Sunday, April 13, 2014

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 CalliopĂ©e, 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)

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