Reviews

Stephen Coxe and Friends
Create a Magical Evening of Chamber Music

Attending the faculty recital of Stephen Coxe at Chandler Recital Hall on January, 24, 2010 was like stepping blithely into another world, into an atmosphere far away from the daily hussle, a rarefied world of intelligence and reflection animated by a creative, quiet energy. As composer, pianist, novice percussionist and organizer, Dr. Coxe constructed a special experience in time.

Playing from memory, our pianist opened the program with four selected Préludes by Claude Debussy (1862-1918). Debussy approached the instrument in a unique way: quiet, lyrical passages are not a setup for the next loud, assertive section as is true in so much piano music of the romantic era. Mr. Coxe's polished interpretations were a study in French style. Danseuses de Delphes (Delphic Dancers) was sensual, slow and solemn. Bruyères (Heath) has a flowing line enriched by thick, resonant textures. It approaches intensity only to hold back. Hommage à Samuel Pickwick, Esq. has a powerful opening with notes created by a more emphatic touch – a version of God Save the Queen sounded out in low notes. Woven into the fabric of La Cathédral engloutie, the Sunken Cathedral that sinks into the sea, then reappears, are suggestions of resonant chimes, ocean swells, tolling bells, distant plainchant and the swell of a mighty organ as the sound dies away as textures in the lowest notes swallow-up the whole scene.

Though the next section was a composition by Dr. Coxe, I will speak of it later and point out the contrast in mood of the next solo piano piece. Aaron Copland (1900-1990) Piano Variations is the work of a brash thirty-year old asserting his new-found freedom from old European forms, embracing dissonance and jazz with no concern with pleasing an audience. With its bold four-note theme presented in various permutations with harsh interruptions, it was in sharp contrast to the Debussy. The structure of the piece with an overall harmonic conception came through clearly in the spiky, percussive playing demanded by Mr. Copland.

Still in the role of solo pianist, Mr. Coxe presented Amores by John Cage (1912-1992). The opening and closing movements of this four-movement piece are for prepared piano. The two center sections are for three percussionists and this was the time that the featured pianist became a novice percussionist. Some of the strings of the piano are “doctored” in various ways to produce abnormal tone qualities. In 1943 this was a radical move but developments since, especially electronically produced sounds, made the experience seem charming in an old-fashioned way. The sound of a toy harpsichord or a gamelan orchestra come to mind in the first piece. In the second movement, Nikolas White and Sarah Williams, both ODU students, played the more demanding parts of II.Trio for nine tom-toms and pod rattle. At the front of the stage on their knees all three played in quiet, deep concentration in the third movement, III.Trio for 7 woodblocks, not Chinese. The last movement returned to the prepared piano. The framework for the piece is its rhythmic structure and was a surprisingly delightful experience.

We heard two compositions by Dr. Coxe. With Clara Lee on cello, we heard the first movement of Cello Sonata (2007). The motion of the music was a smooth, singing tone structured in classical sonata form. As equal partners, the piano and cello create a lovely auditory dance in space. When two contrasting themes and an opposing key arrive they bring expanded and complex harmony. In the dialogue between the two voices the feeling is somber, at times even troubled .

In a setting of poetry by Peter Everwine, composer Coxe drew on two fellow ODU professors, contralto Kelly Samarzea and Anastasia Migliozzi on viola, who gave a superb presentation of his 2009 song cycle. In the summer Dr. Coxe is composer-in-residence and faculty member at the Yellow Barn Music School and Festival in Vermont. Of Peter Everwine, a major voice in American poetry, he says “it has been a great pleasure to meet him while we were in residence in Vermont. The three poems, How it Is, It Was Autumn and Night are inspired by nature and for me memory. They have a haunting quality and this relates to my feeling of being overwhelmed by nature in all its extreme beauty in late summer in Vermont.”

The lovely, deep tones of Ms. Samarzea's voice blended in a quiet, even somber way with the tone of Ms. Migliozzi's viola creating interesting colors to enhance the lines. For example, in It Was Autumn the cacophony of summer night sounds are created by the lone instrument. While the upward opening sweeps of instrumental sound create a mood filled by the voice singing Night, lamplight falls on a white tablecloth in the quiet where a magical dinner event happens. Mysterious and beautiful. The audience, enthralled, cheered and demanded a second bow. Speaking of the audience, many were students and all were pin-drop quiet through every piece and clapped only at the end of pieces, not for movements.

Several students were from the Governor's School for the Arts where Dr. Coxe teaches in the Instrumental Music Department. Drawing from that part of his musical network to put together the closing piece, Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) Chansons Madécasses, he chose as collaborators fellow teachers Patti Watters, flute, Jeffrey Phelps, cello and from Florida, soprano Nansi Carroll. Ms. Carroll received her doctorate from Yale in 1982 and is a composer with over 300 works. She has been a faculty member at various universities, most recently University of Florida and is Artistic Co-Director (along with Dr. Coxe) of the Jubilus Festival.

Chansons Madécasses (Madagascar Songs) has an economy and clarity of color for each voice in this quartet, especially flute, cello and piano. The singer in the first song waits for the arrival of his beloved Nahandove. Each repetition of the name, and there are several, bespeaks sensual love. They die together of ecstasy until pleasure passes like lightening, only then do they plan to get together again at evening. The opening word of the second song, Aoual (“A-wa!”) cuts deeply into the silence for it is a cry of the black natives oppressed by the white invaders. The song recounts how they warded off the invaders and warn the young to be vigilant. The instrumental ending is stunning. The last song is a vignette of a hot afternoon "It is sweet to lie down in the hot afternoon under a leafy tree and wait for the evening breeze to bring coolness." Come girl and sing to me of little events in daily life. When the breeze comes, the mood abruptly shifts “Go now and prepare the evening meal.” The instrumental trio gave a superb performance but the smoothed-out vocal line by the singer indicated lack of involvement with the text .

Bringing a lovely evening to a close, the reception, hosted by Stephen Coxe's wife Mariana Szklo-Coxe and her mother Hilda made the pleasure of the evening complete.

For readers who want to hear Ravel's Chansons Madécasses, my current favorite is CD B0002124-02 on DG titled Magdalena Kožená, Songs. Fourteen additional songs include works by Shostakovich, Respighi, Schuloff and Britten.

ODU New Music Ensemble
November 11, 2011
Chandler Recital Hall
Old Dominion University
Reviewed by John Campbell

On November 11, Old Dominion University presented the New Music Ensemble in an evening of chamber music in Chandler Hall, organized by season 2011-12 Interim Conductor Stephen Coxe.

The evening opened with Music for Pieces of Wood (1973) by Steve Reich (b.1936) played on claves by Meagan Armstrong, Mr. Coxe, Beth Anne Jacob, Sarah Williams and Nik White. Of this music Reich has written “I intended to compose music employing the simplest instruments possible. My choice fell on claves (pipes made of hard wood) because of their different and exact pitches … and timbre. This happens to be one of the loudest pieces of music I have ever written though it uses no amplification.” It was a new sound phenomenon for listeners in Chandler Hall as the interplay of overtones created a dense web of sound. It felt like the sound waves were bouncing around inside my ear canals and my ears were still ringing when the applause ended. In conversation Mr. Coxe said that they had experimented with where to stand; placing the musicians near the back of the stage created the least volume.

Now that we were fully awake, we were treated to two movements from a seldom performed work by Maurice Ravel, Sonata for Violin and Cello (1920). The first, Allegro, movement began its life as part of Tombeau de Claude Debussy: Duo pour violon and violoncelle. Josephine Cariño, violin and Michael Frohnapfel, cello played the notes accurately but there was a raggedness in their coordinated sound. By the end of the movement a languid sensuality came into focus. The second movement, Très vif, with its drama of plucked violin strings and bowed cello had a winning kinetic energy.

A world premiere of Haiku for Marimba (2011) by Stephan Lazar (b.1987,) a 2001 ODU graduate, was played by Nik White. Mr. Lazar studied with Mark Chambers and Dr. Coxe and has an undergraduate degree in composition. Currently he performs in a jazz band and a rock group. Mr. White read three haiku by Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) and after each played music that captured the mood of the words. The somber texts were gently illuminated by Mr. White's skillful, expressive playing.

Alban Berg (1885-1935) Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op.5 (1913) had Mr. Coxe at the piano and Ms. Armstrong playing clarinet. Berg is best known for his operas Lulu and Wozzeck. His Four Pieces is an instrumental work with the same lyrical, dramatic feeling as the operas. They are not solutions to formal problems but rather brief poetic gestures, extravagant in expression. The work lasted about seven minutes.

Continuing the somber, introspective energy, Sarah Williams on vibraphone and Mr. Coxe at the piano gave us Dream (1948) by John Cage (1912-1992). For all his reputation as an avant-garde rebel, Cage wrote many listenable chamber pieces exploring sonorities of unusual instrumental combinations, especially using percussion instruments. This one was warm-hearted and very listenable.

Grief was explored by eclectic Brazilian composer Osvaldo Golijov (b.1960) in Mariel, in Memory of Mariel Stubrin (1999) performed by cellist Michael Frohnapfel and marimbist Nik White. The slow, sad, sustained music drew the listener into a deeper and deeper sense of loss as Golijov musically explores the loss of his beloved friend. At the end the playing winds down into silence. I did not hear the Brazilian musical influence that was suggested in the spoken introduction to the piece but the sadness was palpable.

Concluding the evening on an up-tempo note with Josephine Cariño on violin and Beth Anne Jacob at the piano, we heard the second movement, Blues. Moderato, from Maurice Ravel Violin Sonata (1927).

Drawing on compositions from the last one-hundred years we were presented an evening of intriguing chamber music. Live performance makes all the difference. Thank you Steve Coxe and students for a fine evening.