Way back on July 27 of last year, I let on that I was writing a piece for cello and strings tentatively entitled Talking Points, and when it was finished I let on that it had been finished. I do a lot of letting on, because, frankly, and you know it, I am being that which is having been worth it. See, I'm letting on that I was let off easy there. (if you'd like me to explain the joke, I will, because, you know, jokes are funnier when they are explained)
Unsurprisingly, it got performed by Fred Sherry with the Orchestra of the League of Composers last June 18, and I had to drive the five hours from New Music on the Point to the performance the day of the performance, and drive back that same night — landing back in Leicester at 3:20 am. Il secondo vento, mi ti piace.
Given the premise (as in, see piece's title), it's not one of those happy, jazzy pieces with little sprites dancing around your ears, and pixie dust exiting from every orifice. Because, like, that would be gross.
Video from the premiere just got put up onto vimeo, and among other things, it represents the first multi-camera video of anything of mine; and one of the first in which I am not the one actually operating the camera. Woo hoo! The sound quality is also on the dry side, but you expect that in Miller Theater, Le Roi du Sec. As to the multi-camera setup — it turns out that the straight-on camera is in sync with the sound, but the two side cameras' video is behind the actual sound. Rather disconcerting.
Also note that there are eight violins in the piece, but several of them get cut out of the shot like that one singer in the old Bananarama video.
The other pieces that were on the concert have also been posted, so if you want to bone up on recent Missy Mazzoli, Elliott Carter, Art Kreiger, or Shulamit Ran, just click on them there names there. Missy's piece is called Violent Violent Sea, and in the pre-piece banter with John Schafer, she was asked about titles that repeat adjectives. It occurred to me much later that she should have responded, "John, that's an excellent, excellent question." Because, you know, it wasn't.
Talking Points (Right Wing Echo Chamber) - Uncle Davy Rakowski from Manhattan New Music Project on Vimeo.
Anyone looking for a video example of lots of strings doing col legno battuto simultaneously need look no further. Anyone looking for a good cup of coffee, I can't help you right now.
