BY CHRISTOPHER WAINWRIGHT
Eighth Blackbird
Adelaide Festival and Musica Viva International Concert Season
Adelaide Town Hall, 9 March
Somehow the planets aligned, and we were able to discover the amazing virtuosic artistry of Eighth Blackbird, and its infectious passion and interest in the new.
This is groundbreaking for Musica Viva, too – I can’t recall when they last toured such a diverse sextet – and that’s not a criticism! The way I see it, Eighth Blackbird is the canary who has found the light, to get out of the often-inward new music coalmine.
Rightly or wrongly, new music concerts can sometimes be perceived by audiences as elitist, with musicians presenting concerts where the musical terminology, the seriousness or the academic feel, almost turns people off – including curious music lovers.
Having the opportunity to hear new music from another country is a rare treat in Australia. Often, all we hear are the big name international composers and, unless you visit the country or have friends who share their knowledge, it’s hard to discover the rising stars and lesser known gems.
The program Eighth Blackbird brought including four new American works and a delightful new Australian work by rising Sydney composer Holly Harrison (supported by Musica Viva’s visionary Hildegard Project) was a revelation. Hildegard, funded by private philanthropy, is Australia’s major female-only composer fund addressing a historical wrong: where female composers have received much less support.
Apart from my pre-concert research, I really wasn’t 100 per cent sure where my ears were going to be taken when I first walked in. And by the end of the night, it seemed to have traversed from reinterpreted Civil War folk songs to contemporary music idioms including hip-hop, and a homage to the United States’ forefather of modern music Steve Reich.
Eighth Blackbird is a sextet of profoundly talented, intelligent new music exponents from the US East Coast. For the group, it’s not just about playing existing works. A big part of what they do is to commission work, and think about how music intersects with the arts and other social and political issues (read more in our chat with the group’s Nathalie Joachim).
Aside from being talented, willing to take risks and try new things, the group has a freakish ability to make seriously technically challenging feats of harmonics, triple-tonguing, fast changes between high and low pitch seem just like a mere stroll across Central Park. To achieve this, and not be scared of taking risk, makes the Eighth Blackbird members stand-out musicians. More than that, they immediately stand out as on stage they only wear smart-casual clothes (no black in sight), and read all their music of iPads.
One could write about all of the works, but I’ll solely focus on the Bryce Dessner Murder Ballades (2013), and Holly Harrison’s specifically commissioned work by Musica Viva, Lobster Tales and Turtle Soup (2016).
Murder Ballades, commissioned by Eighth Blackbird, is a very interesting and unusual work based on American folk songs, interconnected with Dessner’s own new pieces. What immediately became apparent at the end of hearing the piece was the gargantuan knowledge and ability to create music which ranges from delightful Copland-esque song arrangements, to complex, angular rhythms and harmonies, and the ability to utilise the instruments’ timbres and ranges to amplify or strengthen dramatic ideas or moments of cherished, serene quietness. Eighth Blackbird in its no-messing-around style brought the music to life with precision, clarity and allowed the music to speak for itself.
Holly Harrison is a young Australian composer from Western Sydney. Until this concert, I knew of her name, but that was all. And from hearing this new commission, Lobster Tales and Turtle Soup, I came to appreciate and admire her ability to embrace diverse musical styles with a unique voice. The styles are much broader than what one could imagine, including jazz, rock, hip-hop and moments of black cabaret texts that add drama and humour. It was impressive to see how well she understood and appreciated such styles, and knew how to utilise them powerfully from turning the piano to a silent, percussive beast to the character of a cellist plucking his strings.
All of the six works were equally enjoyable and rewarding, and the approach of commissioning works inspired by contemporary visual art is to be commended.
Eighth Blackbird is – without dispute – amazing. The group deserves the continuing accolades which it receives (including Grammy awards) for its innovation and passion for making the new approachable to curious classical music lovers.
Image supplied. Credit: Saverio Truglia.
