composition as explanation [artist cut] eighth blackbird

• David Lang (b. 1957):
• 1 there is singularly nothing [artist cut] 08:05
• 2 those who are creating [artist cut] 02:59
• 3 of course it is beautiful [artist cut] 04:34
• 4 beginning again and again [artist cut) 04:00
• 5 it is understood by this time [artist cut] 03:49
• 6 and now to begin as if to begin [artist cut] 05:22
• 7 and after that what changes [artist cut] 04:14
• 8 intertext [artist cut] 04:52
• 9 the problem from this time on [artist cut] 09:12
• 10 this then [artist cut] 03:08
• 11 the time in the composition [artist cut] 07:19
• Total Runtime 57:34

Info for composition as explanation [artist cut]

Four-time Grammy-winning sextet, Eighth Blackbird (8BB), “one of the smartest, most dynamic contemporary classical ensembles on the planet” (Chicago Tribune), presents the world premiere recording of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang’s composition as explanation, based on Gertrude Stein’s seminal 1926 lecture of the same name.

Called “Super Chamber Music” by David Lang, this multidisciplinary work incorporates elements of chamber music, theater, and performance art; it has the groundbreaking ensemble not only performing the music, but also speaking and singing Stein’s text. For the performance, the 8BB players committed themselves to a rigorous education process, including lessons in acting, diction, and the art of theater.

It is understood, by this time, that everything is the same. - G. Stein

Eighth Blackbird has been pushing the interpretative boundaries of chamber music since its first choreographed program in 1996. So far, the organization has created 7 full evening-length productions involving choreography. What began as an experiment has become a repertoire. Called “Super Chamber Music” by composer David Lang, this still-unofficial genre falls in the cracks between music and theater. and has been a conundrum. Nonetheless, 8BB does it anyway. This gray area between disciplines is the inevitable extensions of Eighth Blackbird’s artistry and our inner workings. It is the guts and it is the bones of our artistry.

Take the process of a recital program: learn, rehearse, interpret, organize, perform. The most visible element of this process is performance, but the most vital element is interpretation. Beyond the instrument each ensemble member plays, what do they really do?

They decide what choices to make with the sounds they are creating.

A composer creates a score and indicates "forte", meaning 'strong'. Ok, well, HOW strong? Strong relative to what? The volume of the other instruments? The dynamic range of their particular instrument? A decibel meter? The size of the room? Interpretation begins with every note. Where does it end? What are the parameters? Are there limits?

If there are limits, 8BB has yet to find them, or perhaps simply we don’t believe in them.

What happens if we sit in a chair and play our instrument? What changes if we stand and play instead? It turns out it makes a big difference. Huh. Might as well walk and play. What then? Is it heard differently? Does it change our sound when it looks different to the audience? What does directionality cause?

These unending questions have repeatedly led 8BB to try, to experiment, to fail miserably, to revise, to discover extraordinary beauty, to expand possibilities, to expand our experience, to expand the audience experience by creating community during the evening we have together through shared discovery. And it IS discovery. Here's a secret: Just like you, we don't really know what's going to happen during this show. 8BB has a fair idea, but we interpret in the moment. 8BB adjusts. 8BB makes mistakes! 8BB figures it out. But 8BB won't know what happened until the end of the show. You, The Audience, will bring your interpretative layer to this experience as well. You may not have thought of yourself in this way, but you are also performing a role, you're following a rehearsed ritual, you're bringing an energy, you're choosing how you will express yourselves. What began as a concert for you has become a collaboration between us. We, all of us, we're really in this together.

Everything is the same, except composition, and as the composition is different and always going to be different, everything is not the same. - G. Stein

Eighth Blackbird:
Lina Andonovska, flutes
Zachary Good, clarinets
Maiani da Silva, violin
Ashley Bathgate, cello
Matthew Duvall, percussion
Lisa Kaplan, piano

eighth blackbird
combines the finesse of a string quartet, the energy of a rock band and the audacity of a storefront theater company. The Chicago-based, three-time Grammy-winning “super-musicians” (LA Times) entertain and provoke audiences across the country and around the world.

Colombine’s Paradise Theatre is eighth blackbird’s new staged, memorized production. Composer Amy Beth Kirsten challenges the sextet to play, speak, sing, whisper, growl and mime, breathing life into this tale of dream and delusion. Performances have taken place at the University of Richmond, as well as DC’s Atlas Arts, and it has been called a “Tour de Force” by the Washington Post.

The 2013/14 season’s acoustic program, Still in Motion, features new works by The National’s Bryce Dessner (the folk-inspired Murder Ballades), Steve Mackey (music from his Grammy-winning Slide) and Australian composer Brett Dean (the searing Old Kings in Exile). eighth blackbird brings this show to Ohio, Missouri, Idaho, Oregon, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New York and California.

Other highlights include debuts with the Cincinnati Symphony (where the ensemble is an Artist in Residence) and New World Symphony; residencies at UCLA, SUNY Purchase, Baylor and Duke; a collaboration with Oberlin College’s CME; and a debut on the Lincoln Center’s Atrium series.

eighth blackbird holds ongoing Ensemble in Residence positions at the Curtis Institute of Music, University of Richmond, and University of Chicago. A decade-long relationship with Chicago’s Cedille Records has produced six acclaimed recordings. The ensemble has won three Grammy Awards, for the recordings strange imaginary animals, Lonely Motel: Music from Slide and Meanwhile.

eighth blackbird’s members hail from America’s Great Lakes, Keystone, Golden and Bay states, and Australia’s Sunshine State. There are four foodies, three beer snobs and one exercise junkie. The name “eighth blackbird” derives from the eighth stanza of Wallace Stevens’s evocative, aphoristic poem, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird (1917). eighth blackbird is managed by David Lieberman Artists.

This album contains no booklet.