2/28: Alarm Will Sound promotes its forthcoming release “a/rhythmia” with a concert at Zankel Hall. The program includes works by Ligeti, Nancarrow, the Shaggs, Mochipet, Aphex Twin, and Birtwhistle, plus John Adams’ newest work, Son of Chamber Symphony.
I’m so excited to play in Zankel Hall again with Alarm Will Sound, this time on a collection of their most rhythmically charged works, many soon to be released on their album “a/rhythmia.” It is so impressive the way this group continues to take ambitious ideas and turn them into reality. For example, I have to admit that the first time I heard the Shaggs, or Nancarrow piano rolls, or even Aphex Twin, part of my reaction was to imagine how fun it would be as a performer to play them live. But actually following through with that idea and figuring out how to make them work is an enormous undertaking.
Yet every time I join Alarm Will Sound as a guest I find out that they have been quietly
following through with these type of ideas, and then I get to try them on for size. This time it is “Philosophy of the World,” one of the songs from the classic musical outsider-art group The Shaggs. They sort of defy explanation, but you can read about them here and here. I’m also getting to play two of their Nancarrow piano roll arrangements for the first time, and a new Aphex Twin transcription.
The other highlight of the program is Sir Harrison “funk dissonance” Birtwhistle’s Carmen Arcadiae Mechanicae Perpetuum, which nicely toes the line between thorny contemporary music and parliament/funkadelic. I think it might be the most fun you can possibly have playing the marimba. For the record, this is not a picture of Harrison Birtwhistle, it is a picture of George Clinton. But, you know, they remind me of each other and also both make me happy.
More information here on the Carnegie Hall website.