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FITS & BURSTS | Toy Piano Composers Open a Quirky Pandora’s Box

By Michael Vincent on September 23, 2014

Michael Vincent
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The Toy Piano Composers turned seven last weekend. To celebrate, they treated an audience to a program of chamber music based on the premise of integrating homemade/invented instruments. It was an evening full of whispers, creaks, rustles, hums, crackles, and rubbing.

The turnout was good, and even the Music Gallery’s exceedingly uncomfortable pews didn’t detour a wholehearted gathering.

Co-hosted by TPC’s Monica Pearce and Chris Thornborrow, the concert represented six composers exhibiting pieces preceded by a series of off-the-cuff interviews. With the exception of some thoughtful commentary by Anthony Marasco and Jason Doell, this was a somewhat palsy-walsy approach.

At one point, one of the composers called out “Hail Satan,” during his interview, which was more than a little offensive considering the Music Gallery doubles as an Anglican church.

Grumpy critic aside, each of the works were worthwhile and stretched-out the traditional notions of conventional instrumentation – and as any good contemporary music composer will tell you, these need a good stretching from time-to-time.

The show opened with a delightful mouthful by Toronto composer Elisha DenburgFisher Price Laugh & Learn Fun with Friends Musical Table. The main focus of the piece was a toy, which Denburg nabbed from his 14-month-old son. It was mic’d and played by percussionist Daniel Morphy as a totally repurposed sampler, which included a disembodied child’s voice reciting basic colours, numbers, and phrases such as, “it’s learning time!” The piece fluttered and teased laughs from even the most prickly of Toronto’s contemporary who’s who.

After Denburg’s piece, composer Fiona Ryan took the stage to present her utterly strange Ancient Dances III: For Post-Apocalyptic Orchestra. It was a messy effort, and struggled to survive its brief life in the world. The Toy Piano Composers Ensemble did their best to make sense of the piece, but this was a difficult sell, especially after such a strong outing by Denburg’s “tough act to follow.”

Next up was a new work titled Sonata for Satan by Daniel Brophy. The piece combined a number of spectral influences – though there was no mention of this in Brophy’s academically-styled program notes:  “The process is linear and degrading, driving further away from its original form as it moves along its trajectory.”  Daniel Morphy, (tasked with playing Brophy’s hand-made instruments), tussled with the electronics during the performance. It was enthralling to watch him try to coax sound out of things like a tumbler shaped object rubbing against a saw equipped with a stubborn piezo contact microphone.  The harmonies were full of shifting tall-masted chords that cast a complex harmonic shadow throughout the room (Hail Satan?).

Another highlight included two works by TPC’s very first international guest composer, Anthony T. Marasco. As both a composer and sound artist, Marasco takes his influence from Digimodernist culture, which, as he explains on his website, explores the relationships between the eccentric and the every-day, the strict and the indeterminate, the raw and the refined, the retro and the contemporary.

His first piece, Mid-Century Marfa, required plenty of elaborate DIY instrumentary. Its premise was evocative of Martha Texas, which has become notable as a kind of hipster paradise where people flock to take selfies in front on a lone Prada store that sits unexplained in the middle of nowhere. Wesley Shen played the piece with multiple knuckle-knocks, and various sportive gestures that offered a strong counter to the fan-swept drones that shaped the sonic inspired desert landscape.

The piece includes an instrument called a plastorgan, which is basically a collection of resonant plastic pop-bottles installed in front of a fan. It sounded a bit like the sci-fi drone from an early 1960’s Star Trek episode. The piece also included an aeolian harp (an open-tuned instrument played by wind), which added a wonderfully strange character to the piece, further heightened by live processing by Marasco from the stage.

His other work, Ultraviolet Cleopatra, (not as strong as the first), included a similar drone-based structure that was mostly textural. Adam Scime did a fine job performing on the electric bass, and firmly grounded the work.

Next on the bill was Monica Pearce’s Cognitive Dissonance, scored for violin, piano, and oxblood (an instrument made by Anthony Marasco). Though interesting at times, the sound of the oxblood offered very little nuance besides a vague rubbing sound. Think of what an amplified slinky might sound like, you wouldn’t be far-off. The piece was performed by a stone-faced Wesley Shen on piano, and truly phenomenal Sharon Lee on violin.

The show closed with Ordinance by Jason Doell. The charming piece is composed of 5 music boxes, which Doell hand-punched using a special kit available online. It was a delightful work, and its gentle hypnotic tones and mechanical winding sounds lulled a wonderful conclusion to the evening.

With a number of compelling pieces and near misses, it was a worthwhile night for new music in Toronto.

The TPC have made a real specialty out of presenting new music concerts in a surprisingly disarming and fun way. This time it was a Pandora’s Box, but next time they just might let the genie out of the bottle.

The Toy Piano Composers’ next concert is planned for November 29th at Heliconian Hall. Do check them out.

Michael Vincent

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Video: Jason Doell, guest composer performs his work ‘Two Short Music Box Pieces’, at Salon 21 at The Gardiner Museum on February 21, 2014.

Michael Vincent
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