~gd~ Music of the Last Century no. 19: "Rothko Chapel, described" - May 30, 2018
One of my best programs was where Professor Dániel Péter Biró did a play by play of the Morton Feldman work "Rothko Chapel", in response to a recent hate vandalism set upon the Rothko Chapel itself.
Music of the Last Century no. 19: Rothko Chapel Described - May 30, 2018
monaural program audio (a link to the New Albion version & y2b below):
archive.org version:
https://archive.org/details/019-rothko-chapel-described
In my Facebook promotion for the program, I wrote this:
AS THEY SAY IN TEXAS, "a whole case of stupid" folks vandalized the Rothko Chapel in Houston on May 22, but not in any big way, including handbills reading "It's Okay to be White". It's been my desire to program as many works I saw at the New Music America festivals as possible, so Morton Feldman's Rothko Chapel will be the center of tonight's program.
So being privileged to have experienced "Rothko Chapel" (I correct myself further down; it was Joan La Barbara performing her work Rothko and not Feldman’s work) in the Rothko Chapel (thanks to Pauline Oliveros, Jerry McCathern, Jewelz Cody, Michael Galbreth and other fine folks that put on New Music America 1986), the show was pretty easy to put together. But then I did research and read a Rothko bio...
To discover that the only University of Victoria Music Prof that I've met (they're elusive, like ferrets out of season), Daniel Biró, did his thesis on the work. And then when I looked to see if there had been any Canadian composers on the bill that day, I found the name "John Celona" and geez, he turns out to be a UVIC composition prof as well.
I don't think I've met Celona, but I might have in Houston if he was there because of the famed Salon des Refusés where I shared a stage with I think Walter Boudreau (providing Quebec to Texan translation) and got drunk with many wonderful people like Richard RIP Hayman and Tibor Szemzo.
So I guess I'm going to have to call this show "Rothko No. 1"! (That's an art joke.) If God is Willing and the Creek Only Rises to the Ankles, it will be streamed for a week afterwards at the usual site.
Transcript
0:00 gd’s theme for Music of the Last Century no. 19
0:46 Georges Dupuis: And you are listening to Music of the Last Century. My name is Georges. If you are a pre-millennial, you might recall the culture war by the Mulroney federal government, led by a Member of Parliament named Felix Holtmann, a pig farmer put in charge of the House of Commons Committee on Culture.
Not agriculture, culture. Holtmann led an anti-avant-garde attack on the National Gallery for paying over a million dollars for works by American visual artist, ah, Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko. Both works are still there. Only now, they’re worth between twenty and fifty million.
1:28 Now, go to 1949 and American Congressman George Dundero has cited in a Mark Rothko biography and you might start thinking, “that was Trump!” The congressman said, (mocking voice) “what are these isms that are the very foundation of modern art? Cub-ism, aims to destroy by design disorder. Future-ism aims to destroy the machine myth. Dada-ism aims to destroy by ridicule. Expression-ism aims to destroy by aping the primitive and insame. Abstraction-ism aims to destroy by the creation of brainstorms. Serial-ism aims to destroy by denial of reason. And art is considered a weapon of commune-ism.”
2:22 That was in 1949 but dumb-assery reared its head again a couple of weeks ago in Houston, Texas. In Houston, the Rothko Chapel, which is home to a large room permanently filled by works by Mark Rothko and a celebrated outdoor work by Barnett Newman was vandalized in a hate incident where handbills reading “it’s okay to be white” and white paint temporarily stained the outside of the Chapel.
Completed in 1971, the Rothko Chapel has always been an exclusive – inclusive space for prayer, meditation and introspection, all amplified by mystical experiences people feel when surrounded by fourteen murals with dark but deep solid colors created by Rothko who never saw the final project, as he committed suicide in 1970.
3:14 Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter and me are only a few who have spent time within its walls and were easily drawn into the deep feelings that it generates. And so was Peter Gabriel. So much that he created his own Rothko tribute on the 1992 album Us. Here is Fourteen Black Paintings.
♪ 3:40 Peter Gabriel Fourteen Black Paintings
8:14 gd: Peter Gabriel and Fourteen Black Paintings, a tribute to the Rothko Chapel, subject of today’s Music of the Last Century.
8:27 advertisement
8:56 gd: Now, Morton Feldman was a friend of Mark Rothko during his last years, during Mark Rothko’s last years, and he was commissioned to write a piece ah, for the opening of the Rothko Chapel. Professor Dániel Biró graciously accepted on very short notice to help describe this work, which we’ll hear in its entirety once, like a curator talking to a gallery visitor describing the different aspects of a painting.
9:28 Mr. Biró will present a three minute introduction and after our halfway break, we’ll hear the same piece again without the description so that you can appreciate it. It’s a very quiet piece and what we did was kind of in a rush, so it’s not perfection but I’m a Cageian so I’m pretty with happy with any kind of sound and the purpose of it is to get you to hear the different components of this, the construction of this composition.
And then you get to hear the whole work itself, it’s a 25 minute work. So Morton Feldman’s Rothko Chapel as described by Dr. Dániel Péter Biró.
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10:12 Dániel Péter Biró: The piece, ah, that was performed at the opening of the Rothko Chapel uses five groups of instruments. Um, so you’ll hear a viola, um, a solo viola. Viola was Feldman’s favorite string instrument. He has a series of pieces called The Viola in My Life. Um, and it’s ah, an important instrument in Rothko Chapel.
And then you hear also vibraphone, celesta – so percussion instruments. You hear timpani, bass drum and then there are two choirs. Ah, so – and the choirs never sing text but simple ah, syllables so I think it’s “ah” and “en” that they are supposed to sing throughout the piece. So there’s no text for the piece, um, and you hear these instruments in dialogue with one another.
11:22 And the viola plays a kind of meandering melody at the beginning and this is often met by the celesta and vibraphone. When the celesta and vibraphone come in, they combine with the viola and they make a cadence. So these are always signs that something is coming to an end.
And then you have an interruption by the timpani or by the bass drum. What’s very interesting is that the sound of the timpani, the timpani is a pitched percussion instrument. That means you’ll actually hear a pitch, ah, a sound and you’ll also hear a bass drum which is not pitched. So even the idea that you hear these two instruments that sound very similar, but one is related to melody and the other one is more related to timbre, ah to the actual color of the instrument.
12:32 It’s very important for Feldman. So you hear these various instrumental groups, almost merging with one another. So at some points, ah, the viola sounds like it’s a voice. At other points, the voices sound like they are violas. Um, so again, categories become blurred in the course of the piece. So I’ll bring you through the beginning of the piece and point out some of these developments.
For instance, melody, cadence, changes of instrumentation, um, variation of material, variation of the melody and in particular, pay attention, concentrate as Feldman would say, on those points of cadences and what happens in those cadences. So we’ll listen to the beginning right now.
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(Feldman begins as he is speaking.)
13:37 It starts with timpani
13:53 And this blends with viola
14:13 And the viola melody continues and we will be moving to a cadence, gets more intense and at the height of intensity, you hear this
14:39 It was celesta, vibraphone and viola. Wood block, non-pitch percussion
14:53 Again, melody from viola
15:15 Intensifying
15:28 Non-pitch percussion
15:39 Viola melody getting higher and cadence again
15:54 Choir
16:08 Cadence
16:13 Choir
16:27 Choir with timpani
16:47 The same instrumentation, viola with celesta
16:53 Descending line cadence
16:59 Repeat, viola with celesta… excuse me, viola-vibraphone
17:10 Choir
17:17 Choir with timpani
17:37 Now, a change of pitch
17:43 More pitches
17:54 Another change
17:58 Another change
18:08 Viola, single note
18:16 Viola with vibraphone
18:23 Viola with vibraphone, now choir
18:29 Choir singing melody whereas viola and vibraphone are objects
18:42 Almost like placeholders
18:49 Cadence, descending line, viola and vibraphone
19:07 Viola, celesta
19:14 Celesta is similar to vibraphone
19:19 Again, objects versus melody
19:47 Viola and vibraphone
19:56 Change of pitch. Notice that the viola’s playing single notes at this point.
20:06 Cadence now by vibraphone, not by viola, descending line
20:13 Single line, single not
20:17 With choir
20:20 Single note, again repetition
20:28 Cadence, by vibraphone
20:41 Celesta and viola
20:47 Choir
20:49 And again, cadence
20:54 This time with chimes
21:04 Repetition, again cadence, intensity
21:08 Descending viola line
21:35 We’re back to viola melody
21:42 Choir with woodblock
21:47 Unpitched percussion
22:00 Viola melody
22:07 Combined with choir
22:15 Viola melody pizzicato, different timbre
22:26 Celesta
22:35 Viola with celesta
22:45 Timpani playing repetitions, ostinato, choir with the timpani
23:05 More pitches, now viola will come in
23:17 Slowly, in the background
23:25 So we have three groups, timpani, choir, viola
23:31 These would be coming from different parts of the room in the Rothko Chapel
23:51 It’s almost like a funeral dirge, although it is not
24:26 So now, choir only
24:31 And now the viola melody
24:47 Brings back recollections of the beginning
25:11 Choir, solo voice
25:18 Descending melody
25:29 No text
25:36 We’re back to the timpani repetitions
25:44 Choir
25:55 Celesta
26:01 Viola, pizzicato, has a more percussive quality
26:14 Timpani now play a tremolo
26:20 Choir playing a melody, singing a melody
26:45 Bass drum, sounds like timpani
26:57 Chimes with choir
27:13 Viola, pizzicato, sounds like a percussion instrument
27:24 Choir, only with chimes
27:32 And this lasts a long time, almost is like the center of a Rothko painting, like the paint that is so intense that is simply there
28:07 It’s like the sound of the voices is coming at the listener and the sound of the chimes is almost coming out of the voices
28:52 It’s a single static chord
29:13 But it’s changing, each voice coming in at varying intervals
29:37 Like paint, spread on a canvas
30:29 Solo voice, always descending
30:35 Viola, pizzicato, melody rising
30:45 Solo voice, melody descending
30:49 Three notes
30:55 Three pitches
31:02 Two pitches
31:04 Two pitches
31:10 Descending
31:21 Viola
31:24 Three pitches, timpani two pitches
31:40 Viola
31:47 Solo voice
32:01 Interrupted by viola
32:30 Timpani
32:34 Just as at the beginning of the piece
32:39 Interruption by viola
32:44 Timpani again
32:52 Viola pizzicato
33:03 Voice, again each one of these instruments is coming from a different point in the room
33:16 But you can hear the voice almost as though it’s a viola and the viola as though it’s a voice
33:37 Descending
33:40 Cadence
33:45 Answered by viola
33:49 Answered by timpani
34:02 Same two notes
34:07 Now a third note
34:10 Now a new note
34:12 Same motif
34:19 Small changes
34:27 Answered by viola
34:33 Now something new: again, choir
34:41 Both choirs in dialogue. We hear celesta with viola
34:55 And then again, choir, timpani
35:04 Single sound
35:13 And now, we hear vibraphone playing four pitches
35:21 A Jewish melody written when Feldman was fourteen
35:29 A citation of his own memory
35:36 But we know this instrumentation from before in the piece
36:06 And now choir
36:10 Combining with celesta, vibraphone
36:27 We hear something motoric and something that’s very static like the middle of the piece
36:36 And again viola
36:47 Melody rising
37:07 Even higher
37:25 And again, choir
This is Dániel Péter Biró.
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Downloadable version of Professor Biró’s thesis
https://pdfcoffee.com/an-analysis-of-morton-feldmanx27s-x27x27rothko-chapelx27x27-5-pdf-free.html
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38:07 gd: And thanks to Dr. Biró for having ah, brought us through a full description of the elements within the work Rothko Chapel composed by Morton Feldman, in honor of, and the opening of ah, the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas, in 1971.
Now, the sound purists out there might be thinking there’s – what was that sound in the background, kind of like a ghostly déjà-vu feeling that you got? Well, that’s because we recorded this between three and four this afternoon. Like I said, this was on last notice, and that’s why I really appreciated him doing this.
38:39 And ah, we’re going to play the full work again, just in a couple of minutes. So, stay tuned.
38:51 station tag
♪ 39:20 Terry Bush Theme from The Littlest Hobo.
Gd: (over the tune) Yes, that is the theme to the show The Littlest Hobo and it brings us to our events calendar. You see, Saturday night at eight p.m., the Deep Cove Folk Club will be presenting the East Coast singer-songwriter Dave Gunning and the last time that I saw Dave Gunning, that was in 1999, ah he played this tune – he’s got his own version. Ah, you are listening to the original, by a guy named Terry Bush.
So, if you go to the Dave Gunning concert and he’s asking for requests, Maybe Tomorrow, the song about the quote mega-canine who hears voices in his head telling him to do good.
40:44 And in the weather, if you’re looking for those big waves, the Comox Valley is looking at thirty knot plus winds, ah, late Friday afternoon, so that’s where you gotta go. Go right about, Big Wave Dave said that there’d be 25 knot winds for a few hours at Gordon’s Beach in Sooke. So if you’re boating, a strong wind warning was posted this morning for the Juan da Fuca Strait East entrance and Central Strait.
Here in Victoria, we’re looking at cloudly and sh-, and/or showers for the next few days.
41:51 Yeah, abstract expressionism and The Littlest Hobo. You know you’ve got Music of the Last Century. One more event and this is more in keeping with our standards here. Ah, this weekend the Victoria Composers Collective hosts the fourth annual Oak Bay New Music festival and ah, if you wanna go and find details about that, go to Oak Bay Music dot c-a for full details and fees.
The schedule essentially is 2 p.m., Saturday composers meet and greet; 4 p.m. Kathy Fern Lewis and Rachel Iwaasa presenting Canadian art songs. 8 p.m., global perspectives with works for solo, duo and trio. And Sunday at 2 p.m., local perspectives with works for keyboards. And the featured performers are Maria Edouarda Martens, Bailey Finley, Nathan Freedman, Paulis Longton – or Longtin, Alexander Klassen, Kimberly [Manic-Vicard], Chris Reiche, and Laura Howe. So go support your local new music.
42:51 So now, as promised, the full version of the Rothko Chapel without description and, ah, let’s see – it’s from an New Albion Record, 1991 release featuring David Abel on viola, William Winant on percussion, Karen Rosenak on celesta and the University of California Berkeley Chamber Chorus. I’ll talk to you at the every end of this.
♪ 43:19 UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus with Abel, Rosenak and Winant – Morton Feldman: Rothko Chapel
http://www.newalbion.com/blog/-morton-feldman-rothko-chapel-why-patterns
52:33 gd: The first movement of Rothko Chapel by Morton Feldman and played by David Abel, Karen Rosenak and William Winant and the University of California Chamber Choir. University of California at Berkeley.
I guess, ah, space-time and kind of got the best of me and we’re not going to have a chance to play the entire work over again, but we will on this program, oh, before the summer’s out. Because there are – I found this on the Naxos Music Library and if you don’t know about that, and you have a Victoria Public Library card, go and on their website, you’ll have access to one million tracks and six versions of Morton Feldman’s Rothko Chapel.
53:20 You are listening to Music of the Last Century. My name is Georges and here’s a couple of messages before we say goodbye.
53:28 program promo
54:01 station tag
54:34 gd: And, next coming up is Straight No Chaser with Shaukat and it’s going to be, ah, showers over the next couple of days, so make sure you have a hat when you go out there.
At the New Music America festival, where I saw the Rothko Chapel piece (correction: I saw Joan La Barbara’s Rothko and not the Feldman work but it was in the Rothko Chapel.), I also got to see Jane Ira Bloom who has a new release, a jazz player who’s um, ah done a complete album dedicated to the songs (um, poems) of Emily Dickenson and here’s a couple of short pieces ah from that album. I like this one, though, Bright Wednesday followed by Wild Lines.
So thank you for listening. I promise I will play the full Rothko Chapel unadorned the way that it should be on a future show before the end of the summer and ah, thank you for listening. Goodbye.
♪ 55:23 Jane Ira Bloom Bright Wednesday / Wild Lines
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Lines:_Improvising_Emily_Dickinson
58:43 Shaukat Husain: The time is ah, one minute to six and you’re listening to CFUV 101.9 FM in Victoria and it’s time for your Wednesday jazz show, Straight No Chaser.