Georges Aperghis: Le Corps a Corps
This Saturday, Dennis Sullivan will investigate this striking solo scored for zarb and “speaking percussionist”. Here is a program note written by Samuel Z. Solomon:
Georges Aperghis’ Le Corps Á Corps (literally ‘body to body’ or also ‘neck and neck’) takes a race car track as its setting. The performer plays many different roles: the driver, the sports commentators, the audience, and even the car itself. Aperghis develops the material in an almost cinematic fashion, splicing the musical gestures and spoken text into smaller and smaller pieces and placing them closer and closer together as the drama unfolds and intensifies; these bit of material finally crash into one another as the piece hurtles towards its final bars. The music is periodically interrupted by long periods of silence which freeze frame the action and prolong the tension of a single moment. Scored for zarb (an small hand held Arabic drum) and spoken voice with numerous instructions for the performer’s physical movements, this, like many of Aperghis’ works, treads the thin line between music and theater.
Roger Reynolds: Watershed I
Sculpture and Sound Collide.
Rhythm and Gesture Interact.
Time Flows Between.
Ryan Nestor will explore “gesture through solo percussion” via Roger Reynolds’ half-hour solo percussion epic Watershed I. He writes:
“Watershed, a 30 minute tour de force for solo percussion, explores the limits of sonic and visual gesture. Reynolds’ unparalleled sense of pace and compositional development allow percussive sounds to interact and bloom in a compelling and mesmerizing fashion. Performed from memory, Watershed pushes the performer to the limit and immerses listeners in a sonic world like no other.”
Join us on Saturday, October 1st, 5pm at Exapno (33 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn, 5th floor) for these in-depth presentations! Hang out, drink a beer, grab a snack, most importantly, ASK QUESTIONS!!!
Hope to see you there,
- Cory
