MUSIC REVIEWS : CALIFORNIA CONCERT BY NEW MUSIC GROUP

There was a great deal of talk, most of it pleasant and witty, from the Japan America Theatre stage Tuesday evening. Indeed, the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group’s “California Choice” concert ran over two hours, with barely half the time occupied by the music itself.

The consensus was that the distinguishing feature of California composers is diversity, which is another way of saying that there is no distinguishing feature. Residence in the state--however brief--was the sole determinant.

As a salute to the home-boys--no women were represented--it proved an engrossing and diversified sample.

Ernst Krenek, 85, had the oldest and longest piece performed, “They Knew What They Wanted” (1977), based on stories about women from Boccaccio, Genesis, and Greek mythology. What “they” wanted was sex.

Krenek decorated the tales with taped sounds shuttled through speakers around the room and wry instrumental punctuations. Rheda Becker narrated with ironic flair, and Stephen Mosko deftly coordinated the various elements of the entertainment.

Edward Applebaum’s short Prelude for String Quartet, “The Princess in the Garden,” proved not only the work of a California native, but a premiere as well. An evocative, Impressionistic piece, its allure is through poignancy and sheer beauty of sound. And in that it benefited from a lustrous performance.

Though in two movements for an ensemble of soprano sax, piano, viola, and cello, Roger Bourland’s ‘Stone Quartet’ is similar in its concision and sensual appeal, and received an equally assured performance. Its dark-hued music often sounds like a campy horror film score, one which Hollywood might call a “good hear.”

The most ambitious and overtly intellectual display on the agenda was Andrew Imbrie’s 22-minute “Pilgrimage,” for a mixed sextet. A fitful, frenetic first movement developes atonal materials through slightly modified repetition. This leads to an assertively enigmatic piano solo (Zita Carno), and an austere denouement. Mosko maintained clear balances and momentum, but this ostensibly spiritual journey remained an aloof, objective experience.