June 9, 2003 Hearing the Past in Notes of Today By ALLAN KOZINN ounter)induction, an inventive ensemble of young players and composers, presented a program called "Those Who Know History" at the Washington Square Church on Tuesday evening. The concert had a refreshingly studenty quality: the performers appeared to be barely out of their 20's, and so did most of the listeners, who also seemed to be genuinely taken with the often thorny post-tonal works at hand. The title referred to each work's alluding, either overtly or obliquely, to music of the past. In some cases that past was distant: György Kurtág's "Homage ŕ R. Sch.," while mostly a tribute to Schumann, looks all the way back to the 14th century, ending with a movement dedicated to Machaut. And Douglas Boyce's "Quintet l'Homme Armé" draws its thematic material from a medieval popular song that was the basis of Masses by several Renaissance composers, most notably Ockeghem and Dufay. Other entries nodded to more recent music. Elliott Carter's "Gra," a solo clarinet work, is a tribute to Witold Lutoslawski, and Gilbert Amy's "En Trio," for clarinet, violin and piano, quotes from Bartok's "Contrasts" and works by Pierre Boulez. Paul Siskind's Bagatelles held the middle ground (along with the Schumannesque sections of the Kurtág), the model for its free exploration being the similarly titled works of Beethoven and Webern. Still, this web of links between the present and the past was fairly superficial. Bits of "L'Homme Armé" occasionally peeked through Mr. Boyce's Quintet if one listened intently. Mainly, though, he couches it in such thoroughly modern scoring that the ear is lured to other things, including the juxtaposition of eerie string writing with playful material for the clarinet and piano, or the lively interplay among all five instruments. In Mr. Siskind's, Mr. Kurtág's and Mr. Amy's work's, similarly, the glances backward were mere points of philosophical departure. Their use of both color and rhythmic invention were what caught the ear. And Mr. Carter's "Gra" goes its own virtuosic way, thoroughly in Mr. Carter's language. What kept the program fascinating was the vitality the players brought to the music. These performances were not merely dutiful; they sang and danced. Particularly notable was Benjamin Fingland, the clarinetist. He was the only musician to perform in all five works, but his precision and energy in these demanding scores never flagged. His colleagues were Asmira Woodward-Page, violinist; Jessica Meyer, violist; Blair McMillen, pianist; and Wendy Law, cellist. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company | Home | Privacy Policy | Search | Corrections | Help | Back to Top