BY MARK BOSCH, LEAD CRITIC
Over
Spiral Ensemble
Tempe Jets, 22 November
Spiral is young, exciting, and unique.
Specialising in post-minimalist music, the Sydney ensemble has been gradually crescendoing to a national presence with tours to Brisbane and Toowoomba earlier this year, and Melbourne in the last week of November.
Its program Over, produced right here in the grassroots Sydney venues of Tempe Jets and Woodburn Creatives, is however something of a flagship. With three works by ensemble members, including the premiere of Joshua Winestock’s monumental Over, this program is a statement of raw, across-the-board talent.
And there was plenty extramusical enjoyment involved, from strong lighting to live video by Ro Llauro. Tempe Jets is a great space for an expansive event such as this, with the motley seating arrangements complementing the tangle of wires across the floor beautifully. The ensemble had actually planned to hold the event outside on the lawn, but a rare moment of wet weather foreclosed the possibility.
Oscar Smith’s Sequence No. 4 opened the program, setting the tone with its vigorous, rhythmic verve. With only some singing bowls, a gamelan instrument, and stomping and clapping, Smith’s rhythmic study threw forth a strong energy that carried directly in Josephine Macken’s Four Studies for Amplified Contrabass, performed by Will Hansen, recently named Ensemble Offspring’s Hatched Academy Associate Artist for 2020.
Macken’s strong grasp of the instrument’s partials and tone colours was translated through Hansen’s trademark no-holds-barred intensity, effecting a performance that was both precise and passionate. Played without a break, the four studies had a powerful, slow-burn macrostructure despite the work’s relatively short length.
With so much tension held in the room, I got some much-needed fresh air during the short interval that preceded Winestock’s Over — which was only to dial it back up again. Featuring the ensemble’s full (and fully amplified) forces — plus a few guests on saxophones, clarinet, and drums — Over filled Tempe Jets to burst with raw, exuberant energy.
Opening ponderously with a slow, multilayered melody, the piece launched into wave after wave of engrossing, rhythmically elaborate buildups which, despite some initially off-kilter amplification levels, developed very steadily towards an all-out 100 that would stick for what felt like at least 20 minutes.
Over was a dirty, sweaty performance that approached transcendence at more than a few moments. Perhaps there were also moments where the structure felt like a bit of a question mark, and perhaps the piece’s melodic material could have been more thoroughly imbricated. While the live video was excellent, there were some moments in the prerecorded dance footage that felt a little incongruous. But you simply can’t fault the 110 per cent these young performers gave, all the way from Over‘s start to screaming finish.
Images supplied. Credit: Natalia Cartney for Rolling Media Productions.
