Music : eXindigo! Performs

Sorrow and suffering dominated the fare Saturday night at the downtown Zeta Collective where the new-music ensemble eXindigo! performed a program of vocal works by local composers.

In the world premiere of Ted Peterson’s four-movement “One, Two, Three, Four . . .” for mezzo and clarinet, texts by Peterson himself explore pain through the eyes of a child in a more bardic than strictly musical way.

As a dramatist, Peterson uses a realist approach, intentionally lacking mystery, symbolism or nuances. The result assaults the sensibilities, but generally impresses with its boldness.

Musically, a sameness in slow tempo and pensive mood throughout avoids displays of virtuosity. Mezzo Pat Loeb and clarinetist Marty Walker combined handsomely in the simple, often monophonic dirge.

Angelo Funicelli’s “Seven Prophesies” (1987) for soprano solo and electronics, inventively combines minimalist patterns, chanting and sound effects to set seven prophetic texts. In John Blackburn’s transcendental “Conversations” (1982), a mixed chorus cacophonously recites mundane chatter from a courtroom, a craps table and a church, ending with an electronic coda.

Also for mixed chorus, “Drop, Drop, Slow Tears” (1979) by Steven Stucky opened the program with an elegant study on tone clusters and four-part harmonies based on a hymn tune by Orlando Gibbons. Conductor Laurie Gurman led the ensemble sensitively and aptly.