Its seems as though in every generation, and in nearly every musical genre, Western composers and musicians discover the virtues of non-Western idioms. Some late-18th Century European composers–including Mozart–jumped on the Turkish bandwagon, Debussy became enamored with the gamelan around the turn of the previous century, and George Harrison discovered Ravi Shankar.
In more recent years, rock stars have joined forces with African musicians, and the rather crude term “world music” has been coined as a marketing tool by record companies as a way to categorize any form of pop-related music not originating from Europe or North America.
In fact, despite the tendency of these artists to imply that they are the first to integrate these exotic influences into their music, the first of these cross-pollinations occurred many centuries ago. The Newberry Consort reminded us of this fact in a fascinating program titled “East Meets West: The Marco Polo Show” on Friday at the Newberry Library.
Most of the pieces in the first half of the program had their origins in 12th and 13th Century Italy, giving listeners a sampling of the kind of music Marco Polo might have been exposed to in the Venice of his day. The three core members–Mary Springfels, David Douglass, and Drew Minter–displayed their usual versatility with such period instruments as the rebec, vielle, and citole. Most of the vocal chores went to countertenor Minter, who never failed to bring these troubadour songs to life.
The manuscripts of these pieces typically give modern performers very little to work with, and the consort showed tremendous ingenuity in varying the realizations of each number.
In Bartolome Zorzi’s “Mout fort me …,” an instrumental solo introduction by Douglass was followed by several verses that illuminate the tensions between the Venetians and the Genoese. There were vocal passages and several instrumental interludes between stanzas, all done persuasively.
In the second half, Asian music of the era was invoked, primarily through the efforts of two splendid virtuosos of traditional Chinese instruments. Betty Xiang, performing on the erhu, was captivating in “Farewell,” a traditional Chinese tune. Pipa virtuoso Wei Yang provided the evening’s most thrilling moments.
“The Silk Road” is a modern work by composer Liu De Hai that demonstrates a range of color and dynamics I have never before heard from such an ancient instrument. Yang’s playing of this work and the following “Concerto of an Ancient Battlefield” involved an astonishing compendium of plucking techniques. We can only hope that more Chicago presenters will find room for these two extraordinary musicians.
Kudos also to the Herculean efforts of the indefatigable Springfels. Concerts such as this do not begin with a perusal of the sheet music department at the local music store. Those who choose to tackle music of this era must be part musicological sleuths. The countless hours of research that went into the construction of this program were amply rewarded with an evening that was both entertaining and informative to all present.
