The Fabrication of Light
Sanders Theater at Harvard UniversityComposer Chaya Czernowin showcased new work “Fabrication of Light” on Friday, 10 February 2023.
Johannes Kalitzke conducted Klangforum Wien, performing Czernowin’s work alongside Enno Poppe’s “Prozession.”
One of the perks of living in a university town is the constant parade of cultural offerings that are (or should be) made available to the general public. If higher education is going to make good on its oft-repeated claims of serving as instruments of public good, it’s good for the public to cash in on that commitment from time to time.
Harvard University made good on their commitment Friday night with a free concert, featuring the work of two classical composers Enno Poppe and Chaya Czernowin. Or nearly free. Big Crimson dinged you for a $3.50 service charge on top of each zero-dollar ticket. Veritas, very tacky.
But you got a lot for your money at the historical Sanders Theater. Czernowin prefaced the evening with what felt like a warning: the program consisted of two works, both clocking in at around an hour, with a 30-minute intermission. There was a nearly-audible collective intake of breath as the room did the mental math to calculate their appetite for 150 minutes of modern music. Beggars can’t be choosers.
Presumably, the Klangforum Wien crowd is the hearty sort that eats up their avant garde soundscapes by the loving spoonful. These people were not BSO-lightweights who like their Tannhäuser, but only if it’s cut into tiny pea-sized pieces. These people were classical music carnivores, ready to tear into the flesh of new work described by one of the composers as a “monster.” And rather than slay the monster, our hero composer Czernowin seemed more likely to let it run wild.
Aside from the composers, two other stars of the evening: Klangforum Wien (with conductor Johannes Kalitzke) and the venue itself, Sanders Theater.
The musicians were a 20-odd assortment of classical ax-handlers, featuring an eclectic collection of classical instruments song with a few outliers, like electric keyboard and guitar. The event was pitched as “The Fromm Players at Harvard Present…” and “Featuring Klangforum Wien.” The former Fromm-ers are part of a music foundation established at the university in 1952 to promote the composition and performance of new classical music. Klangforum Wien fits the bill, breathing life into Poppe’s “Prozession” and Czernowin’s “The Fabrication of Light.”
Sanders Theater at Harvard UniversityAnd what better surroundings for new music than an old theater? The Sanders Theater is a gorgeous architectural play on Christopher Wren’s Sheldonian Theatre at Oxford. The spacious, wooden interior holds a shine glossier than the inner berth of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World. Excellent acoustics, combined with design details out of a tossed script for a DaVinci Code sequel, make for a memorable evening. No photo or film during the performance, so take your pics before or after.
To all the gownies, thanks from the townies!
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