New Music ...

... well, new to me. This afternoon's concert (5pm) was the Open End ensemble—"Modern Works and In-the-Now Improvisations."

The program was in two parts—three pieces and two improvisations in each half.

The first half included the avant-garde: Olivier Messiaen, Charles Ives, and Elliott Carter. In my estimation, of the six pieces on the program, they rated as follows: Messiaen (Piece pour piano et quator a cordes—piano and string quartet) was #1, Ives (movement IV, from Piano Sonata no. 2) was #2, and Carter (Duettino, for violin and cello) was #5.

The second half included the nouveaux-avant-garde—Andrew Waggoner (b. 1960, one of the violinists of the group and a composer), Shulamit Ran (b. 1949, who composed a commission for the violist who played it here), and Jesse Benjamin James (b. 1978).

Mr. Waggoner's Catenary came in at #6; Ms. Ran's Perfect Storm, #4; Mr. Benjamin's 4 Bagatelles (also a commission and world premiere), #3.

All four improvisations left me a little cool; it seemed as though everyone knew where everyone else was going, i.e., rehearsed—or at least catch phrases and transition elements that everyone was aware of. But that could just be me.

Playing throughout was very good—the pianist played really well, especially in the Ives. The violist shone in the piece that she commissioned. The 4 Bagatelles (via program notes) were presented as pure fun, with musical merit, and I agree.

As with many "new" compositions, there was always the are they done? moment, because two or three seconds of silence could simply be a part of the composition. Still and all, an enjoyable concert in a venue I was familiar with (another church with vastly different acoustics from last night's). I'll be back there again during the concert season.

CM