source file: m1413.txt
Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 09:02:21 -0700

Subject: AFMM NY Times review, May 12, 1998

From: Xou Oxno <xouoxno@virtulink.com>

May 12, 1998

Microtonal Music: Learning the Language of the Notes Between the 
Notes

By ANTHONY TOMMASINI

To many concertgoers, the concept of microtonal music 
may seem intimidatingly complex. But the actual sound 
of the music, in a sense, is familiar to anyone who has 
heard a blues singer bend a phrase. 

Here's a go at explaining the concept: In Western music, 
the standard octave has been somewhat arbitrarily divided 
into 12 pitches. Obviously, there are pitches in between, 
say, G and G sharp, as any slide guitarist makes clear. 
These pitches can be called microtones, and by using adept 
performers or instruments with special tunings, composers 
can write music that pinpoints these microtonal pitches. 

Confused? The American Festival of Microtonal Music came 
to the rescue with its annual two-day festival, which 
opened on Thursday night at St. Paul's Chapel of Columbia 
University. 

Lou Harrison's tender Suite No. 2 for microtonal guitars, 
skillfully played by John Schneider, made you forget all 
about the concept and listen to the music. Its mixture of 
the Spanish-inflected dances and elegies with the slightly 
"off" quality of the pungent microtonal harmonies, echoing 
in the reverberant chapel, was a delight. 

The other intriguing work was "Atom Turning in the Sun of 
Eternity," a dramatic cantata, of sorts, by Sasha Bogdanowitsch 
for vocalist-actor (the composer in bare feet and white robe) 
and instruments either played or tuned microtonally, 
including harps, guitars, marimba, flute and cello. The 
vocal text of made-up syllables, which sounded like some 
primal earthy language, tells a vague fable of searching 
for a beloved. Mr. Bogdanowitsch sang the melismatic vocal 
line with chantlike elegance. The pleasant, quietly undulant 
music is awash with Pacific Rim exotica, but it had a kind 
of winning authenticity. 

Virgil Moorefield's "(Slight Return)" was anything but 
quiet, a work of blasts and bursts for electronic instruments. 

A microtonal version for viola, guitar and cello of Avro 
Pärt's modal, moody "Frates" proved ineffective. The repetitive 
minimalistic figures for viola, as played by Anatasia Solberg, 
just sounded raw and out of tune. Ms. Solberg was quite 
effective in "Din Cinpoiu," a long work for solo viola by 
Violeta Dinescu, but the music was a nondescriptive series 
of scrapings, noodlings and nothings. 

The longest work was "Adam and Eve," by Johnny Reinhard, a 
caterwauling, self-indulgent musical drama depicting the 
story from Genesis of the fall from grace, with a dancer 
(Christina Coppola) as Eve; the composer, on bassoon, as 
Adam; a cellist (David Eggar) as the Tree of Knowledge, and 
a roster of other good sports on gongs, drums, guitars and 
whatnot. The use of microtones did not turn this silly piece into 
something innovative. 



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