MUSIC REVIEW: Baley symphony premiered at Lincoln Center (11/28/04)

MUSIC REVIEW: Baley symphony premiered at Lincoln Center

by Oles Kuzyszyn

New York - On Friday evening, November 19, at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, the New Juilliard Ensemble under the direction of Joel Sachs presented a program of music by five contemporary composers. Four of these works were either U.S. or world premieres, among them, Symphony No. 2 by the prominent Ukrainian composer, conductor and educator, Virko Baley, written this year especially for the New Juilliard Ensemble.

Joel Sachs' reputation as a proponent and champion of new music is nearly legendary in music circles, particularly through the work of the Continuum Chamber Ensemble co-directed by Mr. Sachs and Cheryl Seltzer. Together they have scoured the globe for interesting new music, premiering and often commissioning works of composers rarely heard in the United States.

Mr. Sachs is hardly a stranger to contemporary Ukrainian music. In fact, with the notable exception of Virko Baley himself, Mr. Sachs has probably introduced more new Ukrainian works to American audiences than any other music director, including those of such leading Ukrainian composers as Valentin Bibik, Leonid Hrabovsky and Valentin Silvestrov.

Tonight the focus was on Mr. Baley, and the vehicle was a superb ensemble of some of the world's most gifted music students, whose technical proficiency is surpassed only by their enthusiasm and eagerness to experiment.

The program began with "Steps" by Georgian composer Josef Bardanashvili, an ethereal, and utterly beautiful tableaux of elemental sounds and textures, carefully structured into a gradual arch of waxing and waning intensity. The effect was cinematically subliminal; the individual episodes delicately controlled and balanced, as if by some sort of "natural order."

Italian composer Stefano Gervasoni's "Antiterra" followed, but alas, the result was quite the opposite. Composed primarily of idiomatic phrases and gestures passed along among the 13 instrumentalists, the composer's persistent quest for contrast, ironically, thoroughly desensitized the listener to any semblance of it. The point having been made halfway through the piece, any momentum that may have been generated in the opening section, fizzled out long before the final bars.

Much more successful was "Sinfonia Burocratica ed Amazzonica" by Venezuelan composer Paul Desenne. This engaging five-movement work for chamber orchestra, quite programmatic in its conception, is propelled by Latin American rhythms (in the "La Lecon" and "Bananera" movements particularly), infused with moments of true passion ("Guasarana"), and peppered with humor, as in the final movement ("Death of the Automobile"), which had the audience literally chuckling in reaction to the musical mimickry of a sputtering and, finally, expiring automobile engine, represented by a downward glissando and decelerando. Although somewhat predictable, these devices were effectively scored by Mr. Desenne, and skillfully rendered by the young Juilliard musicians and Maestro Sachs.

The second half of the evening opened with the world premiere of "Dialogues" by Taiwanese composer Wei-Chieh Lin. The work is a "socratically" structured interplay among individual instruments, with the rest of the ensemble providing harmonic and textural support. The melodic material is dramatic and expansive, often intense, and requires a good deal of expressive muscle from the players. The French hornist and bassoonist acquitted themselves particularly well in their solos. The work can be likened to a "polemic discussion" more so than a "conversation" and, as such, provided more than its share of compelling moments.

Fittingly, the program concluded with the world premiere of Mr. Baley's Symphony No. 2 subtitled "Red Earth." Both in scope and in its emotional depth, this was the most grand offering of the evening and indeed, one of Mr. Baley's finest works to date. In his notes, the composer explains that the impetus for the work was the crimson hue of the many canyons of Sedona, Arizona, which at the same time evoked images of "mountains soaked with blood," as referenced in Taras Shevchenko's poem "Kavkaz" (Caucasus) This sensory link between two, seemingly unrelated regions, triggered by one man's reaction to a particular color, evokes the whirlwind of emotions so aptly portrayed in Mr. Baley's powerful music.

In the first movement, "Intrada," we hear the underlying theme derived from a Ukrainian folk song, which in the second movement, "Duma," morphs into new melodic material of the composer's own design. At first, the folk motif is somewhat disguised, as if peering out from behind a sheer curtain. Later, it is stated quite boldly and forcefully, reinforced by the brass. In fact, what is striking is the unabashed melodicism of the work as a whole, as well as the depth and sincerity of emotion, conveyed via a broad dynamic spectrum and skillful orchestration. The third movement, "Incantation," employs more angular, driving rhythms, conjuring up images of pagan dance rituals, for example.

The final movement, "In Memoriam: Heart of Glass," is breathtaking in its sublime, yet intense restraint. Dedicated to the memory of the recently deceased, outstanding Ukrainian composer Valentin Bibik, a personal friend of both Mr. Baley and Mr. Sachs, this music is a lament, but not the typical kind. One imagines an internalized grief that numbs the heart and deadens the nerves. The string writing, devoid of vibrato, seems to portray a lingering pain with little hope of relief. From time to time, the folk motif returns, but here in a much different context, as if burdened by the feeling of absence and loss. The audience was visibly moved, treating the composer and performers to a long and enthusiastic ovation at the work's conclusion.

One hopes that Mr. Baley's Symphony No. 2 will be heard again and again, eventually finding its way into the repertoire of many more orchestras both in the U.S. and abroad. Maestro Sachs and the talented Juilliard musicians did yeoman's work in preparing this demanding work, rendering it with true conviction and a great deal of skill, but one can only imagine how splendidly it would sound in the hands of a world-class, professional orchestra.

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