Vibrant Culture — 5 Min Read
The music of friends
By Meganne Smith
Vibrant Culture — 5 Min Read
The music of friends
By Meganne Smith
While summer crowds have yet to arrive at our shores in Carteret County, intimate opportunities for awe-inspiring musical performances serve as a winter treat.
Chamber music has withstood the test of several centuries, and the Poulenc Trio’s recent performance in Morehead City as part of the American Music Festival’s 2023-2024 concert season demonstrated the breadth and quality of chamber music’s legacy. While it has been called the “music of friends” because, historically, it was frequently performed in people’s homes, chamber music continues to evolve to newer levels of experimentation and virtuosity.
The Trio began the show in the First Presbyterian Church with their most modern pieces, those of early 20th century composer Francis Poulenc and one piece by contemporary composer Viet Cuong. These Poulenc pieces demonstrated what Bryan Young, the bassoonist, called the “complicated and complex composer” who is the trio’s namesake. Rife with mixed meter and seemingly scattered chords as the ending cadences, these pieces introduced the audience to the unconventional makeup of the trio. The bassoon carried the tenor and the bass voices of the piece; the oboe soared in the higher register; and the piano matched the melodies of the winds while also, at times, holding the lines together with accompaniment.
The Cuong piece exhibited current 21st century stylistics of classical music. “Explain Yourself” is a playful conversation between the oboe and piano. In it, the oboe part employs many multiphonic notes that have less of a musical quality than a theatrical quality. In fact, in the concert, the oboist played a multiphonic for the audience before the song started to show us what it would sound like so that we would not assume he was making a mistake.
In the piece, the oboe’s mischief annoys the piano player at first, but then the piano allows the oboe to continue with the ensemble even with those crazy multiphonics. Audiences of the past and even some of the present might not have appreciated the way this piece used an instrument and sound itself in a nontraditional way. As attendee Marilynn Cullison noted in awe afterwards, “The music was not of this world.” (Also, as a former–amateur–reed player myself, my chops ached for the oboist at the close of this piece.)
After intermission, the American Music Festival director, Oskar Espina Ruiz, sat in as clarinetist for a few different ensemble configurations, and the musicians performed some older pieces, those of Glinka, Ibert, and Rossini of the 19th century. These entertained and satisfied those who might want something more traditional, and the changes in instrumentation refreshed the ear and maintained an air of the unexpected.
The piece de resistance proved to be the encore. For this one, Ruiz joined the full Trio (making it a quartet if you are keeping up with the math) for a Piazzolla piece in which the clarinet played astronomically high notes, like those of the violin. Pure gold!
Poulenc Trio is in their 21st year of existence, and the comfortable relationship between the three musicians was clear in their easy body postures and playfulness on stage. Apart from the performers, though, there were many among the crowd who also signaled their friendship.
In his opening words, AMF board member Michael McGinn relayed that while this concert season was coming to an end with the Poulenc Trio, there is another musical opportunity for locals that will begin right away: Hot Jazz. McGinn shared that Hot Jazz performances will be housed in the soon-to-be renovated Joslyn Hall at Carteret Community College. Also, on top of Hot Jazz’s addition to our community’s calendar of musical events, the Hot Jazz musicians will also be offering some master classes for students of Carteret County this summer.
After the show, Tom Cullison, a long time supporter of AMF, told me that he would like to “thank Barbara McKenzie for starting this organization twenty-five years ago.” Indeed, the legacy lives on and flourishes. Craig Everett, Director of Arts Education for Carteret County shares, “The American Music Festival has been a terrific partner with the Carteret County Public School System.”
Every Friday, before an AMF performance, the musicians have been visiting Carteret County 5th graders for interactive performances; and the Poulenc Trio visited 6th graders in beginning band at Morehead City Middle School to demonstrate how to play a double reed instrument. Just as chamber music is “the music of friends,” so is the American Music Festival–friends of Carteret County.
While summer crowds have yet to arrive at our shores in Carteret County, intimate opportunities for awe-inspiring musical performances serve as a winter treat.
Chamber music has withstood the test of several centuries, and the Poulenc Trio’s recent performance in Morehead City as part of the American Music Festival’s 2023-2024 concert season demonstrated the breadth and quality of chamber music’s legacy. While it has been called the “music of friends” because, historically, it was frequently performed in people’s homes, chamber music continues to evolve to newer levels of experimentation and virtuosity.
The Trio began the show in the First Presbyterian Church with their most modern pieces, those of early 20th century composer Francis Poulenc and one piece by contemporary composer Viet Cuong. These Poulenc pieces demonstrated what Bryan Young, the bassoonist, called the “complicated and complex composer” who is the trio’s namesake. Rife with mixed meter and seemingly scattered chords as the ending cadences, these pieces introduced the audience to the unconventional makeup of the trio. The bassoon carried the tenor and the bass voices of the piece; the oboe soared in the higher register; and the piano matched the melodies of the winds while also, at times, holding the lines together with accompaniment.
The Cuong piece exhibited current 21st century stylistics of classical music. “Explain Yourself” is a playful conversation between the oboe and piano. In it, the oboe part employs many multiphonic notes that have less of a musical quality than a theatrical quality. In fact, in the concert, the oboist played a multiphonic for the audience before the song started to show us what it would sound like so that we would not assume he was making a mistake.
In the piece, the oboe’s mischief annoys the piano player at first, but then the piano allows the oboe to continue with the ensemble even with those crazy multiphonics. Audiences of the past and even some of the present might not have appreciated the way this piece used an instrument and sound itself in a nontraditional way. As attendee Marilynn Cullison noted in awe afterwards, “The music was not of this world.” (Also, as a former–amateur–reed player myself, my chops ached for the oboist at the close of this piece.)
After intermission, the American Music Festival director, Oskar Espina Ruiz, sat in as clarinetist for a few different ensemble configurations, and the musicians performed some older pieces, those of Glinka, Ibert, and Rossini of the 19th century. These entertained and satisfied those who might want something more traditional, and the changes in instrumentation refreshed the ear and maintained an air of the unexpected.
The piece de resistance proved to be the encore. For this one, Ruiz joined the full Trio (making it a quartet if you are keeping up with the math) for a Piazzolla piece in which the clarinet played astronomically high notes, like those of the violin. Pure gold!
Poulenc Trio is in their 21st year of existence, and the comfortable relationship between the three musicians was clear in their easy body postures and playfulness on stage. Apart from the performers, though, there were many among the crowd who also signaled their friendship.
In his opening words, AMF board member Michael McGinn relayed that while this concert season was coming to an end with the Poulenc Trio, there is another musical opportunity for locals that will begin right away: Hot Jazz. McGinn shared that Hot Jazz performances will be housed in the soon-to-be renovated Joslyn Hall at Carteret Community College. Also, on top of Hot Jazz’s addition to our community’s calendar of musical events, the Hot Jazz musicians will also be offering some master classes for students of Carteret County this summer.
After the show, Tom Cullison, a long time supporter of AMF, told me that he would like to “thank Barbara McKenzie for starting this organization twenty-five years ago.” Indeed, the legacy lives on and flourishes. Craig Everett, Director of Arts Education for Carteret County shares, “The American Music Festival has been a terrific partner with the Carteret County Public School System.”
Every Friday, before an AMF performance, the musicians have been visiting Carteret County 5th graders for interactive performances; and the Poulenc Trio visited 6th graders in beginning band at Morehead City Middle School to demonstrate how to play a double reed instrument. Just as chamber music is “the music of friends,” so is the American Music Festival–friends of Carteret County.
