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Anthony Tommasini, chief classical music critic notes, In writing his
1996 work “Tao,” the Dutch composer Louis Andriessen says he made no
attempt “to relate to what is known as ‘music from the Far East’ or,
even worse, ‘world music.’”
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| David Robertson leads the New York Philharmonic on Wednesday at David Geffen Hall. Photo: Caitlin Ochs for The New York Times. |
I can understand his reluctance. There have probably been too many glib
generalizations about what Asian music is, and too many attempts to
appropriate it.
Still, listening to
the New York Philharmonic’s performance of “Tao” on Wednesday at David
Geffen Hall, with David Robertson conducting, it was hard not to hear
the piercing, high-pitched chords and tart melodic fragments of this
18-minute work as evocative of Asian styles and sonorities. And the
scoring for “Tao” does include two traditional Japanese instruments; in
the second half, four female vocalists sing settings of Chinese and
Japanese texts...
Clipped melodies, like bits of chant, keep breaking through. Eventually
the lower strings provide depth and grounding, fortified by snarling
brass. Whatever narratives or cultural traditions the music evokes in
you, the pungent, precise harmonies are the result of the acute ear this
composer brings to all his music, as we are learning from the Philharmonic’s two-week series “The Art of Andriessen.”
About halfway through “Tao,” the vocal
quartet — here the excellent Synergy Vocals — enters, singing an excerpt
from the sixth century B.C. “Tao Te Ching,” the message of which is
stated in the first line: “When one is out of life, one is in death.”
The second text, Kotaro Takamura’s 1930 poem “Knife-Whetter,” describes
in poignant detail how a craftsman finds purpose by honing a skill.
Around
this point a piano soloist (here Tomoko Mukaiyama) enters, playing
fitful strands of steely high chords. Ms. Mukaiyama also performed in
the premiere of the work, which was conceived for her multiple talents.
