KPFA-FM Music Dept. ➔ San Francisco Chamber Music Society: Subotnick and Friends: A Concert from January 12, 1981
Analog Audio
Event Type
MusicOrigin
KPFAIdentifier
SFC.1981.01.12Program Series
San Francisco Chamber Music SocietyProgram Length
74 minDates
1981-02-24 | broadcast| 1981-01-12 | created
Description
The fourth concert of the 1980-81 season of the San Francisco Chamber Music Society featured Morton Subotnick and friends, commemorating this composer-clarinetist’s appearance at the first Society concert held on November 21, 1961. In this return engagement, Subotnick performs Beethoven’s “Trio in B-Flat, Op. 11” as well as his own “Two Life Histories: A Melodrama.” The concert then concludes with Béla Bartók’s “Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion.” In his “Two Life Histories,” scored for voice, clarinet and ghost electronics, Subotnick has dramatized the life cycle and metaphorical history of a butterfly, utilizing a mixture of stories from the “Old Testament” and Greek mythology. According to the program guide: “The electronic score consists of a small package of electronics and an audio tape. The tape acts as a controlling device for the electronics, causing the modules to process the instrumental sound according to the plan of the composition. The ghost series is a unique method of blending electronics with live performance so that the effect of the tape is not audible unless the performer is making a sound.” Bartók’s “Sonata” was, according to the program guide: “ written for four performers, all of whom are treated equally as virtuosi. The first movement ranges in mood from the foreboding introduction, to the barbaric first theme, to the quiet second theme in Bulgarian rhythm. A galloping fugue develops out of a horn call...The second movement consists of a much simpler three part form with a coda, an impressionistic painting of ‘night music.’ Bell-like sonorities provide a background for a nervous five note figure reminiscent of the sound of a woodpecker. The tensions created by the first movement and continued in the second are resolved in the final movement, a straightforward dance.” This concert was recorded live at the Fireman’s Fund Forum in San Francisco on January 12, 1981 by Steve Wolfe.Genres
Chamber music20th century classical
Musical Selections
Trio in B Flat, Op. 11, for clarinet, cello, and piano (1797) (18:12) / Ludwig van Beethoven -- Two Life Histories: A Melodrama, for voice, clarinet and ghost-electronics (1977) (24:41) / Morton Subotnick -- Sonata, for two pianos and percussion (1937) (26:43) / Béla BartókPerformers
Morton Subotnick, clarinet (Trio ; Two)Bonnie Hampton, cello (Trio)
Naomi Sparrow, piano (Trio ; Sonata)
Marvin Hayes, bass-baritone (Two)
Nathan Schwartz, piano (Sonata)
Barry Jekowsky, percussion (Sonata)
Jack Van Geem, percussion (Sonata)
Subjects
Chamber music18th century classical
20th century classical
Trios (Piano, clarinet, cello)
Electronic music
Monologues with music (Clarinet and electronics)
Pianos (2) with percussion ensemble
Quartets (Pianos (2), percussion)
Related places
San Francisco (Calif.) (was recorded at)Berkeley (Calif.) (was broadcast at)
Related Entities
San Francisco Chamber Music SocietyBeethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827
Subotnick, Morton
Bartók, Béla, 1881-1945
Hampton, Bonnie
Sparrow, Naomi
Hayes, Marvin
Schwartz, Nathan
Jekowsky, Barry
Van Geem, Jack