Kallen at Calvary

On Wednesday afternoon October 21st 2009, I attended one of the six free concerts and lunches at Calvary Episcopal Church, located downtown at the corner of 2nd St and Adams Ave. If you haven’t heard about Calvary and the Arts, I recommend looking into it! It’s a great opportunity to hear wonderful music for free and for a small fee enjoy some delish food as well! This past Wednesday I saw renowned opera star Kallen Esperian perform a diverse repertoire ranging from traditional American art songs to operatic standards. Sometimes between songs Kallen would explain why she chose to include a particular piece in the program that afternoon. While it was hard to hear a lot of what she was saying since I was sitting towards the back of the sanctuary, it was great to see how passionate she was about each song she sang. Her rendition of “Vissi d’arte” from Puccini’s opera Tosca nearly brought me to tears! I thought the combination of American music with standard opera rep was an interesting change from last year’s performance, in which almost all of the selections were operatic. I have to say, though, I really do prefer hearing her sing the arias rather than the American folk songs!
These concerts will be going on through December 9th every Wednesday at 11:45 am. They last about 45 minutes and are totally worth it! This upcoming Wednesday features Joyce Cobb, a “Jazz Diva with a Memphis Soul”. Don’t miss out!
-Brigid Hannon

The Topping Tooters of the Town!

On Tuesday October 20^th, 2009, upon my return to Rhodes after fall break, I immediately launched back into the Rhodes music scene by attending an early-music concert featuring The City Musick ensemble, directed by William Lyons. They performed “Music of the London Waits” on period instruments such as the sackbut (a precursor to the trombone), cornett (similar to a clarinet), recorder and bagpipes. Between many of the pieces Mr. Lyons would explain the background of the next piece to be played as well as giving informational tidbits about the instruments. Thankfully he also explained what a “Wait” is. The London Waits in particular were town pipers who rivaled the king’s minstrels and every English town worth its salt had a band of Waits. Their music is instrumental and the vocal selections are mostly secular, although there were a few psalms (including the old hundredth) featured in this concert. All of the music on the program was composed between 1550 and 1650. While I had not heard of many of the composers on the program, a few names did stick out: Thomas Morley, Anthony Holborne and John Dowland.

I particularly enjoyed how each performer truly embodied the concept of the “Renaissance Man” because each member of the ensemble played at least two instruments and sang. Their overall sound as vocal ensemble was interesting. I enjoyed the timbre of their singing because it had a folky feel to it. They did not refine vowels and kept their sound very bright and forward.

Currently The City Musick ensemble is concluding a tour through the United States and I assume they will return back to their native UK soon. If you’re ever across the pond and get a chance to hear them perform, seize it! It’s a great opportunity to hear Renaissance music and hear how different their antiquated instruments sound compared to their modern day counterparts!

- Brigid Hannon

George Crumb Retrospective II

On Friday evening, October 2nd, 2009 a friend of mine and I attended the George Crumb Retrospective II concert at University of Memphis. This program featured music by the 21st century composer, George Crumb—a composer best known for his unusual use of traditional instruments. This concert featured Crumb’s application of extended musical techniques on the piano. These techniques included plucking the piano strings from under the lid and applying various “tools” to the piano keys and strings. There were three different pianists who each played three distinctly different pieces.
The first piece, Processional (1983), was my favorite, though I rather enjoyed the whole program. Processional did not employ any extended techniques and consequently sounded the most “normal” of the bunch. In fact the non-functional harmonies and soothing nature of the piece reminded me of music by impressionist composer Claude Debussy . The only “Crumb-ian” thing about the piece was the occasional cacophonous sound of “tone clusters” abruptly banged on the piano by holding down several keys at the same time. Expect the unexpected in works by George Crumb!
The rest of the program was fascinating and much more indicative of the George Crumb style I’m familiar with. The other two works performed were A Little Suite for Christmas, A.D. 1979 and Gnomic Variations (1981). The Christmas suite was cool and eclectic, incorporating original music and occasional quotations of other music by different composers. My only complaint is that it was hard to follow since all the movements flowed into each other. The Gnomic variations sounded like moon music because of the strange timbres elicited from the piano by means of a block applied to a cluster of keys and plucking the piano strings. Both of these pieces used extended techniques to achieve unique timbres, proving that the piano is a much more versatile instrument than most expect.
I really enjoyed this concert and highly encourage any interested in contemporary music to attend the next installment George Crumb Retrospective III on Friday October 16th, 2009 at 7:30 pm. It will be held in the Rudi E. Scheidt Music Building on the University of Memphis campus.

- Brigid Hannon