Music Review : New E.A.R. Unit Season Opens at Bing Theater

Not poor enough to inspire anger, not fascinating enough to hold interest, the Wednesday night program of new and recent musical wares by the E.A.R. Unit seemed merely to wear down its listeners. At intermission, some of those auditors surrendered by fleeing.

In Leo S. Bing Theater at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, those who remained after the break did get some relief from somnolence. Music by Michael Gordon and Jin Hi Kim displayed a modicum more energy than had works by Scott Lindroth, Eric Chasalow and Sylvano Bussotti, but not enough to make the heart glad or the spirit swell.

In configurations of six, two, four and eight players, the nine musicians of the E.A.R. Unit opened its 1989-90 residency series at the museum with five pieces from the 1980s, and a look back at three of the seven parts of Bussotti’s “Sette Fogli” (1959). Each item had its virtues, but, as a program, this was a dreary mix.

Gordon’s “Thou Shalt! Thou Shalt Not!” did tend to rouse sleepy ears. Genuinely minimalist in its various aspects, this piece for sextet specializes in abrasive harmonies, unison progressions and simple-minded repetitions. It chases its tail optimistically for 17 minutes--but at least it doesn’t whine.

Kim’s duo for violin and cello, “Kee Maeck” (1988), however, makes groaning sounds of no apprehendable motivation. Her following “Improvisation” on the komungo (a six-stringed board zither), in which she was assisted by seven E.A.R. Unit players, proved pleasant but uneventful.

Lindroth’s “Relations to Rigor” (for six players and tape) emerged frenetic, hyperactive and dense--until an abrupt ending. Chasalow’s “Fast Forward” for two percussionists and tape became mellifluous but not soft-edged--an articulate romp for two virtuosos, aided subtly by a complementary sound-score.

In this context, excerpts from Bussotti’s music/theater pieces, “Sette Fogli” seemed either silly or profound--it is an exercise in willful ennui characterized by hostile inactivity on the part of four players--depending on one’s imagination. But one had to admire the thoroughness with which Arthur Jarvinen, Erika Duke, Dorothy Stone and Lorna Eder performed it.