The Manhattan Sinfonietta is pleased to
announce a weekend of concerts taking place
February 9-10, 2008, 8 PM at Merkin Hall.
Labeled American Iconoclasts, the festival
focuses on the legacies of two pivotal
experimental American composers, the late James
Tenney and the still very active nonagenarian
Milton Babbitt. Jeffrey Milarsky will conduct
members of the Manhattan Sinfonietta in works
by Tenney and Babbitt, as well as several of
their students: Larry Polansky, Michael Byron,
Christopher Buchenholtz and Jonathan Dawe (the
last two with new commissions for the
occasion), interspersed with older works by
Cowell and Schoenberg. This tracing of several
multi-generational strands of experimental
music will produce subtle and refined
connections over the course of the weekend. In
addition to the concerts, a series of talks on
the music and legacies of Tenney and Babbitt
will be held at Columbia University's Music
Department on the morning and afternoon of the
9th, a chance for several composers and
scholars to further illuminate the music of
these deeply original artists (see below).
The concerts will take place at the newly
remodeled Merkin Concert Hall. Tickets are
available at the box office for $15/8
(students), and are free for Columbia students
with a valid ID.
Tenney and Babbitt: Reflections on Two American
Originals
Columbia University Music Department
Dodge Hall, Room 620
Saturday, February 9, 2008
11:00-11:45 Robert Wannamaker - The Spectral
Music of James Tenney
11:45-12:30 Christopher Buchenholz - Babbitt:
Off-Leash
12:30-1:15 Michael Winter - Reminiscences of
Tenney as Teacher,
and a Final Composition: Arbor Vitae for String
Quartet
1:15-2:00 Lunch
2:00-2:45 Jonathan Dawe - Babbitt Going
Baroque:
18th-Century Rhetorical Thinking in Milton's
Music
2:45-3:30 Larry Polansky - Dissonant
Counterpoint and Statistical Feedback in the
Work of James Tenney
3:30 Coffee/Tea reception
American Iconoclasts: James Tenney and Milton
Babbitt
Manhattan Sinfonietta
Jeffrey Milarsky, conductor
Concert #1
Feb. 9, 2008, 8PM (7:15 pre-concert talk by
Larry Polansky)
Merkin Concert Hall (129 W. 67th St.)
*James Tenney –-
Harmonium #7
(2000) for any twelve
sustaining instruments
*Larry Polansky –-
Sh'ma: Fuging Tune in G
(1979) for ensemble
*Henry Cowell –-
Ensemble
(1925) original version for String Quintet
and Thundersticks
*Michael Byron –-
Awakening at the Inn of the
Birds
(2003) for string quartet
Concert #2
Feb. 10, 2008, 8PM
Merkin Concert Hall (129 W. 67th St.)
*Milton Babbitt –-
Ars Combinatoria
(1981) for small orchestra
*Arnold Schoenberg –-
Herzgewachse
Op. 20 (1911) for soprano, celesta,
harmonium, and harp
*Jonathan Dawe –- New work for large ensemble –
(world premiere)
*Christopher Buchenholz –- New work for soprano
and ensemble –
(world premiere)
FEBRUARY 9-10, 2008 - DETAILS
© Manhattan Sinfonietta, 2007
