source file: mills2.txt Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 09:46:36 -0800 Subject: concert in Frankfurt From: Daniel Wolf <106232.3266@compuserve.com> A short report on a concert (Friday, 20 Dec. 1996) by the Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt in the broadcast hall of Hessischer Rundfunk. The program had works by Claude Vivier (Orion(79)), Walter Zimmermann (Suave mari magno, part I (96)) and Klarenz Barlow (Orchideae Ordinariae or The Twelfth Root of Truth (89)). Although the Vivier work included some arresting natural harmonics in an otherwise odd mixture of Messiaen unisons, Hovhaness-esque orientalisms and some Stockhausen effects, the Zimmermann and Barlow works are of more interest to the tuning community. Zimmermann uses pitches from Aristoxenus´gamut (including quarter-tone, and in the Aristoxenian spirit, the exact intonation is undefined, but the extremely musical performance under Peter Rundel tended towards the 24tet values) and like Schumann's _sphinx_s , he has transribed a Greek text (Epicurus) letter by letter using the Greek instrumental and vocal notations. The nine-minute work has, however, a largely harmonic texture, in which the individual modes are assigned to each of six small orchestras distributed around the stage. Rhythmic coordination ranges from all six ensembles together, groups or single ensembles coordinated, and uncoordinated solo playing. Barlow's work is not microtonal per se, but it does seem to be a very effective translation of the harmonicity and tonality functions used in his Autobus piece into a very large orchestral work. It is essentially a four movement symphony - with cross fades between movements, acoustical grafitti c/o Bruckner and Stravinsky, and an extraordinary piano cadenza that sends the work out in the grand style (with a slight nod to Frank Sinatra: Barlow, saying to the whole symphonic tradition: I did it my way!) Barlow has published an extended analysis of the work in the Feedback Papers (Cologne). Received: from ns.ezh.nl [137.174.112.59] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Sat, 21 Dec 1996 18:47 +0100 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA22289; Sat, 21 Dec 1996 18:50:23 +0100 Received: from eartha.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA22288 Received: from by eartha.mills.edu via SMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/930416.SGI) for id JAA07265; Sat, 21 Dec 1996 09:50:20 -0800 Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 09:50:20 -0800 Message-Id: <199612211249_MC2-DC5-E22C@compuserve.com> Errors-To: madole@ella.mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu