Each Friday, Collector will present three disparate but artistically worthwhile digital artifacts from the worlds of music, performance, and art.
Eighth Blackbird performing Mayke Nas’s “DiGiT #2"
Mayke Nas’ “ DiGiT #2” begins simply enough — two performers sit at the piano alternately falling onto low keys and high keys, relative to their seating positions. The speed picks up and the low/high piano pattern becomes very regular. An occasional thigh slap is heard. Underneath the regular piano rhythm, thigh slaps and hand claps grow more complicated until they take over the piece. This playful piece from 2002 is given an engaging performance by new music chamber captains Eighth Blackbird. Nas has gone on to write larger chamber and orchestral works, but I’m really intrigued by her use of performance and movement like this piece for PVC pipe and this movement collaboration.
David Bernabo “Material”
Carved out of three hours of improvised drums, “Material” and the rest of Bernabo’s album The Inn represents highly melodic, process music. On top of a song-length’s worth of compiled drums, the music — only acoustic guitar, electric guitar played through a Sears amp, and fretless bass — was written and repeatedly improvised into form.
Olivier Messiaen “O Sacrum Convivium”
I have always thought of this 1937 piece as the most beautiful piece of music.
