Interview with Dr. Robert Labaree, New England Conservatory

Q: Who actually arranged the music?

A: If you look at those notations you got, that’s one place you start. Some of those notations resolved from me or Mehmet transcribing them from a recording. So in other words, you hear something you like and write it down according to the conventions you’ve learned about Turkish music. Or some of those pieces you looked at were actually from 17^th century manuscripts.

Q: How did the manuscripts get matched up with the music?

A: The manuscripts might say something in Turkish that classified it by its maqam. What’s interesting, however, is that a lot of the pieces when you read them and you play them, you say ‘That doesn’t sound like that maqam’ because they’ve evolved over the years.

So the arranging process in many ways means you’ve got to make decisions like that: this could go one place or another in the program, you choose it because of the text…You know the text is really important in this particular concert because it’s all about this idea of protest. That’s a lot of the reason we chose some of these pieces, but then once you’re there you have to think ‘how does it go together with the other pieces?’ because maqams are melodic families. Everybody in the huseni family kind of resembles each other but each one is utterly different. So if you have two maqams that are different and you have melodies in two different maqams that you’re going to put together, you have to develop ways for them to go together that’s not jarring, that’s aesthetically pleasing, that makes sense, etc. So that’s always an issue.

Q: Did you get to rehearse together much?

A: Well, what’s really interesting is when you have people that know the general repertoire, who know the style, who know the language. [Turkish music] places music in the hands of the performers. So it’s what you make of that music. You may be playing a 17^th century piece, but it’s in your control to do. It’s a very different approach to composition. They are pieces, they have composers, you preserve them, but my role is central. And I feel in control. That gives me the freedom to work with these pieces. So the rehearsals end up being quite exploratory.

Now, to make it more efficient, Mehmet and I got together a couple times to work our way through it, to work out some of the problems. ‘Oh she’s going to play this instrument; I know she tunes it like this. That means we’re going to play it at this level. This is a great place for Burcu to do an improvisation.’ We create a sort of outline, so we don’t have to spend too much time in rehearsals talking. But if you watch the rehearsal, I think you’d see it’s not like rehearsing with a string quartet.

Q: How much of the final performance ends up being improvised?

A: Well in one sense, you can answer that in a simple way or in a complicated way. The simple way is there are those moments when there is taksim. The usual word we use to translate that is improvisation, but I think that is not a very good translation, particularly because if you place that against the way people treat things that are not taksim, they’ll say ‘what’s the difference?’

Here’s a classic instruction from a teacher: ‘You want to learn to do a taksim in this maqam? Learn ten pieces in that maqam. You want to learn to place those pieces? Learn how to do a taksim.’  So it’s very circular, but it’s emphasizing the fact that these are totally related. Now you would never have that instruction issued to you if you’re playing Mozart or Chopin or Brahms. That’s not what pianists or violinists are told today. So in other words, if you were to record what I’m playing when I look at that notation from the 17^th century and you sat down and meticulously wrote down everything I’m playing, you’d ask ‘What’s going on here?’

What’s really interesting is you took five of us playing together on the same piece that is played from that same notation and if you transcribed each one of us playing simultaneously, you’d say ‘Are they playing the same piece?’ That’s what it calls for; it calls for this kind of creating a rich texture where people are in a sense engaged in a conversation with each other as they play this kind of script. The nature of this music obliges you to work with each other in a very different way. The whole thing is not regulated by score.

Q: Are the vocals notated?

A: Yes, but there are certain forms where singers would expand on what they’re doing. For example the opening piece, the singer had learned that piece by studying the recording, but she has studied every nuance and carefully created her own. I’ve heard her sing that a number of time now and it keeps evolving.

There are moments where, Memet or Borjo were singing and they’re taking the text and creating the music for it. This is called Gazel. This refers to using maqam to render a text. Classically, the best gazel singer have been Koran chanters. They are the best because these men are singing the word of God and they have to make sure everything they sing preserves the discipline. These men sang secular music, using the same skill and became the pop musicians of the 20^th century, they’re the McJagger.

Seeing the two singers perform at the same time, as we saw in the performance, is quite unusual in Turkish music. The feel becomes conversational between the two vocalists, this is called a chift gazel, a double gazel. Fortunately, we’ve had singers that can do that and it’s quite stunning.

Q: It seemed that there times when performed were featured, something resembling of solos, is that traditional to Turkish music?

A: From a musicians’ point of view and the audiences’ point of view, it’s great to do this. It’s important for the musician’s to have those moments to sort of try something, because they have put so much time and effort into this craft, they want to be able to express themselves.

Q: How did you get started?

A: I began starting Indian and Indonesian music in college at Wesleyan. I eventually met someone who brought this new music to me after returning from his Fulbright in Istanbul and I became very interested in it. I slowly pursued it, eventually, I spent many summers going to Turkey studying with people and learning the language.

I learned at one point that the best way to learn their music way by inviting these musicians to America and working with them in a concert setting, playing with them and learning from them.

Mesc- the word for a lesson. A one to one lesson, where a tutor teaches a student by singing or playing a line through imitation, not notation. This is a way of learning without notation. As the student continues to imitate the tutor, they change their performance every time. What the student is learning is how to get through what it should be, it’s never one thing and it’s always multiple things. You’re never totally in control, but you’re never tied down to what you’re doing either.

Q: Tell us about the çeng?

A: in the 80s or early 90s, I began working on this with a Turkish musician.

Prior, I had been working with a lot of medieval music and using a lot of harp, a small harp. I had eventually found out that it was useful with Turkish music, but I couldn’t find anything about the çeng in Turkish music after a certain point.

In about the 17^th century, the çeng was phased out. Ceng musicians were very popular at one point, but were taken out of Turkish music because of their inability to keep up with the music.

*Us aimlessly debunking an age-old theory as to why the çeng was no longer used in Turkish music…

We thing the çeng was phased out because you can’t alter the pitch without retuning it. We can have modulation within maqam in a piece because the instrument can be retuned.

When we built it, we built it with a sound board, bridge and gave it the ability to be retuned it as needed, so it could be used in a live performance setting.

Q: How do the divisions in Turkish music relate to the pitch divisions we’re familiar with (in Western theory) on the piano? So there are two pitch divisions on the piano and nine for Turkish music.

A: In other words you take a whole tone and divide it in half. That’s how we get C# and Cb. In Turkish music, we have nine parts. You may notice you can’t divide anything evenly into nine parts. This relates to Egyptian music, which divided a whole tone into 4 parts. At that time, Egypt was under the control of n the Ottoman Empire and seeking independence. The theory behind this was for each group to identify themselves as independent from one another.

Arabs and Turks, however, do not have this distinction. They may argue sometimes politically, however, they are playing each other’s repertoire almost all the time. Most of the composers that will be played will be Turkish in origin.

The compromise that was made over time, for the 9 divisions, was dividing a whole tone into 3 flats and 3 sharps, each of which is a 9^th of a tone, or a koman (1 flat = 1 koman). If you play one division after another you do hear a distinct difference, even though the increment seems so small in theory. Not one of these accidentals is the same as the ones you will hear on a piano.In essence, it’s about placing a note where it belongs.

A similar things happens with sustained instruments, such as bowed instruments or flute players. In Western music, you are taught to play that with a vibrato, which is a natural product of your voice. In Turkish music, you zero in on the pitch with no vibrato, and there is incredible control of the way to work a pitch. This is a way of working a pitch to place it right where it needs to be. Vibrato would obscure that.

Q: Where in Turkey have you been?

A: I’ve been all over. My main destination has been Istanbul because that’s where my professors all. I have been there on my own and with my family. We have gone to the Pontic Alps altogether. However, most of my experience comes from my time in Istanbul.

*Description of a historical depiction of Istanbul in Dr. Labaree’s office.

The country is so littered with the remains of so many civilizations. It’s one of the most inhabited areas of the world, historically. There are the remains of Persian and Greek civilizations (almost 2000 years worth of Greek civilization). Just in the last 10 years, Istanbul is building their own subway system. Previously, they couldn't because every time they would dig into the ground they would find more historical remains and then archaeologists would have to come over and study it, but now, they have decided that they are just going to go through with it. There is incredible acceleration in Istanbul in the development of their modern society.

The founding of Istanbul starts with the founding of Constantinople which was in the 4^th century. Although structures have come and gone, people living in Istanbul have this awareness of the history that they are around and living on. In a way it is a responsibility.

Q: The placement of the instruments (semi-circle). What is the reasoning for placing them in such a manner?

A: It was all about practicality. The two singers had to be in the middle because they are the focus, since the performance was very text-focused. My instrument, the çeng, tends to act like a wall and mess with the sound of the other, so it made sense for me to be at the right of the semi-circle.

  

Turkish Songs of Protest

Turkish Songs of Protest Presentation (link)

Mountains, Meadows, Cows -- Michaela Plachka

Prezi Presentation

Mountains, Meadows, Cows (Hory, Louky, Kravy) by Michaela Plachka
Performed by Konvergence

Interview with Josef Trestik

What do you think the Czech Contemporary Music scene is like in general?

“It’s hard to put into a few words, but I think there are different attitudes… Are you more interested in how the music is composed or do you mean socially? (socially) I think it’s still quite conservative here, like there aren’t too many contemporary pieces programmed too often, or like regular concerts programmed with the Czech Philharmonic. They sometimes perform new pieces, which they commission, but very, very rarely is contemporary music seen. There are usually small ensembles devoted to performing contemporary music to smaller audiences. It’s not considered mainstream… And then there are big contemporary music festivals devoted to contemporary music, like one called “Kontemp,” which is mostly chamber music, ranging from solo work up to ensembles up to 18 people or so. It’s dedicated to mostly music from abroad. They also commission Czech pieces. I think the problem we have here… it’s funny because everything is so open now, like there’s not a big connection with groups abroad like this group “Kontemple,” wants to bring music from outside the Czech Republic like music from Germany or Austria or the UK… and occasionally from America, there’s a group from New York that was there… I think traditionally, there was, at least people say, that during communism from 1948 to 1989, there wasn’t really much connection with the West, at least culturally. I think it meant that we were isolated and a lot of new music couldn’t be performed here so, many composers either didn’t know the music or it was just brought here on tape and never performed so it took a long time for some performers to learn, for example, advanced techniques, which were used by many ensembles already abroad, so it’s still a bit conservative. It’s changing and there are more and more younger people devoted to contemporary music, but it’s still not as much in the mainstream.”

 Our next question is, what do you think distinguishes Konvergence from other Czech groups? Is it a standard ensemble or do you think it’s quite different?

“It’s definitely different because there aren’t usually so many composers in an ensemble, one’s that perform too. I’m not so familiar with their most recent music, but they say that they want to play pieces at concerts that aren’t incredibly different, like at a concert, they don’t want you to listen to pieces that are aesthetically very different from one another. I think that’s their aim, to bring together music that has things in common. Their common aesthetic is to have music that is very spacious, not very busy. It’s slow and soft. Not all their music is like that, but the common theme is having music that builds slowly. There’s a group in Bernau(?) that’s exclusively female. They do compositions but they don’t actually perform them. For example, in this group, many members are composers. I remember when they were students and had formed the group, they were like that still.”

What did you think or feel the first time you heard their music?

“That’s difficult because I heard the music they composed before this group was founded so I cant really… well, I remember one of the first concerts… Well it was a long time ago, almost 10 years ago so it’s hard for me to recall it… But it’s more about… My memories are more about the social situation of the group… They were students that wanted to make a difference, by founding this group… They wrote it in the program notes, they were clear about that. They wanted to bring together musicians with common interest, not only in general with contemporary music, but more specifically, which has many has many things in common, sort of like how I described before as slow, soft, and building music.”

You said it’s been 10 years, what do you think it’ll be like in another 10 years for contemporary music? Do you see other musicians branching out? I’m not sure how big Konvergence is there but have you seen other changes in contemporary music after their appearance, do you see it growing in these coming years quickly?

“It is, but obviously the contemporary music scene here is very small, there are some groups that seem to be competing with one another, if I may say, like there’ snot always a lot of love between groups, not only because of the aesthetic differences, maybe it’s like some competition, I don’t know, but there isn’t so much of a connection between the groups. All of the groups, and I mean all, are fighting for funds. It’s growing and I’m hoping it will continue but there isn’t much of a stable foundation, so every year they seem to fight for funds. And I think it’s hard to plan bigger things when you don’t know how much money you will get… but I think it’s growing, like that group I mentioned, “Kontemple,” it’s getting bigger and bigger but it’s really people of my generation, and I’m 32, who are looking forward and changing things, and not so much the older guys. I mean there are some but it’s like, I suppose it’s on many levels in our society, where there are people who started working as professionals in the 80’s, which was still under the communist regime, which was very difficult because you couldn’t make a career unless you somehow cooperated with the party or were a member of the party, like at some point you could, but if you wanted something bigger, usually you couldn’t do it. It was difficult. People had to decide whether they wanted to be part of the system and have better jobs or work in their own way, work underground, or just not be very active and I’m saying that only because it’s changing. Younger people who really became active in the late 90’s are getting into positions now where they can really change things. I think that’s the reason why I said that.”

Ok, so getting back to the piece, what would you say the form of the piece is? What were your impressions of it?

“Ok so I only got to listen to it once but I would say I was thinking, “Is this clarinet a soloist or is it part of the ensemble?” It seemed to be like a mini concertina for the clarinet and then the rest of the ensemble. I actually looked it up online, I’m not sure why it’s called “Mountains, Meadows, and Cows.” She said she changed her surrounding when she moved to Austria I think, which somehow changed how she thinks. I mean when people move form city to the countryside, things change… I mean, I’m not sure how much it’s trying to actually depict cows mooing. I don’t think the instruments are actually mimicking the sounds. I think she wanted to somehow capture the atmosphere… It’s form is basically how I said though, clarinet solo, little bit of other instrument, clarinet, and so on.”

 Do you think it’s free form as opposed to more traditional music?

“I would say it’s more free form, like through composed, as opposed to sonata form or minuet or something, definitely.”

Either in their music or in general Czech contemporary music, what instruments are usually used? I know in their piece it was clarinet, guitar, piano, and viola, but what else is used?

“Well it really depends. One of the other groups that is well known called the Berg Orchestra, which is a chamber orchestra, they have slightly different instrumentation each concert, but it’s basically a chamber orchestra… So I think it really depends on the venue and who’s the performer because if it’s a mainstream orchestra which is just a regular symphony orchestra, which don’t often play contemporary music, or when it’s the Berg orchestra, it’s a regular chamber orchestra with maybe an extended percussion section, or things like that… Konvergence is different because they really like guitar, which isn’t so much used in other groups. But I would say if you speak of Czech music, piano, clarinet, flute, strings and such are usually the instruments used. There’s a lot of variety though so it will change with each group.”

 Ok, so last question. You’ve listened to Konvergence for almost 10 years, what growth or change in their music have you become most aware of?

“Well that’s difficult to say because there are many composers, but I would say they became more aware of the color of the sound they use. They went to softer sounds in their music, harmonies, and so on. The composers nowadays analyze the spectrum of sounds through computers, an influence from “Spectrum Music.” With Michaela, I’d say with her early music compared to now, it sounds much more professional. She’s changed because she’s pent so many years composing though as well, which is natural. They’re more focused on sound and go into detail with instrumental techniques that they use. That’s the impression I’ve gotten at least.”

Background

• Tomas Palka studied composition immediately after high school at the Brno Conservatory. In 2004, he completed his residency in Paris at “the invitation SACEM and orders for chamber ensemble Calliopee.” Tomas co-founded the Composers Association of Convergence in 2002; a group of young infamous artist from all over the world. Prior to that, he worked as a pianist for the Orchestra of the National Theatre in Brno. Tomas currently works as a freelance composer traveling and playing music all around the world.

• In 2006, Michaela Plachka, wife of Tomas Palka joined the Composers Association of Convergence. Michaela helped compose the piece Mountains, meadows, cows, which is a six minute piece containing the clarinet, viola, guitar, and piano in the year 2013. She studied composition at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. Michaela worked with the Chamber Orchestra of the EU, Berg Chamber Orchestra, Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra, Alexander Quartet, Ostrava Band, chamber ensemble Calliopée, Convergence Adapter Berlin and other ensembles.

Melody

• Not much of a melody, but certain instruments have certain motives that appear throughout
• Piano motive: m. 16 and again in m. 22 but it is slightly different (fragmentation of m. 16 motive)
• Guitar motive: m. 17, m. 20, m. 35
• Clarinet motive: Most of the piece is in solos, ametric. mm. 46-50 A3-B3-C4 motive gets built upon in slurs with added notes to create small phrases. Clarinet solos use motivic development, or augmentation. 
• Viola: m. 42 viola has a seven note slur in an arched  shape. In measure 44 there is a reverse of the arch. The viola generally does not a melodic function in the piece; it is more of a textural instrument.
• A lot of the piece is done in solos without harmonies (melodic lines)

Rhythm

• The tempo indicates 56 bpm, but a lot of the song is not in tempo. The clarinet, for example is indicated to play at its own speed. 
• In the legend, it indicates "play as fast as you can" for a lot of the clarinet parts.
• Certain measures are metric, certain measures are ametric. Solos are generally ametric, but when they play together, they keep in time. 
• Mixed meter
• Ametric mm. 1-7
• 4/4 mm. 8-12
• 3/4 m. 13
• 4/4 mm. 14-18
• 2/4 m. 19
• 5/4 mm. 20-22
• 4/4 m. 23
• Ametric mm. 24-35
• 4/4 mm. 36-38
• 2/4 m. 39
• 3/4 mm. 40-45
• Ametric mm. 46-50
• 3/4 51-56
• 4/4 mm. 57-59
• Ametric mm. 60-61
• 4/4 m. 62
• 7/8 m. 63
• 3/4 mm. 64-65
• 4/4 m. 66
• 3/4 m. 67
• 5/4 m. 68
• 4/4 m. 69-71
• 3/4 m. 72
• 4/4 mm. 73-74

Harmony

• Atonal
• No regular harmonies, with most of the piece going from clarinet solo to a few instruments coming in livening up the space, dying out again and leaving the clarinet alone.
• Cluster chords, extended chords, arpeggiated chords mostly for piano and guitar
• Chromatic chords 
• No cadences (the piece just flows on and on, without resolving at all)

Sonority

• Instrumentation: Piano, Guitar, Viola, Clarinet in Bb
• Extended Techniques for Bb Clarinet: During parts, the clarinet plays in the body of the piano to create a resonating sound with the piano strings. Key clicks. 
• Extended Techniques for Viola: Harmonics, glissandos, tremolo, muting the strings
• Extended Techniques for Guitar: playing with a bow (using all of the strings), playing with the bow on the E string, harmonics, tremolo
• Extended Techniques for Piano: Playing the piano strings with her finger or fingernails, Muting strings on the piano with her hands, when clarinet is in the piano the sustain is on. Sustain is on through the entire piece to let notes ring out. 
• Very abrupt jarring noises from the clarinet
• Piano comes in softly 
• Many scratching noises (guitar with the bow, etc.)
• When the guitar plays with a bow on the low E string, it sounds like a droning "moo"
• Glissandos adds emphasis to the "mooing" noise
• Piano is very peaceful and provides contrast to the screeching, jarring notes of the other instruments
• "Quiet spaciousness"--Source

Texture

• Non-semblant motion
• Offset synchronization--except for mm. 48-49
• Monophony (when it's just the clarinet playing alone) but sometimes polyphony (when the other instruments come in, but don't play together with similar parts)
• Mixture of cluster chords and extended chords in the piano
• Guitar plays arpeggiated chords

Form

• Through-composed
• Different sections are indicated by double bars in the score
• Section 1: Clarinet solo (intro) mm. 1-7 (0:00 to 0:40)
• Section 2: mm. 8-23 (0:41-2:07)
• Section 3: mm. 24-34 (clarinet solo), 35-45 (all instruments playing) (2:08-3:30)
• Section 4: mm. 45-50 (clarinet solo), mm. 51-65 (all instruments playing) (3:30-4:56)
• Section 5: mm. 66-74 (end) (4:56-5:57)