Arthur Vint’s Minimalist Ensemble: Les Moutons de Panurge

($15-$20 tickets | 7pm show) Percussionist Arthur Vint has brought together a group of like-minded musicians to perform a concert of contemporary conceptual chamber music from the 1960s. Featured on the program is Frederic Rzewski’s “Les Mouton de Panurge” (1969), Terry Riley’s “In C” (1964) and Philip Glass’s “Music in 5ths” (1969). What these three pieces all have in common is that while there are written notes on the page, the performance is completely dependant on the interpretation by the musicians. In fact, there is no way that any of these piece could be performed the same way twice, due to the open ended nature of their arrangemnts. No time signatures are indicated, but they are all performed to a pulse.

Arthur Vint (marimba) Ben Nisbet (violin) Vicki Brown (viola) Marco Rosano (clarinet) Max Goldschmid (tenor sax) Eric Nakanishi (alto sax) Emily Xander (voice) Matt Mitchell (guitar) Colin McIlrath (bass)

In the case of Rzewski’s “Mouton,” the players work their way, by additive and then subtractive means, through a fast, serrated 65-note melody; as they inevitably fall out of unison with each other, the impromptu counterpoint creates a blanket of harmony. “Les Moutons de Panurge” makes music out of those most human of elements, inaccuracy and error. The title — “Panurge’s Sheep” — references a scene in the fourth book of François Rabelais’s epic 16th-century satire “Gargantua and Pantagruel.” On a sea voyage, Pantagruel’s companion, the clever, craven Panurge, takes revenge on the sheep-dealer Dindenault by tossing a ram overboard; the rest of the sheep instinctively follow and are drowned. The music follows the same story arc – musical notes are loaded on, and then once fully onboard, unceremonioulsy tossed overboard.

Terry Riley’s “In C” was composed for an indefinite number of performers. Cited as the first minimalist composition, “In C” consists of 53 short numbered musical phrases, lasting from half a beat to 32 beats; each phrase may be repeated an arbitrary number of times at the discretion of each musician in the ensemble. Each musician thus has control over which phrase they play, and players are encouraged to play the phrases starting at different times, even if they are playing the same phrase. “In C” has no set duration; performances can last as little as fifteen minutes or as long as several hours, although Riley indicates “performances normally average between 45 minutes and an hour and a half.”

Glass’s “Music in 5ths” comprises a series of melodic/rhythmic fragments that are repeated an indefinate number of times. The music may be performed with any combination of musicians, who perform the musical phrases in parrallel 5ths – something that you learn NOT to do in 1st year music thory. The music is austere and challenging to listen to – and perform.