Evento

Georg Friedrich Haas: in vain

PROGRAM

Christopher Trapani (b. 1980): Anyplace Else (2012) for 11 players (North American Premiere)

Georg Friedrich Haas (b. 1953): in vain (2000) for 24 players and lighting design

Haas's in vain has already earned recognition as one of the most influential and important pieces of music written since 2000. It is the composer's vehement, long-form response to the far right's political victories in his native Austria. With a style reminiscent of Ligeti, with its rich, spectrally-derived harmonies and complex interweaving rhythmic matrices, Haas has a dramatic and powerful musical voice. His music is made even more distinct by the lighting effects that his scores call for; certain passages of in vain will be performed in complete darkness, disturbing and transforming the listener's expectations on this journey through territory in which intense, violent energy and absolute stasis are juxtaposed. There are few ensembles that can pull off a work of this magnitude (it even includes an accordion part!), and Dal Niente is pleased to offer the first Chicago performance of this incredible masterwork.

Also on the program is Chris Trapani's Anyplace Else, in which melting imaginary landscapes are conjured by the sounds of prepared piano and effects-drenched electric guitar. Dal Niente gave this work its world premiere to high praise at the 2012 Darmstadt Courses, and Chicago audiences will thrill to its savvy mingling of harmonically-rich and formally structured worlds of Grisey or Murail with the deconstructed pop/rock experimentation of contemporary sound artists such as Dirty Beaches. Recommended if you like: Tortoise, Les espaces acoustiques, The Sea & Cake.

Dal Niente was founded in Chicago in 2004. Since then, the organization has presented countless world and North American premieres. Many of these premieres have been the result of major commissioning grants including awards from the Fromm Music Foundation, Meet the Composer, the American Composers Forum, and the Jerome Foundation. Last July, the ensemble performed at the famous Darmstadt New Music Courses, where they were awarded the Kranichstein Music Prize, the highest honor for performers of contemporary music.