Music Review : Composer Houston in Long Beach Recital

It was a very slow night at System M, a trendy, storefront nightclub in downtown Long Beach that features poetry readings, jazz combos, contemporary lizard art hanging on the walls and pumpkin cheesecake with espresso for dessert. William Houston, a composer of unabashedly minimalist leanings, presented a concert of his own music in a loft above the kitchen, with a handful in attendance.

No matter. This wasn’t a reflection on the quality of Houston’s music, which may be unassuming but is certainly engaging and pleasantly attractive. On the first half of the program Tuesday, Houston, on keyboards, was joined by soprano Mary Billings and clarinetist Suzanne Solu for an extensive suite from his opera “The XTC of Saint Teresa.” The basic texture of the music is simple: fast moving, swirling arpeggios from the keyboards, single, sustained chord tones from the clarinet, with the soprano singing easily, tunefully above. Harmonies are basic and tonal, changing bar by bar and repeated in four-measure chunks.

Generally, there aren’t complex cross rhythms (as in Philip Glass) or slowly shifting textures (as in Steve Reich). Houston gets in a groove, plays a while, then simply moves right on to the next section. His setting of words is direct and repetitive. The words “Why don’t we wash it in the water” are given successive downbeats for each syllable. The words “Don’t forget to call me in the morning” are repeated, appropriately, 10 times in a row.

Billings sang with warmth and conviction, though some of the words were lost in the lively acoustics. Houston provided a harpsichord-sounding accompaniment, with a bell-like upper register.

A suite of piano pieces by other composers with connecting interludes by Houston concluded the program. He played on an old, out-of-tune upright piano in the shadows of the loft in a loose though attentive style. He’s not a great pianist but he got the music across. His interludes effectively linked a Debussy Danse with a Schubert Impromptu to a Bach Gigue. The suite was topped off by Houston’s “Red Fish on Television,” a somber two-part piece with the naive, Satiesque opening building to a melancholy hymn in octaves, which on its final appearance the composer revealed, by singing, as the tune to the words of the title.

Also heard were three songs: the urgent “The Busy Bee Has No Time for Sorrow,” the easygoing “Better Weather” and the subtly contrasted “Dip Him in the River Who Loves the Water.”