Syrinx: Camilla's concert in Dresden

Almut Kühne, Yvonne, and Bryan Wolf; Camilla and me
Two years ago, I was in New York, in the throes of completing Way of Light for the premiere given by Daniel Rosenboom at the International Trumpet Guild Conference, the commissioning party for the work.
Camilla Hoitenga, a virtuoso flutist who has been committed to performing contemporary music for decades, was also in New York (she is based in Köln), for the recording and performance of my work Transfiguration, for soprano, flute, harp, percussion. After hearing some of the electronics and checking out the video Austin Switser created for the piece, she suggested that I consider a version for flute. Voila! She just premiered Way of Light for amplified flute, alto flute, electronics, and video this past weekend, with a spellbinding performance at the Hygiene Museum on May 10, on the second day of the Dresdner Musikfestspiele. In this piece, the player embarks on a journey, accompanied by spirit guides. There are obstacles to confront, to transcend, and to triumphantly conquer. The performer moves through six main ritualistic sections: The Call; Migration; Chaos; Turning Point; Vision; Greeting. Five archetypal emotions are embedded within these sections of the score: fear, compassion, joy, anger, and sadness. The director of the Festival, Harmut Haenchen, thanked me for a ‘great piece’ after the concert---between that compliment and Camilla’s incredible playing, I’m still not quite back to earth.

In fact, nearly all of the works on this superb program became journeys to realms beyond this earthly one. Perhaps the one exception would be the opening piece on the program, Soliloquium Nr. 1, by the Hungarian composer Zoltán Jeney. A lively conversational cornucopia (reminiscent of some of Elliott Carter’s works, especially the string quartets), it remains fresh despite its dated style. Camilla’s vibrant interpretation brought the contrasting ‘characters’ into sharp relief. Our first ‘expedition’ was led by Bryan Wolf’s When the rains have gone---a metaphysical rendering of the voices of the Sirens encountered by Odysseus on his notorious voyage, with live electronics adding dimensionality to the flute, and ambient sounds from various sources providing the backdrop for the bright, lyrical, bewitching flute melodies. Spirits, by Péter Köszeghy (also Hungarian) cast Camilla in the role of a medium. He writes that “music is a phenomenon that is real not only for living human beings, but also for ghosts or spirits. Through music, and the medium of the performer, these two worlds can communicate with one another.” The shadowy sound world he created with electronics, with its recurring rhythmic and exaggerated sound of a dripping faucet, was in stark contrast to the vivid flute writing. The refreshingly simple (yet not simple to play, involving many multiphonics), Chuang Tse’s Dream, by Gergely Ittzés (you guessed it, Hungarian), functioned in this program as a palate cleanser. Following Way of Light, the program closed with a languid, sensual version of Syrinx by Claude Debussy. Evidently, Camilla studied this piece with someone who had learned it from a flute player who actually worked with Debussy.

The composer Bryan Wolf, who spent many years as Karlheinz Stockhausen’s personal assistant for sound design, was essential to this concert in his role as the sound projector. He worked intensely to achieve the best possible balance between the amplified flute and the electronics in several of the works. Thank you, Bryan! Also, a heartfelt thanks to Camilla for being such a consistent and dynamic champion of new works for flute.