MUSIC REVIEW : XTET Group Presents Works at Bing Theater

An impressive collection of discoveries and neglected gems was offered by XTET on the latest Monday Evening Concert at Bing Theater of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. With its usual tastefulness, the local ensemble presented seven diverse, intelligent works.

The most interesting find was the music of Danish composer Pelle Gudmundsen-Homgreen, one of the founders of the New Simplicity movement--a European counterpart to minimalism. His “Praeludium to Your Silence” and “Your Silence” (1978) for soprano and chamber ensemble unsettle and at times startle the listener in entirely original, unpredictable ways.

The text by Vibeke Gronfeldt describes the inside of an insane asylum from the point of view of a paranoid patient, while erratic instrumental melodic fragments are repeated, often in separate tempos purposely conflicting with each other. The result unfolds hesitantly, but with an appropriate sense of confusion and delusion.

Flutist Gary Woodward conducted the rhythmically more difficult moments from his chair while the ensemble deftly brought out the rough-edged elements of the music. Soprano Daisietta Kim chanted the largely monotone vocal part with convincing luridness.

Kim also provided a commanding performance (in Russian) of Igor Stravinsky’s 1954 arrangement for soprano, flute, harp and guitar of his Four Russian Songs (1915-19). Guitarist Steve Santini, Woodward and harpist JoAnn Turovsky also contributed masterfully to the polished presentation.

The world premiere of XTET-member John Steinmetz’s witty, post-modern “Friends” for two violinist/performers and two percussionists, offered the most humorous fare. Short, satirical episodes of silliness included a section in which the audience was instructed to rustle their program notes, the relentless repetition of a intentionally banal drum cadence and a tacky dance, rife with popular cliches, by violinists Elizabeth Baker and Jennifer Woodward dressed in tight miniskirts and tinsel wigs.

A dutiful performance of Henry Cowell’s String Quartet No. 4 (1936) opened the evening. Two neo-Romantic pieces by Harrison Birtwistle--the U.S. premiere of the innocuous “Four Songs of Autumn” (1988) and the more engaging Cantata (1971) for soprano and chamber ensemble--found a few moments of interest, but otherwise proved routine.