Program:
Gérard Pesson The light has not the arms to carry us for piano
Joshua Fineberg Tremors for piano
Beat Furrer Invocation VI for bass flute and singer
Arnold Schoenberg Pierrot Lunaire Book 1
Tristan Murail La Barque mystique for flute, clarinet, piano, violin, and cello
Pierre Boulez Improvisé pour le Dr. K for flute, clarinet, piano, violin, and cello
Roberto Sierra Cancionero Sefardi for mezzo-soprano, flute, piano, violin, and cello
Argento New Music Project is pleased to present a new weekly concert series titled Lunar Movements: A Constellation of Contemporary Music Orbiting Pierrot Lunaire. Throughout Fall 2010, five monthly programs are slated for the superb acoustic space of the Austrian Cultural Forum New York in midtown Manhattan.
First performed in 1912, Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire is a seminal work whose instrumentation came to define the prototypical late twentieth century chamber ensemble. As we near the 100th anniversary of the premiere, the Lunar Movements series presents compositions that highlight and reflect on three different approaches to writing found in Pierrot Lunaire.
There will be a post-concert discussion: What is music about music? Using Schoenberg’s Valse de Chopin as a starting point, the discussion will explore the subject of modern composition through historical references. They will play examples of the Sephardic Jewish folksongs in Cancioniero Sefardi, and discuss the overall use of vernacular music using Gérard Pesson’s The light has not the arms to carry us as a focal point.
The Argento Chamber Ensemble is the performance arm of the Argento New Music Project. Founded in 2000 to perform compositions embodying pressing concerns in Western music, Argento consists of 9 core members and regularly expands to up to 30 musicians. Argento has toured widely in the US and abroad, and has worked closely with leading contemporary composers.
New York City, NY; NYC