SFSOUND'S MICROFESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY PIANO MUSIC (I)
Chris BrownChris Brown premieres 6Primes, his new suite for piano solo in 13-limit just intonation. sfSound members perform the premiere of Brown's Ragamala Chiaroscuro II, a tuning-based trio based on an evolving chord.
6Primes is a new suite for solo piano retuned in 13-limit "just" intonation. The six primes are 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, and 13. Western music is based on the first three, 7 is familiar from blues chords, 11 produces quarter-tones, and 13 may be well known only to fans of Harry Partch's music. The six pieces each use a different set of four of these primes to control all the elements of their musical structure -- tuning, harmony, melody, rhythm, form. These modes evoke moods ranging from soothing to jangled, clear to cloudy, static to implacably driving. Each prime gets equal time and attention within about 45 minutes of music, demonstrating that there is no clear division between consonance and dissonance, only a continuum between simplicity and complexity, with unique character at every point within the scale.
The concert begins with another premiere, a trio of modes and improvisations in 7-limit just intonation, for oboe, bass clarinet, and alto saxophone performed sfSound members
John Ingle (alto saxophone),
Matt Ingalls (bass clarinet), and
Kyle Bruckmann (oboe) perform Ragamala Chiaroscuro.
Chris Brown, composer, pianist, and electronic musician, creates music for acoustic instruments with interactive electronics, for computer networks, and for improvising ensembles. Collaboration and improvisation are consistent themes in his work, as well as the invention and performance of new electronic instruments. These range from electro-acoustic instruments ("Gazamba", 1982), to acoustic instrument transformation systems ("Lava", 1992), and audience interactive FM radio installations ("Transmissions", 2004, with Guillermo Galindo). As a performer he has recorded music by Henry Cowell, Luc Ferrari, José Maceda, John Zorn, David Rosenboom, Larry Ochs, Glenn Spearman, and Wadada Leo Smith; as an improvisor he has recorded with Anthony Braxton, Pauline Oliveros, Fred Frith, Rova Saxophone Quartet, Ikue Mori, Alvin Curran, William Winant, Biggi Vinkeloe, Don Robinson, and Frank Gratkowski, among many others. Recent recordings of his music include "ROGUE WAVE" (on Tzadik), "TALKING DRUM" (on Pogus), a duet with Fred Frith titled "CUTTER HEADS" (on Intakt), and "SUSPENSION", with the CBD Trio, on Rastascan. He is also a member of the pioneering computer network band "The Hub", which has just released"BOUNDARY LAYER"a box set recording celebrating over 20 years of music on Tzadik. He is also a Professor of Music and Co-Director of the Center for Contemporary Music (CCM) at Mills College in Oakland, California.
Cost: $15 General, $10 Members & the Underemployed
Videos featuring musicians playing at this event
The premiere, at the 2013 Outsound New Music Summit, of Wrack ...Awaits Silent Tristero's Empire (made possible by the Chamber Music America New Jazz Works commissioning program).