AMERICAN MUSIC SERIES                                                                                          295 a-f

David Harrington

with Ingram Marshall

June 7, 1999

San Francisco, CA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

[DAT 1 Begins]

Side a:                                                                                                                        pp 1-17                      

Organizing chamber music series in Vancouver--Ken Benshoof, early musical influences--first string quartet group--playing Benshoof Piano Quintet--Benshoof’s approach to rehearsal with musicians--Roosevelt High School--Ives 2nd Symphony--American Music--Ken Benshoof--Study with Veda Reynolds--family--Dick Kesner on Lawrence Welk show--support from parents--forming Kronos in 1973--performing Crumb Black Angels--residency at Geneseo--early tours--working with Xenakis on ST-4.

Side b:                                                                                                                       pp 18-36

Playing Feldman Structures--meeting Morton Feldman--Lejaren Hiller--Warren Benson--Benson Dream Net--Carter Second Quartet--Elliott Carter--Kronos as West-Coast-based ensemble--returning to San Francisco, changing personnel--debut Concert in San Fransisco--Peter Sculthorpe--using College Music Society directory of faculties--audience at debut concert--getting residency at Mills College--first year in San Francisco--commissioning Benshoof Traveling Music--Dane Rudhyar--Advent--meeting Germain Prevost--“hands-on” atmosphere of arts in San Francisco--early financial difficulties--finding replacements for Walter and Ella Gray--John Sherba and Joan Jeanrenaud--Mills College residency--Terry Riley at Mills--rehearsing Riley G Song, Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector--performer as composer.

Side c:                                                                                                                                    pp 36-47

Modular method of composing--Mythic Birds Waltz, The Wheel--playing without vibrato--influence of Riley on Kronos becoming responsible for work--Cadenza on the Night Plain--Salome Dances for Peace--Pandit Pran Nath--involvement in jazz community--quartet version of Rite of Spring--Steve Riffkin--atmosphere of Great American Music Hall--final concert at Mills--Feldman’s First Quartet--rehearsing with Feldman and importance of sound--premiering Feldman Second Quartet--Feldman Piano and String Quartet--physical difficulty of playing Feldman--cancelling performance of Feldman Second Quartet--physical endurance required to play long pieces.

[DAT 1 ends]

[DAT 2 begins]

Side d:                                                                                                                       pp 47-64

Films of Kronos--evolution of Kronos’ business organization--self-management in early years--beauty of San Francisco area--various concert series--Aleksandra Vrebalov--Amoeba records--search for composers as search for definitive musical experience--quartet as vehicle for innermost expression--“liberating music from the composer”--going beyond written page--music as verbal medium--cross-influence of composers on performance--early recordings of Kronos--Bob Hurwitz, Peter Clancey [sp]--choosing Nonesuch as label--first recording with Nonesuch--fertile period of new works (Piazolla, Zorn, Volans, Saariaho, Reich, Riley, Satoh)--Kronos album as composed experience--“Black Angels” album--discovering Aulis Sallinen--Pieces of Mosaic--Winter was Hard--playing Nancarrow String Quartet--Nancarrow upset about placement on first album--playing Druckman at Aspen--friction with Druckman over encore.

Side e:                                                                                                                        pp 64-79

Friction with Druckman over encore (cont.)--fighting for freedom to set own programs--Reich Triple Quartet--Steve Riffkin arranging Purple Haze--program as composed experience--Winter Was Hard--taking responsibility for order and content of albums--album “singles”--Lutoslawski String Quartet--Volans Hunting: Gathering--Piazolla Five Tango Sensations--album “At the Grave of Richard Wagner”--working with Lutoslawski--discovering Gorecki--Gorecki Already It Is Dusk--weight of Gorecki’s music--Gorecki’s Third Quartet--Phillip Glass--Glass Company--Glass Mishima--Glass Fifth Quartet--Glass soundtrack to 1931 “Dracula”--death of son Adam--Schnittke Collection of Songs Where Every Verse is Filled With Grief--Riley Requiem for Adam--effect of loss on role as musician--Saint Francis Climbs Mount Diablo--album “Early Music”--bells at end of “Early Music”--Reich Different Trains--challenge of playing with prerecorded parts--personal/universal drama of Different Trains--hiring sound and lighting directors--justifying theatricality of Kronos’ presentation.

Side f:                                                                                                                                    pp 79-81

Enlarging geo-cultural focus of string quartet medium--“crossover” potential of Kronos--resistance to Kronos’ innovation--music as mutual resonance of experience--Craig Woodson--childrens’ concert in Germany--Raymond Scott Powerhouse--John Oswald Spectre.

[DAT 2 ends]