Mutterings, Musings, Meanderings

Barbara Thomson and Vivaldi

2012-02-27T13:46:00.002+01:00

I've watched a couple of really inspirational films recently (thanks, Peter), both with a strong message from the world of music and both so completely different. Barbara Thomson is one of the world's best improvising sax. players. Now in her late 60s, I used to hear her perform at the Bull pub in Barnes during the early 70s. Her husband is Jon Hiseman, a superb drummer still working with his old band, "Colosseum", as well as Barbara's outfit, "Paraphernalia". Barbara has Parkinson's disease and is fighting it hard. Seeing her perform under this terrible stress was spine-chillingly motivating. There is something about the sound she makes that would inspire anyone to listen to more and somehow get involved. I also respond to her crossover into rock and contemporary music - she composes for classical combos and choirs as well as working with Colosseum.

Vivaldi, the Red Priest, worked at the "Ospedale de la Pieta" (the Devout Hospital of Mercy) in Venice in the early 18th century. This was a place for the rescue of unwanted female babies. The Pieta is still functioning today as a refuge for single parents. In those earlier days, mothers who couldn't cope would throw their "fatherless" babies under cover of darkness into the black waters of Venice - or post them anonymously through the Pieta's abandoned baby portal. Vivaldi was employed to teach the growing girls music. He taught them to play and to sing and he wrote music for them to perform. The result was astounding - brilliant soloists and choirs that performed like angels.

These two instances are separated cavernously by time, distance and circumstance but both demonstrate unequivocally how music can penetrate dire circumstances and then implant something good that leads to both pleasure and enlightenment.

Keeping Time

2012-02-03T14:59:00.010+01:00

I recently had an outing to London to see a play. This was "The Lady Killers", based on an old Ealing comedy film, originally starring Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom and Alec Guinness. The current play is written by Graham Linehan, of Father Ted and Black Books fame. It's a story of five crooks who plan a bank job. They take lodgings with an old lady, Mrs Wilberforce and pretend to be a string quintet. None of them can play a note. Each criminal character might be seen as representing what was wrong with the morality of post-war Britain, the old lady in contrast suggesting a mythical tradition of English goodness, kindness and upright honesty. The theatre and the play thrust you body and soul into a world gone by; the moral questioning still relevant.

Before the theatre I was able to grab an hour in the basement of Chappell's music store where I hungrily gobbled up some new music studies, enough to keep me going for the rest of my life. I used to visit Chappell's regularly many years ago when I worked in London - I could then just make it there and back during my lunch hour for a quick browse. The basement sheet music department is now as it was then, full of music from different eras. I felt surrounded by time in there.

It is only when music can be written down that identifiable composers appear and music is no longer dependent for survival on memory. Modern notation began in the middle of the ninth century with graphic symbols called "neumes" which stood for single notes or short groups of notes, inscribed over the words of chant melodies. There was then no means though to express the measure of a note, that is, its relative length. Progress towards note and rhythmic measure in notation can be linked to the subsequent appearance and then perfecting of hour-chiming clock mechanisms in the thirteenth century.

Music is made with time and in time. It travels through it. It achieves expression through the timing of tempo and rhythm. Each piece seems to have a tempo that is right for it. Usually, without even looking at the tempo marking at the beginning of a piece, it is a simple matter to determine how quickly or slowly it should proceed in order to be expressive. Then, within the music, the notation tells the performer how long each note and rest should be. That is by no means the end of the story, for that notation is to be interpreted. Played as written the music will sound mechanical - clock-like. When musical time is bent it comes to life.

Time is not as fixed as it is assumed to be. The objective history of our understanding of time tells us that at first it was measured by the seasons, by the movement of the sun and moon, by the growth and harvesting of crops, by the tides. Then clocks measured time and now it is no longer absolute but relative and bound up with space in a space-time continuum, holding us captive in our bizarre material reality. The subjective experience of time is certainly not fixed. Time can stretch or it can whiz by, depending on our state of mind, boredom or excitement. This is a reason why music is so expressive for it is always fluid, never bound by ticking and tocking. It is free to wander where it will and when it will.

It is possible that one of the characteristics of future years is that our understanding and experience of time will change again, maybe becoming much more fluid and malleable. With the ability for anyone with an online computer to access recorded history, to access written music from any era, we are now surrounded by time as if it were a circle and not a straight arrow-line stretching unbendingly from past to future. This is exemplified by 'old music is new music' when you hear something for the first time, particularly true of pre-Renaissance times when we are only just discovering the delights of such early compositions. It was in the latter half of the twentieth century that many early pieces came to light and were heard by us for the first time.

Old English music is particularly interesting in this context as it was then much more backward looking than its continental contemporaries who were simply forging a way into the future. The music of Purcell, for instance, is riveting because of this. It creates a sense of rootedness in something of the distant mists of time, with folk roots evident as well as the refinery of a sophisticated society. And just to round off this perambulation through time, I was pleased that several people spotted the "Who am I...?" from my last blog, as "I" was a medieval Englishman of great influence on music ever since his time - John Dunstable.

Footnote. Mrs Wilberforce to the Gangsters/String Quintet: What on earth are you all doing in that cupboard?
Gangsters/String Quintet: Madam, we are artists.

Through the Eyes of ...

2011-12-30T13:48:00.000+01:00

Today I have to go to market to buy the items that I will need to get by on for the next week or so. This is a distraction as my time as my master's musician is precious to me. I have the glory of the Lord burning in my soul and the burning seeks expression through music, so I must return to it as quickly as I am able. I approach the town on foot. The year is 1440 and it is a hot summer's day. The first thing that assails me is the stink as I pass across a bridge - over Shitbrook - as I near the great wooden entrance gates. There I espy the severed heads and limbs of traitors on display. Then I am further pressed by the beggar boys who come out of the town to meet visitors, such as myself who travel long distances to buy at the market.

Inside the town gates, I am faced with some of the finest houses and inns but then I encounter narrow lanes of poorly built and dilapidated dwellings. Yet further in the streets become a little wider again and much noisier contrasting with the gentle country sounds of birds and breeze. I hear street music and soon enter the quarter where all the trades people live and work. I have written people's music such as the merry tones that I hear and indeed the tunes I write in my maturity are mightily indebted to them. However, it is the Lord's music that I am bidden to write both by my employer and by the Creator Himself. I have studied the Quadrivium: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music. I am said to be knowledgeable about the stars and planets but it is music that I know and love best. Soon I am to travel abroad with my Duke of Bedford. On these trips I learn much about music in other countries and I can tell you that we in England are making quick progress.

I myself have made it clear to those who will listen that harmony in several lines can be made better to the ear if the repeating of octaves and fifths is sore limited and the thirds and sixths used to the full. Also, I make it easy on the voice with smaller leaps than before. This means that the purity of the music can be fully expressed and my Lord and Maker pleased to the full.

I watch a cruel prank being played on an old man who has his hat stolen and is tripped by the beggars. They run off while everyone who sees laughs openly and long at the poor bewildered fellow. This is a cruel age, one in which laughter is made from misfortune. A knight will weep on encountering the beauty of a flower but would straight away cut his enemy's throat with no qualm. I ponder on how badly our women are treated, too. But that suits me, as most men, for we have our clothes cleaned, our meals cooked and our sexual appetites sated so that we can concentrate on God's work and making money.

Who am I?

From Both Sides of the Fence

2011-12-15T14:25:00.000+01:00

Despite all the largely media driven doom and gloom (when hasn't it seemed as if the world is falling apart?), I've enjoyed the musical run up to this Christmas more so than in recent years. As a shopkeeper I see Christmas from both sides of the commercial fence and believe me, it is not a pretty site from behind a counter. The season brings out the best and the worst in people, who, by and large, simply want to survive the pre-rush and then, with a bit of luck, enjoy Christmas itself. Needless to say the peace, calm and tranquility that lies at the heart of the Christmas message becomes buried - but sometimes glimpsed. For me, it's music that keeps me in touch with that still centre.

I see the music from both sides of the fence, too, as a musician and as a concert goer. Newent is particularly blessed with its orchestra and the choral society and I particularly enjoyed the latter's recent performance of "The Messiah". This was professionally presented and had all the attributes that such spiritual music requires, a religious setting (in St Mary's church) and performance by and for the community. As an aside, I was amused by one particular line, which went, "We like sheep", and was repeated by the choir several times. I thought that they must have really liked sheep in Handel's day, and quite rightly so, too. The next line gave it away though, something like, "... shall follow Him". This major work was given a special intimacy in that performance which I really appreciated.

A couple of weeks later and I found myself crossing the fence and performing at our orchestra's Christmas offering. There are certain rituals which I go through each year, from putting out the advertising signs on the road into Newent (thanks, Ken, great job!) to organising a few mince pies to take along on the night. These little rituals contribute to creating the feeling that no time at all, literally, has passed since the previous year's concert, a strange, slightly alarming feeling. The concert itself was, as those who were there know, a tremendous evening. The orchestra, with the support of one or two key new members, is playing confidently and making headway in terms of its ability to put on a performance to be appreciated. My own musical ability has also progressed well over the last year - I'm pleased to discover that even at a relatively late musical stage in life, I am still improving my technique.

Finally, a couple of discoveries that you may be interested in. The first is relevant to Christmas music and was the pleasant surprise for me when I heard for the first time Rachmaninov's "All Night Vigil". This is wonderful Eastern Orthodox choral music of the highest calibre. Seek it out if you don't already know about it. Secondly - and more of personal relevance - I've invested in some wireless headphones, knowing that a CD quality is now possible, without interference, buzzes and clicks. It may be a little antisocial but I'm delighted that I can now listen to my music without disturbing anyone else and be in the same room as others, even if the tele is on. Lovely! Let me know if you would like a recommendation. Happy Christmas.

Timeless Music

2011-11-07T14:06:00.002+01:00

Our orchestra sponsors an annual event in October for string players called "Play-for-a-Day" and in 2011 it was particularly successful. The theme was Baroque music and such a simple way of unifying the day had considerable appeal. There is something about this music genre that resonates clearly with our own times. Naturally, the beautiful music room at Pauntley Court, a sunny day and a great group of musical personalities all added their contribution but I also thought it would be worth a few words exploring where this particular music came from and why it is so relevant to our techno. age and discover where the resonance comes from.

When anything is put in a context it can become meaningful. In fact, unless "anything" has a context, connection, a place in the world, it is meaningless and irrelevant. During that day, I introduced one or two facts about the times in which the music was created to see if this affected our appreciation and enjoyment of it. For example, what has relatively recently become known as the Baroque period in music covers roughly 1600 to 1750. During the seventeenth century, there were two main influences at work, one in northern Germany and Holland, the other at the other end of Europe in Italy, more specifically in Rome. Prior to this period, musical harmony and counterpoint developed primarily in devotional church music. Then, in Northern Europe, this developed much further, especially in the art of fugue. In the Italian enclave, there was much more concern for the form of the music and this also developed - the concerto grosso, sonata form, etc.

Surprisingly, despite the physical hardships of travel, many musicians moved about over considerable distances, thirsty for new ideas and to hear the new works of other composers. The result was that the two streams of Baroque fused and led to the period of high Baroque at the beginning of the 18th century.

This was the time of great advancement in science, Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, et al. Indeed, this is one of the great turning points in the history of western civilisation when the medieval philosophy that had been based on the previous 2000 plus years of received wisdom loosened its grip and new, revolutionary discoveries were made. Perhaps the most significant was that the universe no longer revolved around the earth. This simple revelation undermined not only medieval science and scholastic philosophy but made people feel psychologically uprooted in a world that had previously been ordered and secure. Baroque music represents this security. It is an expression and re-affirmation of the perfection of the universe and its creator in the face of challenges from science and technology.

This chimes with modern times with its accelerating increase in change and the continuous existential crisis that runs along in parallel. Listening to and playing Baroque music counters the unsettling discomfort caused by lack of certainty, with its symmetry and perfect form and thus many of us respond so positively to it. Baroque doesn't sound dated because it was not written by its composers as a means of personal expression but of something that is universally experienced today or in any day, the reality of our existence in an infinitely beautiful and awesome universe. I think we touched on that at Pauntley.

The Final Score

2011-10-12T20:40:00.002+02:00

A couple of years or so ago I had an idea for a piece of music and began to write a few ideas down. Somehow, the whole thing spiralled and before I knew it I had the makings of not only a new composition but a book to go with it. A few random notes turned into quite a major project. That was a while ago now and it has recently come to fruition. The book, called The Final Score, is available and the music will be published in a couple of weeks time or so.

The music is called and is inspired by Alchemy, the idea being that a wide variety of my experiences as a musician would go into an alchemical melting pot and out of it would come the new piece of music, the gold that I was aiming for. That process took me on a journey not only into my own musical past but also into the history of and the roots of music making. I was trying to discover, explore and understand the powerful effects of music and to achieve this, I went on my journey.

Embarking on this project, I realised that I would have to delve not only into how people listen to music today but also into how they have perceived music in the distant past. For example, the ancient Greeks developed theories about music not as entertainment but as a means for describing how the universe works. The journey goes via amateur orchestras, rambling in the countryside, rock festivals, quantum theory, astrological charts, singing bowls, onion fayres, alchemical experiments and string quartets, to name but some of the disparate stops along the way. There is also background information about listening to and making music, an historical context, anecdotes and thoughts about contemporary music. The result was an account of how the new music was conceived and of everything that went into it, both personal experiences and musical ideas.

What drew me to the alchemy (the psychology of the process, not the physical chemistry) was that it talks about becoming whole by marrying opposites together. It represents these symbolically with a King and Queen, or Sun and Moon. My interest in music includes somewhat irreconcilable opposites, such as contemplative and spiritually expressive classical music on the one hand and more primitive rock and contemporary music on the other. Those are the opposites that I've brought together. It will be for others to judge whether or not I've been at all successful, but I know from the rehearsals already experienced that the combination of percussion, electric bass and string quartet worked well. I've already had a ball with this new music and hope to perform it publicly at some point. Meanwhile, to round off this bit of self-publicity, if you are interested in reading the book or finding out more about it www.bit.ly/the-final-score or www.thefinalscore.org will help you with this.

Orchestral Feng Shui

2011-09-14T10:52:00.004+02:00

The Chinese call it Feng Shui. It's the art of "placement", of organising a work, leisure or home space so that the greatest benefit to the inhabitants is achieved. If the feng shui is right, health, wealth and happiness ensue. This traditional oriental art form has become debased in modern times by turning it into a pseudo-science. Place a mirror on a south-facing wall and not facing an entrance and money will pour in. Clearly, if there is anything in feng shui, it doesn't work like that.

The converse approach is unscientific but more feasible. This is feng shui using your intuition, your feelings. When you walk into a room, a hall, an office, a garden, you immediately have a sensation of whether it "feels right" and that is, clearly, in the main, down to the way surrounding objects have been arranged, how passage from one side to the other is achieved, how the lighting and colours, the interior design, have been formulated. If an office or a living room "feels right", then its function becomes much more productive or comfortable to be in.

That is all preamble to point out that the same principles can apply equally to a concert environment, to the concert hall. The atmosphere created by the hall space can greatly affect the experience of the audience, almost independently from the quality of performance that an audience may witness. A poor performance will never be perceived as great, but a great one can be ruined by poor feng shui. When our orchestra performs, I'm always aware of the hall that we are in, as a musician particularly the acoustics, but there are other factors as well, some more flexible than others. The lighting, for example, can be the single most effective way to create the right mood and that may or may not be controllable, depending on the venue's facilities.

We have just begun rehearsals in a new venue, the Newent Community Centre, and although this is temporary and will only last for a couple of years or so (I don't really know how long, so don't quote me on that) it has great potential for our society for two reasons in particular. The first is that we are now rehearsing in Newent and therefore are more accessible to new members and more an integral part of the town. The second is that at some point this building will be sold for redevelopment and at that time a new community centre will be developed. The building we are rehearsing in now is old and dilapidated but we may be in on the ground floor of a future development. We will then be in a position to have our say in what we will need, for the orchestra is a valuable asset to the Newent community and its voice should - and now can be - heard. In future years we may have available to us a concert venue, or a at least a rehearsal and meeting place, that will be a great asset to our orchestral society. We, in turn, will be able to serve more effectively the community that supports us.

We should be supportive of the current Centre committee that is now working hard to keep the old building fully operational during its transitional phase and that may mean putting our energies and resources into some fundraising. It's possible that the end result will be a purpose-made venue with excellent orchestral feng shui.

Healing With Music

2011-08-11T17:46:00.001+02:00

During the weekend of the recent London riots, I was sitting using my laptop with three browser tabs open, one following the Twitter comments, one with live pictures of burning and looting filmed by a BBC News helicopter and the other listening to a prom, Nielsen's Fourth Symphony, "The Inextinguishable". The music was stirring and fitted the images and frantic twitterings well. This wasn't just a form of voyeurism on my part as one of my daughters lives in Tottenham. Maybe, I mused, what the police riot vans needed was a sound system so that they could bombard the threatening, angry crowds with soothing ambient music. Fantasy but, who knows, it might work. Music can certainly affect the way our emotions react, particularly in a crowd situation.

A few days ago I attended a workshop. This was something off the beaten track for me and was stimulating and enjoyable from a musical point of view. It was about the affect that music has on us, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Part of the day was spent listening to extracts of "favourite" music that the participants had brought along and shared with the group. We each had an opportunity to comment on how we responded to these musical extracts. The responses were quite remarkable but not unexpected considering how wide a variety of musical tastes exists even with a small group of people, in this case about ten of us.

The point of the exercise was not to discover if there was a universal reaction to a piece of music but, on the contrary, first to note our personal responses and then to consider, as an individual, why we might have had them. There were no wrongs or rights and what was of particular interest were negative reactions. The styles of music was wide from 16th century choral to 21st century ballads and dance music. When you hear a piece of music that you don't like, the usual result is to dismiss it - what is the point of listening to something that bores or irritates? Well, there is a point, at least in my workshop environment and that was to examine exactly what it is inside us that reacts in a negative manner to certain types of music. This may, the theory goes, lead to the possibility of discovering something hidden, interesting, tucked away in our personalities, even something that we fear to acknowledge. With the subsequent new inner knowledge can come the possibility of releasing and instigating change. Music can do that, can stimulate facets of the mind and personality that normally lie hidden from view.

The day went on to explore the effects of sound, not music, on our inner selves. Fascinating stuff, especially as, when you take the time to focus and meditate on your responses, you discover that they are often quite considerable with extreme emotions possible.

Listening to music should be an enjoyable, positive experience, but that is not the end of the story. There are clearly times when enjoyment or entertainment is not the point, when effort listening to music that might be disturbing, hypnotic, dissonant, threatening even, can have, in the end, a really positive healing benefit by revealing more in ourselves than we realised was there. Some contemporary music is like this. It can be a challenge to listen to it and discover what it seeks to achieve, but taking up the challenge is often well worth the effort.

Alchemy - The Final Score: First Rehearsal

2011-07-10T22:20:00.004+02:00

I've heard the piece played back by my laptop, but hearing a composition live for the first time is a unique experience. The effect that it has is unpredictable, despite familiarity with the score. There is, therefore, an element of chance about it all and that I do not fear. What arises depends on the written notes, but that is only a start. Who turns up to a rehearsal and how they play the music, not knowing themselves what to expect, makes the potent magic potion. In addition, I simply do want this element of chance and the coincidence of circumstances to inform the outcome.

Including rhythmic impro. and unpredictable gaps of silence could create a sort of hothouse, encouraging growth. That's alchemy. It's all to do with process. The end result will be success or failure or something inbetween, but, hey, who cares, it's the process that's the driving force and the way the contributing musicians interact that makes it live. The conclusion is completely secondary to the amazing process that leads up to it.

That said - good rehearsal. I'm sorry I didn't have time to concentrate more on the overall soundscape, the electric violins were simply plugged in and away they went. Next time, I'll work on that. What did work straight away was the bass guitar and the percussion. I didn't know that this combination in this context would work so well. The meditative percussion, bowls, gongs, etc., were clearly right so we didn't spend any time getting them to blend in. That's for next time, too. I'll need to take the string quartet off on its own at some point and do some work to make their rhythmic complications nice and tight. Excellent start, though. Ross's suggestion for a visual element rang true and if by any chance anyone reads some of the background it'll be clear his idea resonates in complete sync. I think of this music not only as a performance piece but as sound sculpture lending itself to including the concrete arts. Anyone like to paint a big alchemical picture?

The Year

2011-06-13T21:54:00.001+02:00

"The Year" was the title of a series of radio programmes broadcast on Radio 3 at the turn of the millennium. There were 100 of them, each covering the music of a single year during the twentieth century, describing significant new pieces of music and setting them in a social and historical context. I recorded quite a few on cassette tapes and still dip into them. I look round in horror to discover that more than ten years have gone by since making those recordings and that cassette tapes are defunct and mp3 downloads, iplayers and Kindles rule. What will it be like ten years from now?

I've been able to witness a gradual change in the Newent Orchestra over that period of time, particularly in recent years when the membership and concert audiences have grown. The growth in membership has reached a point where a long-standing rehearsal venue at Upleadon has become too small and the orchestra will begin its next season by moving rehearsals to a new venue, the Newent Centre, close to the town's main thoroughfare. The orchestra has played there in years before my time so this is a move that means the orchestra is coming home.

I've always felt that the orchestra should be rehearsing in Newent so that its presence can be more readily felt in the town. It remains to be seen but probable that this change will encourage more local members, who will be able to walk to their rehearsal. The orchestra is playing well and the recent May concert was a success both in terms of musical achievement and in pleasing a full audience. The membership policy has evolved to a point where it seems to be working as it should. There are no formal auditions for new players and the orchestra encourages a wide range of playing abilities. To ensure, however, that a concert standard can be achieved, it is then down to the conductor and leader to decide how to involve players who have developing potential but aren't ready for concert performance. The membership policy also asks for a commitment on the part of all players who, apart from attending rehearsals, are obliged to put in hours of practice, ensuring as high a musical standard as possible. I know that this process of growth and development will continue apace.

Looking back over the last year, I see an orchestra with committed, friendly members, enjoying their music and encouraging others. I see successful concerts, collaborations with other musicians and, uniquely, an orchestra that is in good financial shape. Newent has something to be proud of and will probably become more aware of this over the coming years.

The society possesses a collection of music scores that is providing the staple repertoire for its performances. This source has proven that its local audience prefers these orchestral cameos rather than the traditional overture/concerto/symphony format. Guest artists have joined with the orchestra in past years and I'd like to see this encouraged in the future together with new music thrown into the mix. It is ideas that are needed to keep the orchestra's presentations fresh and alive, attractive to players and audiences. The whole attitude to repertoire, policy and what the orchestra is seeking to achieve needs to be constantly thought about, encouraged and implemented. To this effect, the orchestra has what I believe to be the most effective committee that I have experienced during my years as a member. That, too, bodes well for the future. The committee responds to members needs and ideas as well as having its own. With this in mind, there is an end-of-year meeting coming up in July, so if you have any comments or suggestions to make about, well, anything really, just pop an email along. The year ahead looks promising...

Duck! Eggs

2011-06-03T14:43:00.000+02:00

It's taken me months to find out how to make the bass line in my Finale music software programme sound like an electric bass and not like a double bass played pizzicato. The way it all went right was thus: I put a couple of duck eggs on to boil in the kitchen then went back to the sofa to continue working on the problem and forgot about the eggs. Half an hour later, there was a loud eggsplosion as they exited from the saucepan. At the very moment this occurred I discovered how to get that electric bass sound. The two events must surely be connected.

Newent Orchestra Spring Concert

2011-05-21T20:41:00.001+02:00

Just wanted to make a few comments about the Newent Orchestra's concert last weekend. The orchestra seems to have hit the right level of programming (thanks mainly to conductor, George) and the pieces we played went down exceptionally well. The orchestra is on the cusp of playing beyond its normal compass - concerted effort and a couple more quality players joining will push it into becoming a force to be reckoned with. That step may be small but will require much effort by all the members. One event that could be a help in this is the move of rehearsal venue from Upleadon, a couple of miles outside Newent, to the "Newent Centre", right in the town. This will take place in September. The orchestra is coming home by making this move and it should be an inviting proposition for local talent to come along and show their faces. Going back to the concert, there is a musical slot for cameo pieces from times gone by and our orchestra is making a speciality of them - from Elgar's minor offerings to Mozart's "music for the people". The orchestra played well to an appreciative community audience. I just want it to make that final, short but difficult step... I know that audience members appreciated the music but it surprised me (always does) how much the players enjoyed their concert. Being part of a musical machine is an adrenalin-pumping experience that brings great life-affirming pleasure.

Clapping

2011-05-15T18:58:00.002+02:00

I heard the Colin Currie Group perform Steve Reich's piece, "Drumming" at the Colston Hall earlier this week and was not disappointed. It was thunderously great. However, the show began with a little piece by Reich, also worthy of comment, called, "Clapping Music": two performers simply clap away, one repeating the same pattern throughout, the other, under the direction of Reich's gradually shifting phases, moving the pattern along so that complex compelling rhythms are produced. One effect is to make you aware of the lunacy of clapping. At the end, I wanted the audience to stand and take a bow.