South Florida Classical Review

Arthur Footes’s Piano Quintet was played by New World Symphony musicians on Sunday.

An initially fascinating survey of American chamber music from the 18th to the late 20th century was, ultimately, disfigured by a work of dubious value and merit on Sunday afternoon at the New World Symphony’s final chamber music concert of the season. Two former New World fellows appeared as guest artists on a program that explored the byways of the repertoire.

To conclude the program, fifteen New World players and two reciters took the New World Center stage to perform Stay on It by Julius Eastman, and one must wonder why. Eastman (1940-1990) was promoted and given performance opportunities by Lukas Foss and Morton Feldman. After an initially promising start, he wrote a group of compositions with provocative, racially offensive titles. Eastman became addicted to drugs and, eventually, was homeless, living in parks and the street. 

His life and early death were, indeed, tragic but that does not mean his music has much to offer. Stay on It might best be described as amateur minimalism. It lacks the creative vitality or charm of early Steve Reich or John Adams. The score might suffice as background to a film about street life but, as a concert piece, it is artistically barren. The endless repetitions of a not particularly engaging motif make the work’s fourteen minutes seem twice as long. What educational purpose was served by utilizing the talents of the orchestral academy’s fellows to rehearse and perform this less-than-mediocre opus when there are many fine American chamber pieces that deserve advocacy and revival?  (The performance of David Diamond’s Trio at a recent concert was a good example of a rarely heard work that is rewarding for performers and listeners alike.) Unfortunately, Eastman’s score is not the first such instance of questionable programming at these Sunday concerts.

Earlier in the afternoon, some fine and varied scores held sway. The Trio in D minor for two violins and cello by John Antes (1740-1811) may have been one of the first examples of classical composition by an American composer. Antes, a Moravian missionary, wrote in the classical era style of Haydn. Some lovely, graceful melodies embellish the short work but Antes’ development of themes is rather rudimentary. Violinist Yunjung Ko’s lively articulation stood out in a well-coordinated reading.

Pastorale for woodwind quintet by Amy Beach is the penultimate composition by a path-breaking composer whose output is continually being rediscovered and played. Finely chiseled and gratefully crafted for the instruments, Beach’s 1941 work includes a touch of impressionism. The warmth of Taryn Lee’s horn sound and Elizabeth McCormack’s agile flute stood out in a fine reading.

The Quintet for piano and strings by Arthur Foote was a fine example of late nineteenth century artistic trends. Written in 1897, the score abounds in romantic gestures and inspired thematic invention. The second movement features a beautiful melody that suggests Dvořák in his contemporaneous American period. While not quite a masterpiece, this was a worthy excavation of a work by an unjustly neglected composer.

Thomas Stiegerwald (a New World fellow in 2018-2022) was a commanding presence as the keyboard protagonist. His digital command veered from powerful to supple and elegant. He was totally on top of the bravura flourishes of the work’s final two movements. Violist Jennifer Snyder Kozoroz’s rounded tone was adequate for Foote’s string writing, but the other string players sounded scrappy. While idiomatically adept, their performance was lacking in technical execution.

Instead of the originally scheduled excerpt from David Del Tredici’s Final Alice, the concert’s second half opened with an arrangement for brass quintet by Christopher Dedrick of “Make Our Garden Grow” from Leonard Bernstein’s Candide. This is a fine example of prime Bernstein. The melody works whether sung by a chorus, operatic or pop singer and this brass rendition proved equally convincing.

Charles Ives’ Largo for violin, clarinet and piano found the New England iconoclast and innovator writing in a more songful manner. At times the piano plays a rocking accompaniment to the violin and clarinet melodies. At others, the keyboard line takes emphatic center stage. Shih-Man Wang’s able pianism and Sunho Song’s mellow clarinet offered astute musicianship. As in the Foote quintet, Owen Ruff’s violin tone was too small.

Meredith Monk’s Ellis Island for two pianos was an excerpt from a 1981 documentary film about immigration the pioneering voice artist directed and scored. The waves of sound vividly pictures the masses of immigrants who have come through that gateway and the water surrounding it. It is a diverting minimalist vignette. Wang and Pei-Hsuan Shen were fully in sync with each other and Monk’s idiom.

John Cage was, among many other musical endeavors, a pioneering composer for percussion. With Henry Cowell, he  formed the first American percussion ensemble in the 1940’s. From this era, She is Asleep is a five-minute study in soft percussive dynamics. Four New World fellows seemed to be enjoying keeping their instruments soft and quiet, the opposite of their usual role.

The Eastman downer apart, these works were all entertaining and illuminating as part of the New World’s celebration of America at 250.

Stéphane Denève conducts the New World Symphony in American Dance Odyssey with Miami City Ballet. Performances at 8 p.m. April 17 and 18 and 2 p.m. April 19.   nws.edu

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