CNJS - Composer Portraits Review

Composer Portraits: Bongani Ndodana. Dawn Padmore (soprano); African Exchange Ensemble: Marco Granados (flute), Anthony McGill (clarinet), Jesse Mills and Tai Murray (violin), Beth Guterman (viola), Michael Nicolas (cello), June Han (harp), Makoto Nakura and Eric Poland (percussion). Bongani Ndodana, conductor

The Miller Theatre continues to be in the vanguard of creative programming in the New York City metropolitan area, which was why I eagerly anticipated the programs listed above in the current season. Alas, I came away disappointed. The Composer Portrait concert barely whetted my appetite and didn't provide enough substance to give full definition to the musical personality of Mr. Ndodani. The African Exchanges program on the other hand seemed more intently focused on the rhythmic contributions of the African continent and while the strongly accented folk rhythms and percussive elements of much African music is evident, it is far from the whole picture. Africa, from north to south, is full to overflowing with rich melodic indigenous music that I had hoped would be the fount from which the composers represented on this bill of fare would draw.

Let's start with Friday night's program. Mr. Ndodani proved to be a highly competent composer with an ability to balance percussive musical effects with atmospheric, almost impressionistic writing that reflected a keenly wrought sensibility. What I found lacking was any strong ear grabbing melodic material.

His Minatures on Motherhood was marred by soprano Dawn Padmore's mushy articulation that rendered the majority of the words incomprehensible. The music was a bit on the minimalist side, with some of the writing doubling the vocal line and both instrumentalist and singer bending and slurring notes in a folk tradition.

Hintsa's Dances had a bright bouncy tempo with wisps of a pretty melody poking its head up here and there, but overall was long on rhythm and short on strong melodic development.

Rainmaking's most outstanding feature was its percussive "fake rain effect" at the very end, offering a neat punch line. There was very nice coloration between the instruments used, 2 percussion, flute, viola, and harp with a too short duet between harp and marimba.

Threnody, Part 5 merely left one hungering to hear if there was any more (parts 1-4 for starters), for what was presented was a nicely performed cadenza like movement for solo cello. It was highly romantic in style and showed off Michael Nicolas's technical abilities.

Lalelani was another rhythmically fascinating piece in *canon, with a stringent melody that refreshed like a desert oasis. The balancing of color and nuance was nicely achieved with the exception of the harp being lost in the marimba's more aggressive sound. The two instruments are too close in timbre and did not support each other. Violist Beth Guterman shone in this number with a firmly centered and deeply honeyed tone and liquid phrasing.

Sons of the Great Tree featured the entire ensemble with Mr. Poland's gourd shaker providing a click track for the others to follow sans conductor. This piece struck me as the most idiomatic as far as coming out of a folk tradition. It was an agreeable work but not deeply impressive.

Saturday evening's program featured Ghanian-American pianist William Chapman Nyaho and the So Percussion ensemble. Mr. Nyaho impressed as a powerfully percussive pianist but one who lacked defining nuance and dynamism. On the few occasions when he played softly it was refreshing.

The So Percussion ensemble was up to its usual outstanding technical capabilities and cannot be faulted for a program that lacked melodic content. Dynamics, nuance, and melody are essential ingredients to great music and key to expressive music making. I'm not sure what the audience was applauding on this night, the performers dedication, stamina, and technical facility on the one hand or the music on the other. I felt like my senses were being pummeled.

Joshua Uzoigwe's Talking Drums might have actually worked better as a percussion piece rather than a piano solo. Its three sections didn't flow into one another very well, and with its driven ostinatos and unresolved tension, it merely left a flat impression. It felt like it was trying to say something but instead ended rather coyly without delivering its full message.

Okho by Iannis Xenakis felt like an exercise rather than a piece of music. So Percussion has performed Xenakis' compositions on numerous occasions and they are wonderful workouts but there is no soul to his music. It strikes me as relentlessly angry.

Halim El-Dabh's Coma Dance, written for the composer's father and brother, who were both seriously ill at the time of it's composition, utilize appealing Arabic modalities and allowed Mr. Nyaho to utilize some dynamic range. Mr. El-Dabh studied with or assisted Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland and Irving Fine. None of that came as a surprise, as parts of the music sounded quite derivative of his mentors' styles.

So Percussion performed Lukas Ligeti's Pattern Transformation with exceptional energy and spirit. The work incorporated a quasi Doppler effect and seemed very much like music I used to hear during old "Outer Limits" episodes. I don't mean that as a put down by any means. It had a tongue-in-cheek quality that was very engaging.

Mr. Nyaho's performance of Scherzo by Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson was his most persuasive of the evening. The melodic content was very sing-songy in the manner of a children's refrain, yet one with a sense of slowly elongated lamentation. Mr. Nyaho built the percussive chords to a powerful climax culminating in a jocularly soft ending.

She Who Sleeps With A Small Blanket offered a solo spotlight for Douglas Perkins from So Percussion. He worked hard and showed off a full arsenal of dexterous technical ability. The less said about the "music" the better.

Bongani Ndodana's Flowers In The Sand was evocatively expressive. There were half hidden melodies that were tasty seedlings begging to be developed and nurtured. Perhaps that is the nature of Mr. Ndodana's compositional style. I think he shouldn't be afraid to let his melodic gifts blossom. Mr. Nyaho played off of the spaces Mr. Ndodana left in the music very effectively.

Mr. Nyaho's performance of Earthbeats, Op. 22, by Gyimah Labi lacked balance and nuance. It was entirely percussive, loud and boring. With whom the fault lay - composer or performer - was impossible to determine.

Finally we arrived at Steve Reich's Six Marimbas, and in spite of its strangely ritualistic power to entrance, it left me thinking that along with Kraftwerk, this is perfect music to teach androids to play. Again, it was a great exercise for So Percussion to show off and strut their stuff, and they sure did.

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