The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Tuesday, April 11, 2017 — 5
A Far Cry and Roomful
of Teeth to play Rackham
NEW AMSTERDAM RECORDS
Room Full of Teeth will be performing at Rackham this Wednesday.
At its heart, public music
making is about the way in
which we exist in the same
time
and
place
as
other
people. It’s about how we
communicate with and relate
to one another. The playing of
music is a conversation of sorts,
an
interaction
undertaken
between the musicians and
the listeners, each member of
the dialogue giving something
and taking something away. It’s
not a coincidence, then, that
some of the most interesting
and engaging music composed
both throughout history and
in the present comes from
a
wellspring
of
mutually
supportive
and
inspiring
relationships
between
musicians.
On
Wednesday
night,
concert
goers
at
Rackham
Auditorium
will
have the chance to witness
the fruits of some of these
relationships in a joint concert
by the contemporary music
ensembles A Far Cry and
Roomful of Teeth.
“It’s a funny thing, often
in popular culture classical
musicians are portrayed as
being very competitive and
cutthroat with each other,”
said
violinist
Miki-Sophia
Cloud. “Which of course is
true in some circles and true
to some extent, but what’s
really beautiful about this
program is that every single
one of the pieces on the
program comes from a really
respectful and inspiring and
beautiful relationship between
musicians that were either
contemporaries or had a very
close relationship.”
Cloud is a violinist with the
Boston-based
contemporary
music chamber orchestra A
Far Cry, which was founded
in 2007 and has since rocketed
towards the forefront of the
new music scene. Nominated
for a Grammy in 2015 for the
their first album, Dreams and
Prayers (a recording of Osvaldo
Golijov’s piece of a similar
name), the ensemble has been
active
in
both
performing
works by living composers
and
commissioning
new
compositions. On Wednesday
the chamber orchestra — along
with the acclaimed, Grammy-
winning
contemporary
music vocal octet Roomful of
Teeth — will be presenting a
diverse program which spans
centuries and features three
compositions
commissioned
by either one or both of the
ensembles performing.
“As we’ve been living with
this program, we’ve realized
that it has a very special
thematic tie, which is that all of
the pieces on the program are
really about the relationships
that musicians have with each
other,” Cloud said. In addition
to works by Prokofiev and the
Renaissance composer Josquin
des Prez, the concert features
compositions by two living
composers, Caroline Shaw and
Ted Hearne, both of whom are
friends with members of the
ensembles.
“When I was in grad school,
at Yale School of Music, I was in
a quartet with Caroline Shaw,
actually, we both played violin
in a quartet together at school,
and we were great friends, and
near the end of her time in
school she started composing,”
Cloud explained. “My first
time hearing her music was at
her Master’s recital, and I was
so taken by what she wrote, I
really specifically remember
having this really involuntary
emotional reaction to the piece
she wrote, and just weeping in
the concert hall, in the balcony,
and thinking ‘oh my God.’ Not
only is she talented in so many
other ways, but she’s a really
special voice as a composer as
well.”
It wasn’t until several years
later
that
this
friendship
blossomed into the composition
“Music in Common Time,”
which was written for A Far
Cry and Roomful of Teeth
and will be the final piece on
Wednesday night’s concert.
“When I moved back to New
York, we got together for coffee
one day,” Cloud recollected.
“And [Shaw] was telling me
about this group Roomful of
Teeth she was singing with,
and how they just recorded
their first album, and she wrote
them a piece and she felt pretty
excited about it, and I was like
‘Oh my gosh, you should write a
piece for A Far Cry.’”
They decided that Shaw
should write a piece for both A
Far Cry and Roomful of Teeth,
of which Shaw is a member.
“We were all really excited
about it, and then a few months
later, maybe like the following
Spring — that was in the Fall
— in the Spring, you know, she
won the Pulitzer Prize,” Cloud
said. “And we were kind of
laughing that we were lucky
we got a place on the list before
she got famous. So she wrote
this beautiful work for our two
groups.”
“This
one
—
Music
in
Common Time — is a really
important one to me,” Shaw
wrote in an email interview.
“I dove deep into the sound
of strings and voices, into the
world of A Far Cry (many of
them are friends of mine, from
my violin life) and Teeth. I’m
not really ready to talk about
this piece yet. Maybe in a few
years.”
In 2013, at the age of 30, Shaw
became the youngest person
ever to win the prestigious
Pulitzer Prize for Music, for
her composition “Partita for
8 Voices,” which appeared
on Roomful of Teeth’s debut
album. “Music in Common
Time” was commissioned prior
to the receipt of the prize,
but after the composition of
“Partita.”
“My friends Alex and Miki
asked me to write this piece!
Way back in 2013, before all
the
Pulitzer
crazytimes,”
Shaw wrote. “It was my first
real commission, and it was
a dream idea, and I am so
grateful for them for thinking
of this beautiful program.”
Shaw
has
an
active
compositional
life,
collaborating on pieces with
the likes of Dawn Upshaw, So
Percussion, Renee Fleming and
Jonathan Biss in the classical
world, and such well-known
and iconic figures as Richard
Reed Parry and Kanye West
outside of the classical genre.
On
top
of
this,
however,
she
maintains
a
presence
as a performer, and will be
appearing in her role as a
member of Roomful of Teeth
on Wednesday night. In this
respect, the other featured
contemporary composer on the
program is similar.
“This will actually be a very
special performance because
Ted Hearne, the composer,
will actually be singing tenor
in Roomful of Teeth, which is
a first,” Cloud said. “He was
a classmate of both Caroline
and mine at Yale, and we’ll be
playing two of his pieces.”
Hearne, who is a member
of
a
group
of
composers
known as the Sleeping Giant
Collective and an assistant
professor of composition at
USC, was commissioned by
A Far Cry to write his piece
“Law of Mosaics” a few years
ago, excerpts of which will be
performed
on
Wednesday’s
concert.
“‘Law of Mosaics’ is a piece
that is sort of based on this idea
of appropriation, you know,
of the classical music canon
and music in general,” Hearne
said. “So the conceit behind
that piece is that it’s made up
of pre-existing music, there
is actually no quote-unquote
original music that was written
for it, it’s kind of a patchwork of
pre-existing pieces arranged in
a new way.”
One of the movements of
“Law of Mosaics” featured
on Wednesday’s concert is
“Palindrome
for
Andrew
Norman,” which appropriates
music from Andrew Norman’s
“Companion Guide to Rome,” a
string trio which was a finalist
for the Pulitzer Prize in 2012.
Norman,
who
like
Hearne
is a member of the Sleeping
Giant Collective and teaches
DAYTON HARE
Senior Arts Editor
VERVE
Michelle Branch’s recent album was released April 7th
I want to love ‘Hopeless
Romantic,’ but I just can’t
Fourteen years later, Branch makes mediocre return to music
The early 2000s were an
incredible period for alternative
music — especially those in
the
singer-songwriter
vein.
From
Vanessa
Carlton
to
Avril Lavigne, pop anthems
were produced at an alarming
rate. But the true pioneer of
this movement was Michelle
Branch, responsible for insanely
catchy, cathartic tracks like
“Everywhere,”
“All
You
Wanted” and “Breathe.”
Fourteen years after her
initial success, Branch is back.
Delayed by issues with previous
record
label
Warner
Bros.,
Branch recorded her newest
effort
Hopeless
Romantic
with
Black
Keys
drummer
and current boyfriend Patrick
Carney.
The
result is vastly
different
from
the sound that
marked the early
2000s,
but
it’s
nonetheless
a
mostly
solid,
varied addition to
modern pop.
The
album
opens
with
a
rocky
start
on
“Best You Ever,”
a
bass
heavy
track about self-
efficacy in love.
It’s a bit cliché to
begin a record titled Hopeless
Romantic with such a track,
but it’s far from indicative of
the rest of the material. The
instrumentals
are
a
great
example of Branch’s expanding
sound but do little to resurrect
the
song
beyond
its
basic
content.
The album quickly reaches
what can be expected from
modern pop standards, but
rarely
exceeds
it.
“You’re
Good” is easily comparable to
a Carly Rae Jepsen track, while
single “Fault Line” is the most
uniquely Branch’s. “Just when
I was thinking that I couldn’t
be lonely any longer / You start
to pull me under when I try to
keep my head above the water”
Branch sings on the first verse
of the song, using
a
metaphorical
approach to her
lyricism.
Branch
hasn’t
forgotten
how
to write a pop
banger
though.
“Heartbreak
Now”
brings
in poppy horn melodies over
dreamy synth, and it stands out
among the rest. It’s a beautifully
crafted
track
where Carney’s
production
shines
brightly
— let’s be honest,
horns
make
almost any song
better.
Branch
also
isn’t
afraid
to
stray
towards
the more R&B
side of pop — a
scene
mostly
dominated
by
Lana
Del
Rey
and FKA twigs.
The title track
puts a rollicking beat to the
music, while Branch brings
her prior soprano tone down
to a deeper slurring. Again, it’s
a great showcase of diversity
on the record, but it also fails
to be very memorable, despite
sharing its name with the
record.
What we really needed from
Branch was a continuation of the
catharsis from her previous two
records — they were drenched
in emotion. While Hopeless
Romantic features some good
pop
tunes,
it’s
heavy
pop
focus masks the characteristic
emotion that launched Branch
into the spotlight. Despite the
separation of over a decade, it’s
impossible to separate turn-of-
the-millennium Branch from
Branch
today;
the
record
just
feels
like
less
of
an
artistic
progression, and
more of a decent
entry point into
modern pop.
Competition
also detracts from
the record. In a world with pop
giants like Grimes and Marina
and the Diamonds, pop artists
need a sound that strongly
differentiates themselves in the
“Top 40” sea. Again, Hopeless
Romantic is great, enjoyable
music, but it lacks a signature
feel that would compel listeners
to keep returning. I want to
love it as badly as I love Spirit
Room, but the fact of the matter
is that today’s world is cruel,
and it doesn’t contain the
spark needed to survive on the
battlefield of pop music.
Branch’s third studio album
contains fun pop tunes with
classic (probably too classic at
times) heartbreak lyricism. Its
sound is thankfully varied and
rarely stale, but it also pales in
its attempt to be compelling.
Branch is back, and if her record
is any indication, her continued
evolution in the modern world
of pop could be something to
pay attention to in the future —
but for now we’ll have to wait
for her to find a sound that is
hers alone.
DOMINIC POLSINELLI
Daily Arts Writer
A Far Cry with
Roomful of
Teeth
Wednesday April
12, 7:30 p.m.
Rackham
Auditorium
$24 - $46: Students
$12 - $20
Hopeless
Romantic
Michelle Branch
Verve
COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW
ALBUM REVIEW
Shaw, Hearne and Cloud talk with us about their upcoming show
at USC, was also classmates at
Yale with Hearne, Shaw and
Cloud. This sort of exchange
of ideas and inspirations is
the type of symbiosis to which
Cloud referred when she spoke
of this program being about
relationships
between
the
musicians.
“I came up in conservatory
in the early 2000s, right, I
graduated in 2004, and at
that time the people we were
supposed
to
be
studying
as,
like,
making
the
best
contemporary classical music,
those composers who were
older, a lot of the people who
were entrenched in school in
our education, they were not
that inspiring to me,” Hearne
said. “There’s a lot of composer
colleagues of mine who I think
probably feel the same way,
but for me, I really came to be
inspired by some of the other
composers I met along the
way who were my age, who
were in my generation, who
were influenced by a lot of
things around them besides the
venerated canon of classical
music … so I think that, for
me, the people that I’m most
inspired by are my peers.”
Another piece of Hearne’s
will
be
featured
on
the
program,
“Coloring
Book,”
which was written for Roomful
of Teeth and aims to explore
themes of identity.
“‘Coloring
Book’
is
an
appropriation of the words of
African-American writers. It’s
five movements, and I think
we’re doing two movements
that are texts taken from
Zora
Neale
Hurston
and
one movement with texts by
Claudia
Rankine,”
Hearne
said. “Both incredible writers,
but
talking
about
identity
and
specifically
African-
American identity, so the idea
of appropriation plays into
that a lot as well, because of
course I am not able to speak
about any sort of African-
American
experience,
but
rather the conceit of the piece,
the idea, is sort of an identity
shift, examining the nature of
identity itself by stepping into
the words of someone who is
different, and [asking] ‘what
can that mean?’ ”
Performance is an act of
social communion. It’s about
the way we interact with
one another, how we convey
and receive our experiences.
Wednesday’s
program
will
stand as an example of the
sort of ecstatic music making
that can spring from the close
friendships that form between
musicians.
Combining
two
of
the
most
interesting
composers and two of the most
captivating ensembles active
today, the evening promises to
capture its listeners.
Its heavy pop
focus masks the
characteristic
emotion that
launched Branch
into the spotlight
Performance is
an act of social
communion.