thirteen ways

A positive review of our sold out Zankel Hall debut appeared in the NY Times, written by Allan Kozinn.

[T]he program it played at Zankel Hall on Thursday evening showed that it is now in another league …

Mr. Lang provides a three-movement work with virtuosic and sometimes subtly comic outer movements and a slow, eerie middle section …

Mr. Gordon’s piece continues the rambunctiousness of Mr. Lang’s opening movement, upping the ante by having the musicians play additional instruments, including accordion and harmonica, usually with an aggressive edge. And Ms. Wolfe’s work expands on the melancholy edge of Mr. Lang’s middle movement, gradually picking up speed, heft and lyricism …

The performance, virtuosic, polished and played largely from memory, was choreographed by Susan Marshall with an amusing quirkiness that reflected the music’s energy.

The review was published with a photo, which does not appear online.

In the world of blogging, Greg Sandow wrote a nice piece about the concert:

Thursday night I heard a wonderful concert by eighth blackbird, in Zankel Hall. There was a new Steve Reich piece, Double Sextet, and then an extravaganza — music plus exuberant staging –  from the three Bang on a Can composers, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, and Michael Gordon. Among much else, this was a real New York event, highlighting music by two generations of composers whose sound just about screams “New York.” Steve Reich was New York in the 1970s and early 1980s, and Bang on a Can — not that they don’t have other influences — come in a direct line from him. That was especially clear at the start of their piece, with a rippling pattern of repeated things that wouldn’t have been possible without Reich showing the path. 

This was a happy concert, too — pulsing music, music full of ideas and surprises, exuberant music (though it could be quiet and lyrical, too). One great (repeated moment) — big happy chords, bright major triads, in the Bang on a Can piece, played on percussion and accordion, with eighth blackbird’s enthusiastically grinning pianist handling the accordion.

And, last but not least, the good Ms ACB over at The Concert called us sexy rockstars.

Update: The fine Mr DJA at Secret Society gave us a detailed concert review. With his finely tuned ears he heard Piazolla in Reich’s work, both Handel and Tainted Love in Lang’s music, and “buzzsaw glisses” in Gordon. DJA also provides as good a one-paragraph summary as you will read of Reich’s harmonic language. He seems to have enjoyed the second half:

I liked that the balance between the choreography and the musical materials was constantly shifting — the more active music didn’t require much movement to come off, but in the more spacious, atmospheric moments, the onstage action was allowed to take on a more important (and necessary) role. I was also genuinely impressed with how well the Blackbirdians executed the choreography — everything looked purposeful and motived without seeming contrived or pretentious, and that’s no easy feat.