Live Presentations on Zoom October 22, 2022 at 1:30 PM EST

New music and old instruments: the collaboration behind “Elogio dell’Errore” for solo clarinet Vittoria Ecclesia (clarinet) and Fabrizio Nastari (composer)

 

In this presentation we explore the double perspective of clarinetist and composer, following the making, the premiering, and the following improvement and enhancement of a piece for solo modern clarinet and 13-keyed Müller-system clarinet. When composing for modern instruments, composers have the possibility to rely on countless sources for getting acquainted with them, their limits, and their potential. But when working with unusual instruments, like a historical clarinet, a tight collaboration between player and composer becomes necessary to obtain a playable work. What are the limits and the difficulties of this partnership? How far can the composer push their ideas, still keeping into account the input and accommodating the needs of the performer? What did “playable” mean for us while designing and performing the piece? We documented this collaboration in notes, correspondence, and journal entries, tracing the changes occurred in the piece in the various phases. Through these qualitative sources, we will give an overview of the process and insight about the relationship between performer and composer in this context. We aim at inspiring other composers in taking up the possibilities of period instruments in a modern setting with the support of performers, and on the other end encouraging players in searching for new voices and musical affordances in older instruments. Through our work we advocate for a dynamic balance between the creativity of the composer and the reasonable demands of a performer.

 

Launching Solo Clarinet Performance into Outer Orbit: Using Matthew Schumaker’s “Streamlines” about the first Black astronaut to explore a collaborative revision process for better playability Rane Moore

 In 2019 MLK visiting professor at MIT composer, Matthew Schumaker approached me about revising a solo clarinet piece of his, Stream_l  i  n   e   s (after Robert Lawrence, Jr.). His work is a multimedia exploration for Bb clarinet and fixed electronics about the first African-American selected for a space program. I would like to discuss the process of revising this piece and tips for revising pieces in general to be more idiomatic for the performer – examining the technical ways of changing a piece without changing the musical essence. I’ll discuss idiomatic writing for the clarinet vs challenging writing and best practices in interacting with composers. I’ll discuss the history of the piece, show examples of the score and play excerpts of a recording of the revised work that Schumaker and I made over the lockdown.

Link to Rane’s Presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vTGLVhlFwKow9PDl4ZGm8shLhrJiyRi3lGbTJ1XywVKkV8F1hgsc1fNpmRXaO1LUFL6Dive_d8P0agr/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000

When: 10/22/2022 | 1:30 pm

Featuring: Vittoria Ecclesia, Fabrizio Nastari, Rane Moore

Join lecture Here