WAYNE PETERSON
Nonet
Wayne Peterson's new Nonet is as affecting a work as I've heard from this composer. The first of its two movements, dedicated to the memory of the CMP's late oboist William Banovetz in particular, made masterful use of the three winds, horn, three strings, piano and percussion, continuously revealing sweet ensemble textures and pointillistic tone colors in a brilliantly controlled mix. A striking aspect of the work was its alternation of collectively flowing lines and colors stopped in time, with interest added by rotating judiciously chosen percussion. Although I didn't find the second movement as moving, I was taken by Peterson's abilities as an orchestrator of transparent textures, as every line could be heard clearly, even with all nine instruments involved. Credit should also go to British guest conductor Paul Hoskins, who managed the work's shifting balances with unerring fluency and momentum. BENJAMIN FRANDZEL, SFCV.ORG
Antiphonies
Colorful percussion, imaginatively scored and impressively
performed, was at the heart of Earplay's concert in Berkeley's First
Congregational Church last Monday evening. Wayne Peterson's
Antiphonies (1999), for marimba and
vibraphone, was its strongest element, and Daniel Kennedy, for whom, the work
was composed, was the exceptional performer.
In each section of Antiphonies 's single, continuous movement, the marimba
dominates the musical texture. Its chromatically shifting tremolando harmonies
give rise to a skein of rapid melodic figuration that demand great concentration
from the performer. The vibraphone seemed an extension of the marimba, its long,
held tones adding harmonic resonance and enriching the timbral palette with a
bright metallic sound.
A brief episode using wooden sticks instead of mallets provides an interesting
change of texture -- drier, thinner, and more percussive. For all its activity
and rhythmic propulsion, a long-breathed lyricism seems to underlie
much of the piece's expressive
intention. Kennedy, who played it from memory, was utterly convincing.
JULES LANGERT, SFCV.ORG
Janus
Wayne Peterson's (b. 1929) Janus is comprised of fast,
bustling music of tremendous energy interspersed with broader, more lyrical
music, essentially operating in dialog. Within the tonal context and the simpler
musical language, it can be said to recall the experiments with simultaneous
musics moving at different speeds of both Elliott Carter and Harrison Birtwistle.
JOHN STORY, FANFARE
Theseus
London began the evening with Wayne Peterson's "Theseus," an overture that describes the mythical encounter between the hero and the Minotaur. The piece is a rush of thematic and coloristic tidbits, full of fanfares, dramatic flourishes and exotic lines. Unlike some music of recent vintage, "Theseus" has a clear sense of where it's going and what it is trying to accomplish. The activity is lively, ethereal, mysterious and even rude, a keen reflection of the tale. London and the orchestra played Peterson's creation with their inimitable fearlessness and sensitivity. May the rest of the season be as compelling. Donald Rosenberg, The Cleveland Plain Dealer
The Face of the Night, The Heart of the Dark (awarded the
1992 Pulitzer Prize in Music)
"The adagio is a beautiful, sensuous study. Melodies pass from one instrument or section to another, changing color as they course through a clear and open texture. The harmony is rich in a style of softened dissonance, the play of orchestral colors fantastic ... Peterson's finely intricate rhythmic style becomes supercharged in the Allegro ... The syncopation, laid on in contrasting layers of activity, generates an electric energy always shifting ... in the ingeniously calculated design and the effect was of a driving, dancing, devilishly playful music." ROBERT COMMANDAY, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
String Quartet No. 1
"Its single movement also adds a cheerful, optimistic
spirit of its own; the result is a wonderful string quartet, so invigorating and
uplifting that it bypasses any consideration of its stylistic position in the
contemporary music scene."JAMES
H. NORTH, FANFARE
String Quartet No. 2
"Peterson ... has written a punchy, sometimes hyperactive piece that keeps a listener involved throughout." JOSHUA KOSMAN, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Duodecaphony
"It was an attractive piece of work: beautifully constructed, straight-shooting, with tremendous rhythmic force and vitality."MARCIA YOUNG, STRAD
Labyrinth
"...an emphatic success - a piece with a sense of real immediacy. Peterson's musical ideas are distinctive and he keeps them recognizable as changes are wrung on them. He is not afraid to let the music tap its foot rhythmically in recurrent stretches that change the pace of the activity. Peterson's considerable craft is everywhere apparent - in the fascinating color combinations he makes, ...in the unflagging rhythmic vitality and energy, in the momentum and sure aim." ROBERT COMMANDAY, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Diptych
"...consistently surprises in the clarity of its counterpoint and in its deployment of instrumental timbres for both sensuous and dramatic possibilities. Tensions grow organically from the material without seeming imposed upon it." ALLAN ULRICH, SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
Transformations
"...bursts with energy and ideas - brief musical notions that trigger a lively sequence of development, combination and recombination ... The play of Peterson's imagination is dazzling ... swift associative connections, the prismatic change of color, the insistent and charged rhythm pursuing a real direction."
ROBERT COMMANDAY, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE