“My role as a composer is in some ways, provocation, in other ways, education. My hope is that it forms a temporary, allusive community.” That is a remark by Daniel Bernard Roumain highlighted in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) MusicNOW program for which he was the Mead Composer-Curator. Composers often elicit a strong or unwelcome reaction from contemporary listeners, but whether that’s their job or not is an interesting question. And if they educate, there’s every possibility that the provocation is lessened or completely ameliorated.
Roumain, who is also often referred to by his initials DBR for short, didn’t provoke or educate me in his interesting concert, but I did find it enjoyable and at times it got me to thinking. (I resisted using the phrase “thought-provoking.”) And I think that’s more than enough to judge a concert a success.
DBR’s concert took place in Symphony Center the Sunday afternoon before Thanksgiving and featured more than a dozen musicians, many drawn from the ranks of the CSO. The performance featured three of Roumain’s own works as well as one piece by Brittany J. Green and one by Allison Loggins-Hull.
The concert opened with DBR’s String Quartet No. 5, “Parks” written to commemorate the influence of Rosa Parks on the Civil Rights Movement. The composer, in his program notes, writes about his parents: “Their views were informed by life on a free island nation in Port-au-Prince, Haiti; life in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois; and life in the complex diversity of Pompano Beach, Florida. They identified with Malcolm and Martin, Maya and Rosa, and the great Haitian warriors Mackandal and Toussaint.”
This string quartet is both moving and engaging, and was performed by Danny Jin and Mihaela Ionescu (violins), Danny Lai (viola) and James Cooper (cello). The first movement, “I made up my mind not to move” has the propulsive beat of minimalism coursing through it, representing Parks and her determination as well as the impelling force her actions had on the fight for civil rights. The music seems to embrace both the power of Parks as well as the lasting effect of her peaceful protest. The players saturated it with vigor and quiet drama.
The middle movement, “Klap Ur Handz,” reflects on how Parks thought of her father, particularly his “hand-clapping and foot-stomping during church services.” This music begins with a deceptively soft sound that quickly explodes in both volume and intensity. There is a striking lament from the first violin as well as spitting pizzicatos. The music clearly hints at a kind of danger.
The concluding “Isorhythmiclationistic,” is the least interesting part of the quartet. DBR has the cello grove on a single note for too long a time and asks the violist to clap, both things I found unimaginative rather than engrossing.
John Bruce Yeh (clarinet), Mihaela Ionescu (violin), Danny Lai (viola) and Daniel Schlosberg (piano) performed Brittany J. Green’s “shift.unravel.BREAK.” This music is atmospheric and Yeh stole the show here with vibrant clarinet work. He purred, sneezed, sang, wailed and snorted with his instrument, making the music come alive.
“Uncertainty Our Country” was a world premiere by Roumain, commissioned by CSO MusicNOW for this concert. The composer, playing violin, was joined by violist Lai, cellist Cooper and pianist Schlosberg. DBR describes the piece as containing a musical variation of “My Country, ’Tis of Thee” (which is, of course, essentially the same melody as “God Save the King” but with a completely different meaning because of the American text).
It opens very quietly with a very slow tempo. It’s like hypnotically watching the movement of a candle flame. The music develops into the soothing sound of a lullaby before you hear the first references to “My Country,” which are bathed in piano arpeggios. The music at times has a cinematic quality to it, wearing emotion on its sleeve.
“Homeland” by Allison Loggins-Hull was inspired by the devastation of Hurricane Maria and ponders many questions related to home, including “What does home mean when the land has been destroyed?”
CSO principal flute Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson was the soloist for this fascinating work. There were almost spooky-sounding trills that surely represented the hurricane. There was a section with an attractive melody that skittles at a good pace before slowing down to a meditative tempo. All of these things, and much more, were evoked marvelously by Höskuldsson who provided burnished sound, exemplary clarity of purpose and gorgeous articulation.
The concert closed with a big number featuring DBR as violin soloist and Kedrick Armstrong conducting a 10-piece ensemble. “Voodoo” Violin Concerto No. 1 was composed in 2002 and is really a modern jazz piece. Roumain plugged his violins (he switched from one to another during the performance) into an amplifier and even then he was often hard to hear and dull in tone, so it was strange that an amp was used at all.
The drum kit, played by Ian Ding with flair, often drowned out other instruments yet provided much of the piece’s perkiness and forward movement. In the section titled “Prayer” it was hard to decide if the sometimes approximate violin intonation was purposeful or the result of not being able to clearly hear the other players.
The parts of the work that involved DBR jamming with another musician were the least successful parts of the evening. There was no discernable connection between the players, no shared vibe, no energy moving back and forth. It was amusing to see him strum his instrument while holding his bow in his mouth. He had to do this because he felt the need to walk around the stage (often with his back to the audience) and therefore couldn’t leave the bow at any stationary point.
The audience had mixed views of the concert. About half of them stood for an enthusiastic ovation. The other half remained firmly seated. This was all followed by a lovely reception in the Symphony Center rotunda with pizza and beer and wine.
For more on CSO MusicNOW or any CSO concert, visit CSO.org.