Contemporary - my/maSCENA

Book Review – Au cœur de la création musicale

By Benjamin Goron on 7 February 2019 CD and Book Reviews, Contemporary

Au cœur de la création musicale. Paroles de compositeurs recueillies par Myriam Tétaz-Gramegna. (At the heart of musical creation. Composer lyrics collected by Myriam Tétaz-Gramegna.) / La Bibliothèque des Arts, 2018, 184 pages “Owing to coincidences or appointments, these interviews were exceptional moments with artists who turned out to be impressive personalities, both in the extent of their culture and their sensitivity to the reality of the world.” This is how journalist Myriam Tétaz-Gramegna closes this book, which brings together interviews with 21 major composers of the 20th century, collected throughout her journalist’s career at a Swiss newspaper. Strong, brilliant,…

Partition graphique de «Pour l'heure» d'Anestis Logothetis

Graphic Notation – Stepping Into a Visual World

By Benjamin Goron on 4 February 2019 Contemporary, Uncategorized

Every musician has undoubtedly seen graphic notation written by John Cage, Morton Feldman and other masterminds of this link between music and visual arts. What is behind these mysterious scores that start with symbols on a staff and end up looking like abstract designs? Danielle Palardy Roger and Joane Hétu, co-directors at SuperMusique, have helped us discover this mystery through workshops and concerts presented for more than 20 years. “From its inception, SuperMusique was mostly made of self-taught professionals from the theatre, visual arts, and street music industries,” said Roger. “Graphic notation brought all of us around the music table.”…

CD-book – Ciel convertible – Patenaude / Coppens

By Benjamin Goron on 4 February 2019 CD and Book Reviews, Contemporary

Ciel convertible / Gilbert Patenaude, music; Patrick Coppens, poetry / Self-produced, 2018 Nearly 15 years after its publication, the collection of the poet Patrick Coppens is dressed in new colors in this album with music signed by Gilbert Patenaude. The 49 texts are as many dreamlike microcosms shaped by words and rhythm, without time or place. Angels rub shoulders with toads; vampires are surprised to believe in God. The music is written for four voices: two human (Jacqueline Woodley, soprano, and Julien Patenaude, baritone) and two instrumental (Sheila Hannigan, cello, and Mariane Patenaude, piano). Piano and cello change roles according to…

CD – Tim Brady – Music For Large Ensemble

By Benjamin Goron on 4 February 2019 CD and Book Reviews, Contemporary

Tim Brady, Music For Large Ensemble / Bradyworks Large Ensemble, dir. Cristian Gort / Starkland ST-230, 2018 We find two Tim Brady works on this album recorded at Studio 270 a few days after their creation at the 2017 Victoriaville Music Festival. Desire is a concerto in three movements for electric guitar and chamber orchestra. The first movement, Ecstasy, features hectic minimalist writing, centered on hammered rhythmic patterns exchanged between the soloist and the orchestra. Beauty is a very evocative textural exploration; the melodic guitar seems to be making its way through an increasingly lugubrious universe, magnified by solo interventions through…

CD Review – Transient Canvas, Wired

By Arnaud G. Veydarier on 4 February 2019 CD and Book Reviews, Contemporary

Transient Canvas, Wired / New Focus Recordings, 2018 The latest creation of the American duo Transient Canvas, Wired continues the exploratory work undertaken by Amy Advocat (bass clarinet) and Matt Sharrock (marimba) on their first release Sift. Once again, the musicians display undeniable technical know-how, obvious complicity and an in-depth understanding of the artistic vision of the composers who contributed to Wired. Dedicated to the interpretation of current works, this duo offers seven premieres with surprisingly varied styles that boldly exploit the possibilities of two instruments to which electronic devices are added. The result is strikingly original and flirts with avant-garde…

Creators in Their Own Words

By Benjamin Goron on 1 February 2019 Contemporary

To understand the music of today, we need to know its beginnings, to understand the music of the 20th century in all its variety and heterogeneity. It is often a part of the musical history hidden from the general public, because it has suffered for several decades from limited media and institutional visibility. If Messiaen, Ligeti, Stockhausen or Schnittke were programmed as often as Beethoven or Tchaikovsky, the ear would surely be much more attuned to contemporary listening and receptive to the music of today. By sweeping aside tonal language, that is to say, all Western music from Bach to…

Photo: Anna Lupien

Maxime McKinley – Composing as Sharing

By Benjamin Goron on 1 February 2019 Contemporary

As the years go by, composer Maxime McKinley, who will be celebrating his 40th birthday this year, has turned out a wealth of premieres with the optimism and openness that characterizes his music. From the pulsations of the Wirkunst series to the recent Dégel written for the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sherbrooke native offers a wonderfully varied repertoire, from solos to full orchestral works, and reveals a vibrant universe that is in constant evolution. In March alone, his Bleu tombant will be created by Trio Fibonacci and two of his compositions will come out as recordings: Cortile di Pilato on…

Percussionnist Stuart Gerber. Photo: Tina Fineberg, New York Times

Stockhausen’s Klang – Savouring Eternal Moments

By Benjamin Goron on 1 February 2019 Contemporary

The Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ) has contributed significantly to the dynamic of the local new music scene. While doing its part in getting more original music out in the world, this organization sets that stage by reviving masterpieces of 20th-Century music through events of its own like Montréal/Nouvelles Musiques (MNM). The festival theme this year is grands espaces (open spaces), a most suitable one for Karlheinz Stockhausen, a visionary whose music will be heard in the weeks to come. “To me, Stockhausen’s name rhymes with open spaces,” states Walter Boudreau, MNM headman and artistic director of the…

Simon Chalifoux dans le rôle de Caïn et Marie-Annick Béliveau dans le rôle d’Adah. Crédit: Hugo B. Lefort

The Myth of Caïn Rewritten by Michel Gonneville

By Benjamin Goron on 1 February 2019 Contemporary, Opera

The myth of Cain and Abel has been the object of many a literary work. One penned by Nobel Prize-winning novelist José Saramango is the most noteworthy treatment to have appeared in recent times. Cain is portrayed in it as the victim of a violent, cruel and corrupt God. Impressed by the treatment, Michel Gonneville started thinking about turning it into an opera. On February 19, 2019, his intentions will be fully realized during the Montréal/Nouvelles Musiques International Festival with the premiere of L’hypothèse Caïn. In his preparations, Gonneville was inspired by two other writers: Konrad Lorenz and his studies…

Photo: Bo Huang

Ensemble Made in Canada

By Justin Bernard on 1 February 2019 Chamber Music, Contemporary

Co-founded in 2006 by violist Sharon Wei and pianist Angela Park, the Ensemble Made In Canada includes Elissa Lee (violin) and Rachel Mercer (cello). It is now one of Canada’s leading piano quartets and will be performing at the Montréal/Nouvelles Musiques Festival on Feb. 25 as part of a national tour. For its new Mosaïque Project, EMIC commissioned each of 14 Canadians to write a four-minute piano quartet inspired by a particular region of Canada. Among the composers are Nicolas Gilbert (Quebec), Julie Doiron (New Brunswick), Kevin Lau (Yukon Territory), Nicole Lizée (Saskatchewan), Richard Mascall (Ontario), Samy Moussa (Nunavut) and…

Browsing: Contemporary

Book Review – Au cœur de la création musicale

Graphic Notation – Stepping Into a Visual World

CD-book – Ciel convertible – Patenaude / Coppens

CD – Tim Brady – Music For Large Ensemble

CD Review – Transient Canvas, Wired

Creators in Their Own Words

Maxime McKinley – Composing as Sharing

Stockhausen’s Klang – Savouring Eternal Moments

The Myth of Caïn Rewritten by Michel Gonneville

Ensemble Made in Canada

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