When Steve Reich won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in April, many called the award long overdue. Given his revolutionary body of work, it’s hard to argue. But when the new music group Signal performed the winning composition “Double Sextet” at Le Poisson Rouge Monday night, both the piece itself and the sense of lifetime achievement came through in full glory.

To open the celebratory concert, which the composer attended, Signal, led by conductor Brad Lubman, performed what could be considered the work’s predecessor, “Sextet,” written in 1984. Scored by Reich (no relation to this reporter) for four percussionists and two keyboardists, the work features such sounds as electric pianos, bowed vibraphones, marimba, click sticks and crotales. The composer’s trademark layered contrapuntal textures, played with precision and direction, gave the impression of driving rhythmic patterns bouncing against one another.

Le Poisson Rouge, the Greenwich Village club that curates an eclectic blend of classical, indie rock and other genres with an emphasis on new music, recently celebrated its first anniversary. At least in its classical programming, it has been both strikingly consistent and consistently striking, and the relaxed atmosphere, complete with a bar, seems to be a successful model. With many concert halls struggling, it would be interesting to see how a larger work than the chamber music and recitals typically performed here might fare in such a setting.

Hearing Reich’s pieces in such close proximity enhanced the newer work’s broad scope and the raw, human qualities that could be taken on by the strings and winds — instruments absent from many of the composer’s earlier works. “Double Sextet” calls for two ensembles of flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion to be played either by 12 musicians, as it was by Signal, or by six playing against a recording of themselves. That is how the piece, which Reich wrote in 2007 and premiered in 2008, was first performed by the new music-ensemble eighth blackbird.

Here is a youtube video of them in the studio recording double sextet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IqVnvkzvNQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60Rji3yhRs8

A pioneer of performance art in the 1960s and considered to be one of the world’s most important conceptual composers, Lockwood herself will visit Carleton for this unique event, participating as part of a panel discussion to be held just prior to the performance at 8 p.m. in the lobby of the Carleton College Concert Hall. The panel will also include assistant professor of music and composer Alex Freeman and lecturer in art and art history Laurel Bradley, who serves as the director of exhibitions and curator of the art collection at Carleton. “This is not about the ‘shock factor,’” adds Schmid. “The panel will provide a clear context for the performance and hopefully generate conversations about avant-garde art.”

Complementing the performance, Schmid has created an evocative and thought-provoking visual installation in the Concert Hall lobby, incorporating images of the piano in the 20th-century. “There’s something very symbolic about a piano,” notes Nicola Melville, pianist and professor of music. “It’s not just a musical instrument. We all have this sort of universal respect for pianos—and seeing one on fire can be quite difficult to watch, yet quite mesmerizing at the same time. It’s both beautiful and disturbing.” She continues, “We are particularly pleased to have the original composer participate in the performance, and to lend her insight into what compelled her to compose the piece, and to help illuminate its meaning. Lockwood’s perspective will certainly enhance this very unique performance experience.”

A native of New Zealand, Lockwood received her degree from the Canterbury University (New Zealand), later studying at the Royal College of Music in London. During the 1960s, she began to develop a reputation for her innovative use of non-conventional musical materials and techniques—from glass tubing to moss to burning—as a means of creating what she called “sound sculptures.” By the 1970s, her interests led her to focus on performance art pieces inspired by the natural environment, and later into the relatively new field of electro-acoustic music. After moving to the United States, she served as a member of the music faculty at Vassar College from 1982 to 2000.

Lockwood’s progressive ideas and immense range of compositions — from microtonal, electro-acoustic soundscapes to vocal music — push the boundaries of what is called “art,” and this is exactly why Schmid is so thrilled to have this eclectic composer come to Carleton. “Her work forces us to look at art in new and different ways,” says Schmid. “I look forward to the dialogue that will be generated by this performance.”

This event is sponsored by the Carleton College Department of Music, with support from the Committee for the Arts and the Carleton Student Association. For more information, contact Nicola Melville at (507) 222-5745.

http://apps.carleton.edu/news/news/?story_id=526172