Symphony Orchestra in Japan, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Pusan National Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Chinese Orchestra, Vienna Mozart Orchestra, Vienna State Opera Orchestra, National Symphony of Austrian Musicians (Tonkünstler–Orchester Niederosterreich), Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg and the Grazer Symphonischer Orchester, among others. Since 2000, he has been invited each year to conduct the Chinese New Year Music Concert, a performance promoting Chinese music, held in Vienna’s Goldensaal Musikverein.

T he China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra (中国广播民族乐团) is based in Beijing and represents the merger of the Chinese Film Orchestra Chinese Music Orchestra (中国电影乐团民族乐团), which was founded in 1949, and the China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra (中国广播民族乐团), which was founded in 1953. Pang Ka-pang became chief conductor of the CBCO in 1998 and has led the CBCO in its various tours to other countries.

C ongratulations to CBCO on this superb, captivating performance! Thank you, too, for bringing the copies of CDs—recordings that are not otherwise available for purchase in North America!

Monday, March 8, 2010

Spring Steeplechase Season

In a few short weeks my Wife and I will attend the Radnor Hunt Preview Auction and Party. Each year this event is held at a different Farm in bucolic Chester County Horse Country. The Auction items are excellent...one year my Wife and I scored a condo in Steamboat for a tremendously low price! The food and cocktails do not suck either!
This event is also the harbringer of the Spring Steeplechase Season. This means tailgating with friends, spirited wagering, beautiful sylvan settings and supporting the preservation of open space. The Race locales which we attend range from Chester County to Delaware and thru Virginia. In my estimation, watching flat track thoroughbred racing is boring when matched against a 3 1/2 mile race over timber or brush jumps. The skill and stamina of both horse and jockey are astonishing at this distance and over the jumps. I am also excited to see which entry my friend Michael Moran will offer this season. Michael was the owner/breeder of McDynamo, one of the most successful Steeplechase horses of all time! See you at the races!

International Women’s Day: Cecilia String Quartet and Kelly-Marie Murphy’s ‘Another Little Piece of My Heart’

W hat I most like about being a composer is… the cash compensation. No, heh, what I like most is that you can be anybody… you can be anything at all, anything you want—through the music. No constraints, total freedom. It’s tremendously liberating.”
— Kelly-Marie Murphy, introductory remarks, Ottawa Chamber Music Society concert, 07-MAR-2010.

T here is an apocalyptic ‘inclusiveness’ to this piece, a fellowship that all those affected by violence and loss (can) participate in.

O ur society is reluctant to speak about personal catastrophe—individual demolished lives and the struggles to pick up the pieces. Yet it is possible for music to speak about this—and persuasively, too.

T his piece, the second of six string quartets thus far composed by Murphy, was commissioned by CBC Radio for the International ‘Strings of the Future’ Festival and premiered at the Festival in 1999 by the Alcan String Quartet. The title derives from the old Ragovoy-Berns song of the same name, recorded by Janis Joplin in 1968.

S o far as I can tell, Murphy’s string quartet does not quote any melodies or harmonies from that song. But you can readily perceive parallels, in terms of the ethos and the gender-centric aspects of the string quartet and its popular-music namesake.

T he four-movement 15-min work begins with a slow, ethereal dialogue between the four performers, with unisons panning from left (Vn1) to right (Vc and Vla) and back again. The second movement is dominated by anxious staccato exchanges, mm ~ 120. The third movement is cinematic in its running, fleeing, desperate dash to safety. The fourth movement, mm ~ 56, begins with a solo viola statement—despondent, marooned—answered sympathetically by the cello and viola. Pianissimo high harmonics of the first violin part enter, adding a sense that the marooning will be permanent.

T he program notes by Craig Pedersen aver that, while composing this quartet was underway, Murphy was puzzled and impressed over how the heart, “a simple muscle, is taken as the seat of emotions.” Or, implicitly, puzzled and impressed over how much of our emotional state and its trajectory are muscular… physiologic… endocrinologic… beyond our capacity to predict or control.

M aybe the out-of-controlness and muscularity of fear and anger are easiest for us to comprehend.

B ut the other emotions are muscular/reflexive as well. What I mean is: if we manage somehow to cope with the injury and are not completely destroyed, then our recovery—and our preparedness to forgive and our feeling able to let go and move on—these feelings are surprising, emergent—astonishing even to the one who feels them. There is a genuine sense of discovery that is revealed in each of this piece’s movements—an emergence of ideas and emotions that maybe surprised even Murphy as she went about composing it.

T he calm that emerges by the end of the fourth movement is not one of wary acceptance or unstable endurance or any other precariousness. It is a satisfying conclusion, opening onto a spacious, open plain. The heart has miraculously survived its ordeal, with its dignity and integrity intact—surprising even its muscular self—still desiring [Life], still pumping. A new joint venture?—of both women and men?—working anew on constructive solutions together if they wish?—enabling each now to live fulfilling lives? In performance, the Cecilias fully inhabit the work, with gestures and insight that endow it with credibility, riveting the listeners’ interest. Murphy’s music tells vivid stories that empower and inspire men and women alike.

S cores and parts for Murphy’s compositions are available from the composer and from the Canadian Music Centre, 20 St. Joseph St., Toronto, ON, Canada M4Y 1J9 (info@musiccentre.ca).

K elly-Marie Murphy began her studies in composition at the University of Calgary and received her Ph.D. in composition from the University of Leeds. Murphy has subsequently held residencies at the Snowbird Institute for the Arts, Utah; Tapestry Music Theatre/Canadian Opera Company, Toronto; rESOund Festival of Contemporary Music, Edmonton; Strings of the Future International String Quartet Festival, Ottawa; Soundstreams/Encounters, Toronto; and at the Banff Centre for the Arts. Most recently, Murphy received Honorable Mention in the 2008 Barlow Prize competition.

M urphy has received numerous commissions—notably from the CBC and the Canada Council for the Arts—and has written for some of Canada’s leading performers and ensembles such as the Winnipeg, Toronto, and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras, Shauna Rolston, James Campbell, the Gryphon Trio, Borealis String Quartet, Rivka Golani, Judy Loman, and James Sommerville.

M y impressions from Sunday’s concert are that Kelly-Marie Murphy composes the kinds of music that she herself wants to listen to, pieces that are inspired by events or concepts that are deeply meaningful to her—ones that are emblematic of freedom, breaking free of constraints.

A nd, as evidenced by the energy bestowed on Murphy’s ‘Another Little Piece of My Heart’ (1999) by the members of Cecilia String Quartet in performance, Murphy’s compositions are also the kinds of music that thoughtful artists who champion new music want to play. Bravo! It was an exciting concert, one richly symbolic of this day, International Women’s Day.

T he Cecilias will next be performing Dvorak’s Piano Quintet in A major, Op.81 No.2, with Menahem Pressler at Pollack Hall at Schulich School of Music, McGill University, in Montréal on 17-MAR.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Muscle Cars

The snow is rapidly receding and the promise of warmer and longer days is truly welcome after our recent simulated Arctic blast. While we will probably experience a Maine-like "Mud-Season" due to the melt, Spring is surely in the on-deck circle.
When the hint of Spring hits the Main Line, I immediately yearn to open my garage and get my 1969 Oldsmobile 442 Convertible( pictured above) out from under cover and fired up. This requires a battery charge, an oil change, some fuel stabilzer and lead additive.
The 69 442 is in my opinion one of the finest examples of American Muscle cars ever produced. I purchased this beast from a mechanic in Norristown in 1998. It was about 70% restored and I did the rest on evenings and weekends. While it is not a show-quality antique...it runs great and is what collectors would call a daily driver. I certainly have neither the time nor the inclination to go to car shows and sit in a lawn chair in a field and discuss original trunk mats and stock red-wall non radial tires. However, I dearly love the macadam tearing 375 horse power rip that this vehicle provides. I take the kids out for drives and the wife and I love driving to parties or events in this head-turner.I also drive in 1 or 2 Parades each year...usually Wayne's Memorial Day Parade and Gladwyne 4th of July. When you nail the accelerator in this car...you are literally hammered back in the seat and it is a gas....and being a rag top completes the package. Some guys favor exotica such as old Speedsters or MG's or Austin Healy's or even a Turner or Jaguar. For this Sportsman, I say those little buckets, while cute and perhaps fun, are for candy-ass dandies...and I will take Old School American Muscle every time!
P.S. The 6 car garage pictured above was on our property when we purchased the place...it has it's own story. We elected 4 years ago to tear it down and re-build a 3 car garage with an In-Law suite above.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Mistakes Lead To Discovery

My Father was a Biochemist at University of Pennsylvania for 35 years. He ran a research lab and would often remind us that throughout history some of the most important scientific discoveries resulted from mistakes that happened during tests or research.
I experienced such a personal discovery as a result of a mistake this weekend...albeit not a scientific breakthrough or history changing invention. It was worthy of note nonetheless.
I had been playing squash with my friend Bill at Merion Cricket Club. We planned to meet our wives and kids for dinner afterwards. We convened at the Bar and Bill's wife asked if she could order me a drink...I of course replied in the affirmative. I requested a Myer's Rum and Tonic.
Now, 999 time out of 1000 when this drink is ordered one receives Myer's Dark rum and Tonic. However, that evening the Barman was a rookie and poured Myer's Platinum and Tonic. Very few bars would even carry this variety of Myer's. I was puzzled when the drink was put in front of me as it certainly was not the correct color: the musky amber of dark Rum swirled with the clear quinine solution of tonic and slightly clouded with lime.Instead I was looking at what appeared to be a gin or vodka and tonic. The Barman stood staring as I considered this glass and it's contents. I advised that it was not what was ordered and he replied: " Sir it is Myer's rum and tonic." I asked to see the bottle and on inspection learned the source of the confusion. Surprisngly, I had never sampled this type of Myer's and decided to break with habit and try it...I also did not want to jam up a rookie Barman during one of his first shifts at a venerable joint like Merion Cricket Club. On my first sip I was astonished at how good the drink was and how much I enjoyed it. The lighter rum had a crisper finish and was slightly less sweet than the dark and had a Summery gin-n-tonic character that was very pleasing to the palate of this rum junkie. I remarked to the young Barman that the drink was excellent and chuckled with him over the notion that an error led to a discovery. Hence, I have discovered a new rum of excellent quality that will join the line up of spirits I'll be mixing with Tonic this Summer.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Disaster and Disappointment

You may recall in a prior post I advised that the Welterweight Boxer that I manage was slated for a 6 round bout on 2/26/2010. Everything was set. The trainer stated that Rick was in top shape, the opponent was a good match, we had studied film on him and his style,the tickets were sold, we attended a pre-fight press comference on Monday 2/22/10, the Promoter was happy and team Hitman was psyched.
Unfortunately, some miscreant dung-heap of a motorist decided to run a stop sign Tuesday evening in South West Philly. Generally, I am ambivalent to some driving infraction in a part of the City I rarely frequent. On this occasion however,said negligent asshole motorist hit my fighter. Rick was out doing his roadwork...and as he jogged he was the victim of a hit and run. Suffice it to say that the injuries he suffered required that we scrtach him from Friday's fight. Rick spent most of Wednesday morning at Univ.of Penn Emergency room. He suffered a shoulder injury, a low back strain and various bruises and scrapes. The offending driver fled the scene.
Rick is despondent . I am worried and furious and the Trainer is appoplectic. The Promoter was understanding yet very disappointed. The Police could care less about another young Black kid getting hit by a car.
The local boxing beat writer for the Daily News caught the story and will do an article about Rick, his career and this incident. Perhaps with some public exposure the offending jack ass may be apprehended.
Hopefully, the injuries will mend and we have Rick set up for an exam with a top orthopedist here in Philadelphia tomorrow. His next scheduled fight is 4/2 and then 4/28 and God willing he is recovered and ready to go.
Can you believe this crap...just awful for all involved.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Idealized, Totemic Love: Godfrey Winham and Bethany Beardslee before the Age of AutoTune

Godfrey Winham and Bethany Beardslee, 1955

L et me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments; love is not Love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
Oh, no!

It is an ever fixèd Mark
That looks on tempests, never shaken;
It is the star to every wand’ring barque,
Whose worth’s unknown though His height be taken.

Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within His bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with His brief hours and weeks,
Love bears it out to the edge of Doom.

If this be error and upon me prov’d,
I never writ nor no man [or woman] ever lov’d.”
— William Shakespeare, Sonnet CXVI.

L isten to this excerpt:

[50-sec clip, Bethany Beardslee & Robert Helps, Godfrey Winham, ‘To Prove My Love’, III, 1974, 1.6MB MP3]

O ver the past month I have been reading Leslie Blasius’s 1997 monograph on Godfrey Winham (link below), especially passages about Winham’s composition for soprano and string quartet, ‘Habit of Perfection’.

D uring this month I have also been listening and re-listening to the CRI disc, ‘Tribute to Bethany Beardslee’, who was Godfrey’s wife. The disc contains a recording of Bethany singing Winham’s composition, ‘To Prove My Love’, accompanied by Robert Helps on piano.

T he piece is published by Boelke-Bomart Inc in Hillsdale, New York, but the score for it was originally published in memoriam, in volume 13 (1975) of the journal, Perspectives of New Music, immediately after Winham’s death.

T he phrasing and perfection of the intervals that Beardslee sings are amazing. The voice-leading that Winham wrote for her is tight-rope like—no, more like virtuosic, risky ballet “choreography” for the voice.

L ove bears it out to the edge of Doom, as Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 has it.

W hat were these three sonnets—to Godfrey; to Bethany? The piece was composed during the first several years of their marriage, but on this recording it is performed when they had been married 19 years, still in their 40s, near the end of Godfrey’s long illness, youthful but within a few months of his dying and aged way beyond their years...

T here is a maturity and expressive clarity of Beardslee’s and Helps’s performance that poignantly manifests the vulnerability of the soprano wife gazing into the abyss of her husband’s fast-approaching terminal phase. It simultaneously bears the marks of bravery and devotion, defiant strength and tragic fragility. Frailty with advancing illness. Glenn Gould’s last recordings of the Goldberg Variations in 1981, compared to the ones from 1955? Well, no.

O r Johnny Cash’s last recordings? No, but still.

W hen we first went back and listened to the recordings after he had passed, it really just felt like this voice, coming back from another ‘place’. It had all this weight and gravity to it. Scary. You can hear good days and bad days in the voice. Sometimes, it’s weak—as if Cash were struggling for breath. Other times it’s stronger.”
— Rick Rubin, interview with David Bauder on new Cash CD.

W inham’s frailty and inner strength, projected vicariously through the piano part that Robert Helps executes beautifully. We suspect that ‘bearing it out to the edge of Doom’ meant something a bit different in June, 1974, when the piece was recorded than it meant in 1956 when the piece was composed. In 1974, Doom was plainly visible.

A lapse in sense happens between the twelfth and thirteenth lines of the sonnet. Most of the words are monosyllables; only three contain more syllables than two. Poetic diction is ruptured. The language is now concrete, not abstract or metaphysical. There are run-on lines and the pair of double-endings. There is, as Brooke put it, “a happy blending of open and closed vowels, and of liquids, nasals, and stops.” No Antares AutoTune® or vocoder processing. Only human pitch-shifting and formant correction that defies the impermanence of the flesh. The res-o-lute, fixèd accents in the quatrains give way finally to progressively more vulnerable, unrelieved iambic feet—ones that accept the reality of the soul stuck in the unreliable flesh. The thing converges on silence and ends. The ending is a meditative silence, a ‘hanging’ sonic [non-]event. Runic, millennial, catastrophic.

W hat is needed is a definition of ‘hanging’ which makes use of the notion of ‘effective context’, with the result that a tone is not ‘hanging’ before it occurs. An event x may be said to be ‘effective’ at the time of an event y if and only if x belongs to the effective context of y. An event x may be said to be ‘closed-off’ from y if it is subordinate to another sonic event z which occurs between x and y in time. An event x is ‘hanging’ at the time of an event y if it belongs to the effective context of y and is not closed-off from y, although there is a superior stage at which it is closed-off from y.”
— Godfrey Winham writings, Container VIII, page *26d.

L istening to the piece over and over, I sense a sort of adult willfulness that is out-of-sync with an inner childlike sense of reality. The complex personality who wrote such complex, chaotic music theory, all stored in 6.7 linear feet in the Princeton University Library in 16 archival boxes of cross-indexed papers and notebooks... still had this child inside, who was true and who hoped for everything. Who loved these sonnets, not as worthy artistic vehicles for creating prestigious, commendable academic compositions, but as totems erected to honor a love that defined him. Standing stones.

“Will Bethany be able to do this? Will I be able to do this?”

C hords with more upper structure notes, sounding more active compared to ones with more basic chord tones, which become points of resolution. Idiomatic and fluent writing; the beginning of each movement asks a question and so drives our interest; natural flow to focal points and climaxes; appropriate and sensitive realization of the text; effective and resourceful use of texture, with many imaginative challenges. This is the composer who in the 1960s imagined elegant computer-synthesized soprano voice, long before the technology could fulfill the fantasy. This is the soprano who could sing whatever notes are on the page, the fantasy who inspired the composer’s imagination.

M ost people don’t think of Winham as a contrapuntist, and it is true that one does not find much in the way of imitative counterpoint in his music. He never composed any fugues, and there are not many canons by Winham. However it can, and should, be said that Winham’s counterpoint is exquisite.

L eslie David Blasius is currently Professor of Music Theory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His book includes a set of complete excerpts of materials and an index for the entire Winham archive, which is housed at Princeton University. The book also contains a series of photographs, of Godfrey and Bethany and friends (including the one above).

T o read Blasius’s book and to listen to this CD is to wish to have known these wonderful human beings. I will plan to visit the 6.7 linear feet of Winham boxes the next time I am in Princeton...

H ow can you make a new revolution when your last statement already said that anything goes?”
— Charles Wuorinen.