Chatter joins with Serenata
Joint concert presents N.M. premiere of ‘What’s Going On’
With apologies to Marvin Gaye, Chatter Sunday will explore “What’s Going On” in a joint concert with Serenata of Santa Fe.
Unlike the classic Motown hit, this New Mexico premiere was written by contemporary Los Angeles composer John Steinmetz.
“This composer is trying to understand the world and his way of doing it is to write music,” said Pamela Epple, Serenata’s artistic director. “It’s how life goes forward, but we’re harming our habitat.”
Serenata co-commissioned the piece with 33 wind quintets and individuals from across the country.
Steinmetz is a freelance bassoonist who has played on numerous soundtracks, ranging from “Jurassic Park” to “The Family Guy.” Careful viewers can often spot him in the orchestra at the Oscars, Epple said.
Pianist Yi-heng Yang will follow with John Luther Adams’ “Nunataks (Solitary Peaks).” The title is Inuit, Epple said.
“He writes a lot of environmental music,” she continued. “It’s very quiet. I looked at the score, and the page looks like a mountain; it’s up and down.”
Yang also will perform with the woodwind quintet on works by Anton Webern and Wallingford Riegger. The Webern is a 1936 12-tone work; the Riegger is a “very ’50s” angular piece.
“He wrote a lot of dance music for Martha Graham,” Epple said. “And it ends in a question mark.”
Selections from Brahms’ Eight Piano Pieces will bring the program back to the 1870s.
“He composed them after he’d written a lot of symphonic music,” Epple said. “These are like clear, little gems. They’re like little masterpieces.”