Monday Evening Concerts 2013/14 Season

From LA’s Monday Evening Concerts:

Monday, December 9, 2013 at 8:00 p.m.
Zipper Concert Hall at the Colburn School
Kondo and Feldman

For nearly half a century, the Japanese composer Jo Kondo has been writing works which quietly ask us to listen to music in new ways. Kondo’s friend Morton Feldman stated that Under the Umbrella for 25 cowbells “is going to be another kind of classic as the years go by.” Feldman’s setting of Beckett’s radio play receives a very rare public performance. One of his final compositions, Words and Music defies simple categorization, but contains what the composer saw in both his and Beckett’s work: “this saturated, unending longing.”

PROGRAM
Jo Kondo Sight Rhythmics
Jo Kondo Under the Umbrella
Samuel Beckett / Morton Feldman
Words and Music

Monday, January 6, 2014 at 8:00 p.m.
Zipper Concert Hall at the Colburn School
Newman and Beethoven

A true polymath (composer, visual artist, poet), Chris Newman is like no other. His songs were described by one critic as “Schubert meets Captain Beefheart.” He often relies on coarse and improbable musical materials to create works projecting an unfamiliar yet visionary beauty. His uncompromising vision brings to mind the music of one of his idols, Ludwig van Beethoven, whose blazing Op. 95 String Quartet and rarely performed Andante Favori will be heard alongside two major United States premieres of Newman.

PROGRAM
Chris Newman Weird Words in a Language which we Understand UNITED STATES PREMIERE
Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet, Op. 95
Ludwig van Beethoven Andante Favori
Chris Newman Sad Secrets UNITED STATES PREMIERE

Monday, February 17, 2014 at 8:00 p.m.
Zipper Concert Hall at the Colburn School
Schweinitz and Schoenberg

Arnold Schoenberg and La Monte Young – two of the major peaks in 20th century musical history. They are fused together in Wolfgang von Schweinitz’s fascinating Plainsound String Trio “KLANG auf Schön Berg La Monte Young”. Based on harmonies from Schoenberg’s textbook “Structural Functions of Harmony”, this deeply spiritual exploration of sound will be heard after Schoenberg’s landmark string trio and an arrangement by von Schweinitz of the three voice Ricercare from Bach’s Musical Offering in an experimental tuning.

PROGRAM
Marc Sabat / Wolfgang von Schweinitz
Johann Sebastian Bach RICERCAR Musikalisches Opfer 1 INTONATION (2001/2011) (version for string trio)
UNITED STATES PREMIERE
Arnold Schoenberg String Trio, Op. 45
Wolfgang von Schweinitz
Plainsound String Trio “KLANG auf Schön Berg La Monte Young” op. 39
UNITED STATES PREMIERE

Monday, March 17, 2014 at 8:00 p.m.
Zipper Concert Hall at the Colburn School
Arditti String Quartet:
40th Anniversary

The contemporary string quartet repertoire would be unimaginable without the Ardittis, one of the most influential contemporary music ensembles of our time. After numerous memorable performances for Monday Evening Concerts, the group returns to celebrate its 40th anniversary with a selection of works close to the group’s heart. This will be the group’s first performance in Los Angeles in its present configuration.

PROGRAM
Elliot Carter String Quartet No. 5
Jonathan Harvey String Quartet No. 2
Brian Ferneyhough Dum Transisset I-IV
Helmut Lachenmann String Quartet No. 3 “Grido”

Monday, May 5, 2014 at 8:00 p.m.
Zipper Concert Hall at the Colburn School
New Voices II

A sequel to our New Voices concert last December, we introduce recent pieces by Thomas Meadowcroft, Joe Lake and other composers pushing the boundaries of new music.

PROGRAM
Thomas Meadowcroft Cradles
Thomas Meadowcroft The Great Knot
Joseph Andrew Lake Almost There