Beyond Crossover
David Krakauer, clarinets
Marija Stroke, piano
Klezmer Set: accordion, bass
Program
Beyond Crossover - statement by David Krakauer
Ever since the moment I was able to play the clarinet halfway decently I've been interested in juxtaposing the making of my own music with interpreting classical compositions. (In that sense I never felt the need to "cross" - I was already "over.") It was always amazing to see how the two interacted with one another. Constantly working to create my own sounds (whether it be through improvising or composing) has helped me find my personal key to interpretation: first, always striving to be closer to the moment of creation (play the piece as if I had composed it or improvised it); second, seeking to tell a story; and third, creating a dialogue between my ideas and what I perceive as the composer's ideas. For example, playing the "Abyss of the Birds" is like having a great philosophical conversation with a close friend. Messiaen himself describes the piece as a reflection of the contract between darkness and light. The abyss stands for eternal human suffering/darkness while the birds represent the jubilation/light. Experiencing these emotional changes through the music (for both interpreter and audiences) sets up the "conversation".
This holds true of any other solo classical repertoire that I believe in - be it Debussy, Brahms, Steve Reich, John Cage, Stravinsky, Anthony Coleman, Joan Tower, Janácek, or Luciano Berio. There is an important story contained within each piece, and it is the performer's duty to bring it out. My own composition - Rothko on Broadway which has now evolved into Synagogue Wail - comes from a specific place as well. It was created at the wedding of my friends Allan Evans and Beatrice Muzi in the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas. The piece is inspired by the paintings in the chapel and how, through Rothko's layering techniques, they seem to "breathe" and "radiate" energy. I attempted to capture this in sound. The new incarnation of this piece (Synagogue Wail) cross pollinates the ideas of Rothko on Broadway with the klezmer Doina.
But it was only when I began to work in klezmer music that I was able to bring all these elements I have been describing under one "banner" - creating, as it were, a sort of musical home for myself. Within a framework that feels totally natural to me (as I hear the Yiddish accent of my grandmother when I play klezmer) I am able to do everything at once: interpret a body of repertoire, write new music (from tunes to longer compositions), and improvise in my own way - retaining the "Yiddish in music" concept, while adding the extended techniques of overtones, microtones, circular breathing, etc., that I have worked with for years. In addition, through the music I have been able to come closer to my own Jewishness on a turf where I'm totally comfortable.
All in all it's been quite an adventure so far. To be able to play classical music with wonderful colleagues, work with some of the most important composers of this (and the next) century, create new music that feels right to me, and carry on an important tradition of my ancestors is a thrill and an honor. To give something to the next generation is equally, if not more, exciting.
Marija Stroke, piano
Klezmer Set: accordion, bass
Program
| Leos Janácek | Allegro from the Concertino (1925) |
| Olivier Messiaen | Abîme des oiseaux (Abyss of the Birds) From the Quartet for the End of Time |
| Steve Reich | New York Counterpoint For Clarinet and Tape (1985) Performance tape recorded by David Krakauer Recording Engineer: David Merrill |
| Claude Debussy | Première Rhapsodie (1910) |
| Traditional | A Klezmer Set Doina (Trad) Der Gasn Nign (trad) Terkish Yale V'Yove Tanz (trad) Synagogue Wail (David Krakauer b.1956) Der Heyser Bulgar (trad) |
Beyond Crossover - statement by David Krakauer
Ever since the moment I was able to play the clarinet halfway decently I've been interested in juxtaposing the making of my own music with interpreting classical compositions. (In that sense I never felt the need to "cross" - I was already "over.") It was always amazing to see how the two interacted with one another. Constantly working to create my own sounds (whether it be through improvising or composing) has helped me find my personal key to interpretation: first, always striving to be closer to the moment of creation (play the piece as if I had composed it or improvised it); second, seeking to tell a story; and third, creating a dialogue between my ideas and what I perceive as the composer's ideas. For example, playing the "Abyss of the Birds" is like having a great philosophical conversation with a close friend. Messiaen himself describes the piece as a reflection of the contract between darkness and light. The abyss stands for eternal human suffering/darkness while the birds represent the jubilation/light. Experiencing these emotional changes through the music (for both interpreter and audiences) sets up the "conversation".
This holds true of any other solo classical repertoire that I believe in - be it Debussy, Brahms, Steve Reich, John Cage, Stravinsky, Anthony Coleman, Joan Tower, Janácek, or Luciano Berio. There is an important story contained within each piece, and it is the performer's duty to bring it out. My own composition - Rothko on Broadway which has now evolved into Synagogue Wail - comes from a specific place as well. It was created at the wedding of my friends Allan Evans and Beatrice Muzi in the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas. The piece is inspired by the paintings in the chapel and how, through Rothko's layering techniques, they seem to "breathe" and "radiate" energy. I attempted to capture this in sound. The new incarnation of this piece (Synagogue Wail) cross pollinates the ideas of Rothko on Broadway with the klezmer Doina.
But it was only when I began to work in klezmer music that I was able to bring all these elements I have been describing under one "banner" - creating, as it were, a sort of musical home for myself. Within a framework that feels totally natural to me (as I hear the Yiddish accent of my grandmother when I play klezmer) I am able to do everything at once: interpret a body of repertoire, write new music (from tunes to longer compositions), and improvise in my own way - retaining the "Yiddish in music" concept, while adding the extended techniques of overtones, microtones, circular breathing, etc., that I have worked with for years. In addition, through the music I have been able to come closer to my own Jewishness on a turf where I'm totally comfortable.
All in all it's been quite an adventure so far. To be able to play classical music with wonderful colleagues, work with some of the most important composers of this (and the next) century, create new music that feels right to me, and carry on an important tradition of my ancestors is a thrill and an honor. To give something to the next generation is equally, if not more, exciting.
Photo: Selmer Paris