Continuum (ensemble)

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Continuum is a chamber music ensemble for new music founded in New York in 1966 by Cheryl Seltzer and Joel Sachs . The ensemble is unconventional in the composition of its programs and its concert tours also lead to countries that are usually off the beaten track of classical chamber music ensembles. So it visited z. B. Mongolia , Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan . The programming of Continuum is characterized by the Retrospective Concerts , which focus on a certain composer and in this way allow a more detailed look at his work. In this context, Continuum succeeds in rediscovering works of classical modernism and avant-garde and in premiering contemporary works.

The New York Times wrote of the ensemble's work: "Simply put, there is no musical group in New York that makes intellectually more seductive or emotionally satisfying programs than Continuum."

History of the ensemble

In the first decade after the ensemble was founded in 1966, there was a balance in its concert programs between works by established classics of European music of the first half of the 20th century - such as Claude Debussy , Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky - and more recent compositions, such as by Luigi Dallapiccola , Luciano Berio or Milton Babbitt . After that, however, the ensemble expanded its field of vision and specialized in the less well-known or still completely unknown among contemporary composers.
In 1985 Continuum went on its first concert tour abroad, which included England and Australia. Numerous tours followed through Germany, France and other European countries. Towards the end of the eighties, the ensemble's interest in the work of Eastern European and Russian composers increased, works by Galina Ivanovna Ustvolskaya , Leonid Hrabowskyj, Grażyna Bacewicz and others were included in the concert programs. In 1990 and 1996 the ensemble performed in Ukraine . Further concert tours took it to Uzbekistan (1999, 2000, 2002), Georgia (2001), Azerbaijan (2001) and Mongolia (2002).

occupation

Over the years the ensemble played in changing groups and with different soloists in a core line-up of nine members. Including the two founding members Cheryl Seltzer and Joel Sachs, mentioned above.

  • Cheryl Seltzer, piano a. Ensemble management (founding member)
  • Joel Sachs, piano a. Ensemble management (founding member)
  • Ulla Suokko, flute
  • Tanya Dusevic Witek, flute
  • Fiona Kelly, flute
  • Jayn Rosenfeld, flute
  • Martin Butler, oboe
  • Moran Katz, clarinet
  • David Gresham, clarinet
  • Sue Heineman, bassoon
  • Daniel Grabois, horn
  • Richard Kelly, trumpet
  • Mark Steinberg, violin
  • Tom Chiu, violin
  • Renée Jolles, violin
  • Stuart Kanin, violin
  • Patrick Doane, violin (2004–2010)
  • Stephanie Griffin , viola
  • Arthur Kampela, viola
  • Christopher Gross, violoncello
  • Claire Bryant, violoncello
  • Chris Gross, violoncello
  • Kristina Reiko Cooper, violoncello
  • Kurt Muroki, double bass
  • Bridget Kibbey, harp
  • Oren fader, guitar
  • Jared Soldiviero, percussion
  • Erik Charlston, percussion

repertoire

The repertoire of Ensemble Continuum is made up of works by established contemporary composers (e.g. Arvo Pärt , Sofia Asgatowna Gubaidulina or Osvaldo Golijov ) as well as works by lesser-known contemporary composers (e.g. Huang Ruo , Wang Jie or Carman Moore) together. But classical modernism is still represented, with names such as Béla Bartók , Igor Stravinsky and Anton Webern .

In February 2002 the Ensemble Continuum gave a concert in the Miller Theater in New York in honor of the composer Sofia Asgatowna Gubaidulina (* 1931), who had celebrated her 70th birthday just a few months earlier. The core of the program was Gubaidulina's piece Perception , for baritone (speaking voice) and 7 string instruments (1981, rev. 1983; 1986).

World premieres (selection)

  • 1991 Osvaldo Golijov : There is Wind and There are Ashes in the Wind , for clarinet, piano and narrator.
  • 2001 Ursula Mamlok : Confluences , for clarinet, violin, cello and piano. Premiere 2001 in New York.
  • 2001 Osvaldo Golijov : Luce , for 2 pianos and soprano or baritone. World premiere on April 8, 2001 at the Miller Theater at Columbia University , New York.
  • 2007 Benjamin Yusupov : Haqqoni for Eduard Nektalov (Crossroads 4) , for clarinet, violin, violoncello, piano. World premiere on October 10, 2007 in the Jewish Community Center, New York.
  • 2007 Benjamin Yusupov : Metaphor , for harp solo. World premiere on October 10, 2007 in the Jewish Community Center, New York.
  • 2009 Bun-Ching Lam: Le Vin des Amants , for soprano, clarinet, violin and piano for four hands. Premiere April 18, 2009 at the Merkin Concert Hall, New York.
  • 2009 Huang Ruo: Wall Writings , for voice, clarinet, violin, cello and piano. Premiere on April 18, 2009 at the Merkin Concert Hall, New York.
  • 2011 Ursula Mamlok : Mosaics , for piano four hands. Premiere on May 1st, 2011 at the Merkin Concert Hall, New York.
  • 2011 Wang Jie: A Longing for Spring , multilingual song cycle for soprano, clarinet, violin and piano. Premiere on May 1st, 2011 at the Merkin Concert Hall, New York.
  • 2011 Carman Moore: She (An Appreciation) , for soprano, clarinet, violin and piano, based on texts by C. Moore, Lord Byron , Lukrez , Sun Bu'er and Matsuo Bashō . Premiere on May 1st, 2011 at the Merkin Concert Hall, New York.

Discography (selection)

A large part of the ensemble's recordings appear on the less renowned music labels : Nonesuch Records , CRI or MHS. However, some of the recordings have now been reissued at Naxos.

  • 1991 Conlon Nancarrow : Orchestral and Chamber Music, Ensemble Continuum (Naxos)
  • 1994 Tania León : Indígena (CRI / Nwcri)
  • 2000 Valentin Bibik, Vol. 2: Premonitions (Cambria)
  • 2005 Charles Ives : Three Quarter-Tone Pieces; Five take-offs; Halloween; Sunrise (Naxos)
  • 2005 Leon Kirchner : Duo for Violin and Piano; Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano; etc. (Naxos)
  • 2005 Conlon Nancarrow : Pieces Nos. 1 & 2; Tango?; String Quartet No. 1 (Naxos)
  • 2005 Ruth Crawford Seeger : Violin Sonata; Piano pieces; Two ricercari; Sandburg Songs (Naxos)
  • 2007 Robert Erickson : Recent Impressions; Two songs; High flyer; Summer Music (Naxos)
  • 2007 Roberto Sierra : Turner. Chamber Music of Roberto Sierra (New Albion)
  • 2011 Johann Sebastian Bach : Flute Sonatas (Quartz)

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mátyás Kiss: Eclectic and Original Genius Article in Neue Musikzeitung -online (9/2007)
  2. ↑ Section adventures on the website of Continuum ensembles
  3. ↑ Section retrospective concerts on the website of Continuum ensembles
  4. ↑ A Solitary Spirituality And Absurdist Humor. By Alex Ross. New York Times, April 15, 1996
    "Simply put, there is no musical organization in New York that produces more intellectually enticing or more viscerally satisfying programs than Continuum."
  5. ↑ Section about CONTINUUM on the homepage of Continuum ensembles
  6. ↑ heading performances abroad on the homepage of Continuum ensembles
  7. ↑ Section adventures on the website of Continuum ensembles
  8. ↑ Homepage ( Memento of the original from April 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. of violinist Patrick Doane.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / patrickdoane.com
  9. ^ Paul Griffiths: A Celebration of the Birthday And Works of Gubaidulina . English. In: The New York Times, February 16, 2002. Online at nytimes.com.
  10. ^ Catalog of works on the official homepage of the composer Osvaldo Golijov .
  11. ↑ Catalog of works ( Memento of the original dated December 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. as PDF on the official homepage of the composer Ursula Mamlok @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ursulamamlok.com
  12. ^ Catalog of works on the official homepage of the composer Osvaldo Golijov .
  13. ↑ Calendar of events for the Continuum Ensemble
  14. ↑ Allan Kozinn : Roaming Freely (and Magically) in a Musical Universe. In: The New York Times. May 2, 2011, online at nytimes.com.
  15. ↑ Calendar of events for the Continuum Ensemble.
  16. ↑ heading recordings on the website of Continuum ensembles
  17. ↑ Hans-Jürgen Schaal: The machine age sings canon: On the 100th birthday of the composer Conlon Nancarrow Article in Neue Musikzeitung -online (10/2012)
  18. ^ Official homepage of the Continuum Ensemble.
  19. ^ Official homepage of the Continuum Ensemble.