November 12, December 3 and January 28 at 7:30pm
Performing Arts at CAM
presents a concert series by Ensemble Pi
Forgiveness
Novebmer 12, 2008
Olivier Messiaen Quartet of the End of Time (1941)
William Kentridge/Philip Miller Monument (1990) and Stereoscope (1999) from Nine Drawings for Projections.
This year we celebrate the centennial of Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992), who was captured as a French soldier during WWII, and wrote this piece while imprisoned in a German camp. The title comes from the description of the Apocalypse in the Book of Revelation. The work is dedicated to the angel who lifts his hand toward Heaven, saying, "There shall be no more time." However, according to Alex Ross, “In the end, Messiaen’s apocalypse has little to do with history and catastrophe; instead, it records the rebirth of an ordinary soul in the grip of extraordinary emotion. Which is why the Quartet is as overpowering now as it was on that frigid night in 1941.”
Confrontation
December 3, 2008
Elias Tanenbaum Changing Times piano trio (1993)
Alice Shields Mioriza: Requiem for Rachel Corrie (2004)
Dmitri Shostakovich Quintet for piano and string quartet in G minor Op 57 (1940)
In memoriam: Elias Tanenbaum (1924-2008) was a WWII veteran and peace activist who had a lifelong aversion to wars and the human suffering they bring. Among his many strong political pieces are “Letters From Stalingrad,” “Keep Going, by George,” and “Najaf.”
In the words of Alice Shields: “I created Mioritza in memory of Rachel Corrie, the 23-year-old American peace activist who was killed by an Israeli forces bulldozer while attempting to defend a Palestinian pharmacist's home from demolition. The title "Mioritza" from a traditional Romanian poem, means the "the clairvoyant lamb”
Division
January 28, 2009
Kristin Norderval: The wall (2009)
Frederic Rzewski War Songs for piano (2008)
Benjamin Britten Canticale III for tenor, horn and piano Op. 55 (1944)
Norwegian-American composer Kristin Norderval's works is a feminist, and a peace activist. In this piece she responds to the video artist Catherine Yass.
Rzewski's war songs: the compositional material for this collection of short pieces comes from a group of six anti-war songs spanning over half of a millennium: the Crusades era "L'homme arme,"; the 17th-century Irish songs "Siul A Ruin" and "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye";"Le Depart du conscript," which dates back to the Napoleonic Wars; "Die Moohrsoldaten" fro the Nazi prison camps; and "Taps".
According to Rzewski, “Since they are all about war, the clash of tonalities somehow makes sense; but at the same time, I wanted to find way through the clash to some kind of higher order: a feeling of sadness, across the line.”
Performing Arts at CAM is a highly acclaimed concert and dance performance series curated by Nina Colosi, featuring internationally renowned, as well as emerging, artists. In the spirit of Jean Miotte’s commitment to cultural exchange, Performing Arts at CAM presents a diverse range of genres and cultural traditions -- classical and contemporary music concerts, sound art installations, dance and physical theater works by artists from around the world.
|
