Avant-garde classical concert, Quartet for the End of Time

When I was in Chicago I got to attend another great concert (first one being a jazz performance). This was an avant-garde classical (what we call modern or new music like Phillip Glass, John Cage, Xenakis, etc) concert that took place at the Green Mill, a famous club where the gangster Al Capone was known to hang at. The show was important for several reasons. I learned how important classical music (and harmony, theory, counterpoint) was to my music education and it gave me new ideas on music.

The concert ended up being too long but the beginning was so terrific that I don't think I'll see anything that great for probably a long time. They played Oliver Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time. I've never quite heard anything like it. Sure I've heard Webern and some atonal classical stuff but this music was different. It has squeaks, what sounded like musical jokes, fast riffs, jazz riffs that reminded me of Eric Dolph's Out to Lunch, a memorable violin solo, and wonderful cello playing. I think I got a lot out of it because I saw how much four people could do on their instruments without even having a drummer. In a lot of ways the drummer was the pianist, bass was the cello, and the two horns were the clarinet and violin. I can think of it that way if I compare it to jazz group.

The Green Mill was a great place to take it. There wasn't that many people there but I do think its important for this kind of music to be played in different places other than University or say a church. What else can I say about the Messiaen piece? It was performed by Depaul University of Chicago students who were probably around my age. They played with such virtuosity, humor, seriousness, and even fun (which is rare to see in a classical performance). The violinist introduced the piece and said,"I'm not gonna say anything about the music, but if you have questions you can buy me a drink and I'll be glad to answer any questions." I thought that was kind of funny coming from classically trained violinist. The performance really opened my ears to different sounds and harmonies. It made me realize that sometimes you don't even need a drummer.

The rest of the concert wasn't as great. The memorable moments was a piece where this percussionist recited poetry while hitting motorcycle helmets to produce different tones (high and low almost like timpani). I enjoyed that very much. Her snare drum playing was phenomenal, I've always like the sound of a crispy snare. Also, there was a performance of this guy playing a clarinet piece using toys that made noise. But he ended up taking so long that I lost interest.

The main reason why we went to this concert was because my dad's composer friend Frank Abbinanti was playing an electronic piece using accordion. However, the electronics were so low volume that you could barely hear anything (from the electronics) while Frank played his accordion. He did sound good and I sort of see where he going with the music and the accordion but the volume was so low that it didn't mesh the way he wanted it to. I wish the guy running the event could've realized that and just turned up the volume, its a very easy fix but didn't happen. 

The next day I went over to Frank's house and he taught me about music for a while. I learned a lot and it opened up my mind and made me realize that if I want to do music as a career (eventually, God willing) I have to study more and take it more seriously. I can't hope to find fortune in playing death metal or crap like that. After you've heard Quartet for the End of Time you don't go playing death metal, at least not me. So the concert really helped and changed my perspective on music. For the better I would say. I'm studying music notation and scores, reading jazz biographies and history books, and practicing a lot more with detailed focus. And it was all inspired by one trip to Chicago. As my younger brother would say,"interesting".