Klarinet Archive - Posting 000365.txt from 2004/02

From: ormondtoby@-----.net (Ormondtoby Montoya)
Subj: Re: [kl] From classic to "new"" --- 9 contrabasses + 100 other
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2004 03:23:31 -0500

Barring any unforeseeable events, you will hear more about this
composer: Adam Gilberti.

I was worried that tonight's concert would be weird stuff, but it was
straightforward music that any "person on the street" would enjoy
listening to.

If you are aware of hecklephones, contrabass saxophones, contrabass
tubas, serpents, didgeridoos, glass armonicas, and so forth, they may
add to your interest in the music. But the audience didn't need to
know anything about them, nor to see them, in order to enjoy the good
music --- which included a beautiful one-movement violin concerto and a
short symphony, as well as several pieces that you would expect to hear
as film scores.

There were many interesting instruments in addition to a full compliment
of normal orchestral instruments, including marimba and harp and pipe
organ.

The saxophonist hung his contrabass saxophone from his shoulders with a
strap. I was waiting for his knees to buckle, but he seemed unaffected
by the weight. It's 6 feet long even after being 'folded' twice. He
explained that while 17 of them probably exist in the world, only 6 of
them are played regularly.

It turns out (I had never seen or heard one before) that both Mozart &
Beethoven wrote for the glass armonica --- which is basically two
chromatic octaves (I think) of spinning bowls of different diameters,
mounted horizontally on a mandrel that spins. The performer holds his
fingers lightly on the edges of the bowls in order to make them 'sing'
as they spin. His fingering resembles the ten-fingered fingering of a
pianist. He can play chords, counterpoint, etc. The sound is
somewhat 'ethereal', such as you might expect to hear in the score of a
science fiction film.

The contrabass flute is perhaps 1-1/2" in diameter and stands vertically
on the floor, similar to a contra clarinet or bassoon. It has a 'neck'
about 5 ft above the floor that bends twice to form a triangle at the
height of the performer's head when standing.

The organ keyboard rose up from the stage through a trap door. The
pipes are along either side of the auditorium, rather than at the back
of the stage. Talk about "surround sound" !!! The symphony used the
same device as the opening of Phantom of the Opera does, wherein the
organ comes in 'ff' without warning, in the most grand style.

The piece for 9 contra instruments was understandable and melodious
music, not 'in-your-face' sounds such as avant-garde composers use for
shock value. It was beautiful.

They made a CD of tonight's performance. I bought a copy. The CD
will be available on a website eventually, but I couldn't hear the web
address because of all the commotion after the performance. So long as
the recording's quality matches the performance's quality, I'll post the
address when I receive my copy and have a label to read.

....and the encore.... Gilberti asked his mother to come up on stage and
sing one of his earliest songs, for which she had written love song
lyrics to her husband. He accompanied her with a complex piano melody
that was much more than simple chord progressions. Some composers
can't perform, but this fellow sure can. Major tug on the heart
strings....

The name again: Adam Gilberti.

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