Imagine being able to hear classical music for the price of a pint, imagine hearing it in your favorite bar or club or town square, then discover how shocked you are that classical could be so edgy.
This improbable scenario is the reality that Classical Revolution PDX have created. Going for the big reach rather than the big stage, Classical Revolution PDX's aim is to eschew the standard methods of presenting classical music in expensive, formal settings; reaching out instead to introduce exciting more experimental music to people who would otherwise be unlikely to ever listen to classical music.
This past Sunday at Someday Lounge, Classical Revolution PDX presented a riveting night of new and fringe classical music. It included work by Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Francis Poulenc, Olivier Messiaen and the stunning Portland premier of an orchestral suite by Jherek Bischoff.
Highlights of the first set were David Binnig's (Black Chamber) cover of Terry Riley with trumpet replacing sax and live mixed phasing instead of multi-tracking - expertly executed in real time with tremendous concentration.
Intriguing woodwind quintets, experimental, keys/violin duet even phased clapping followed.
Then another standout from Ashia Grzesnk (PCP, Vagabond Opera) with two solo Cello/Soprano songs, one not a love song, the other about the financial crash!
For Bischoff's suite an orchestra of around thirty was energetically conducted by Joshua Kohl (Degenerate Art Ensemble) with featured vocalists Zac Pennington (Parenthetical Girls) and Luke Wyland (AU).
The work ranged broadly using occasional male vocals, and borrowing from all manner of classiical influences. The weak point was the mass use of the silly toy glockenspiels, messy and thin (replace that with one true instrument), yet that was the exception, there was a gorgeous, almost romantic section near the end, a rousing pre-finale and a sumptuous end. If it's any guide, the young Bischoff's effort is vastly better than McCartney's.
Pennington's vocals, that sometimes sit uncomfortably in rock music were sensational here, one wonders if these could be bettered by the contribution that's slated to be done by David Byrne on the recorded version.
Wyland's vocals also decorated the work, but in a more sonorous, moody manner - precisely what was needed for the section.
Will the demise of appreciation for classical music be reversed by the Classical Revolution movement? Time will tell, it's transformational, it's unforgettable and every pair of ears that hears it is going to pass the word on. Now that's the stuff of revolutions alright.
Photo Credits T. Fox
Copyright: Zaph Mann 2009.
Reproduction with attribution is fine.
Original publisher: opbmusic.org 2010
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