Memorial Chapel housed a unique ensemble of musicians on Thursday, March 29. “Till By Turning,” comprised of cellist Sarah Biber, violist Amy Cimini, violinist Erica Dicker, pianist Emily Manzo, and bassoonist Katherine Young, found a perfect fit for their unusual instrumental arrangement in composer Sofia Gubaidulina’s musical pieces.
The group declares on its website that they share Gubaidulina’s values of rigorous formalization, with space left open for experimentation and improvisation.
“Till By Turning” looks beyond established experimental composers like John Cage, Morton Feldman, Christian Wolff, and the University’s own Alvin Lucier, for lesser-known works of chamber music that embrace experimental and educational elements. Till By Turning performed a mixed set of pieces throughout the evening, one composed by Young and several commissioned by the group, that premiered at the Chapel.
New York-based composer Alex Ness composed the opening piece, “Shruti,” specifically for the show. In this viola solo, the musician is meant to choose the improvisations based on his or her own musical tastes.
“I didn’t know you could make those sounds with a viola” said Liana Hernandez ’09.
Sabrina Schroeder’s “Red Cars,” another original piece, consisted of a string section, bassoon, and a piano, creating a soundscape that mirrored noises heard in everyday life.
“I tend to relate to sound gestures as found objects, triggering varying levels of recognition and familiarity within an otherwise ‘abstract’ soundscape,” Schroeder wrote in the program.
“When I closed my eyes and just listened, it sounded like a soundtrack from a horror movie – just eerie, creaky sounds”, Hernandez said.
“ Our music is influenced by electronic music in the ’50s pushing the envelope,” Young said.
Wolff’s “Edges,” the first piece played after intermission, consists of a score not read in a linear fashion. Instead, the musicians are given a score of musical ideas, such as “crescendo,” “slack,” or “fortissime,” and must interpret and perform it while responding to the music around them.
Each of the musicians either have or are studying for advanced degrees in music, and they emphasized the place of modern, innovative music in their musical education.
“There is a big new music scene at Oberlin College,” Young said of the alma mater for all the group members. “We all worked with Professor Tim Weiss, who was interested much more in modern, 20th-century music than 19th-century. As little as it is promoted by mainstream record companies, new and experimental chamber music is integrated into the music curriculum at many liberal arts schools like Oberlin.”
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