Three Generations

Jiseon Yun, my student, joined composer Nancy Van de Vate (an American but also an Austrian citizen), my husband, and myself, for lunch at a Chinese restaurant near Nancy's apartment today. Nancy had kindly loaned me her synthesizer and we were returning it. Here we are, three composers spanning three generations, entertaining one another with stories, having a fine time!

Thanks to a call from my daughter to alert me about a musical event that I would ‘love,’ we made our way later in the afternoon to the Museum Quarter. Yvonne was right, the rehearsal for the opening concert of the 25th Vienna International Dance Festival, taking place tomorrow night, was riveting. Forty Indian musicians, representing three generations (the Manganiyars, of the musicians caste in Rajasthan), sit in individually lit cubicles stacked high above, and backed by a huge red curtain. The intention of the visual setting (recalling Amsterdam’s red light district), in combination with the passionate vocal music enhanced by bowed instruments, drums, and wind instruments all native to this region of India, is to seduce the soul. The Sufi poems, praising Allah, also relate the birth of Krishna. This music held me like a magnet, right at the lip of the stage. Seated above everyone and in the center of the construction (like an enlarged and lit 'Hollywood Squares' set), the animated children were obviously having a fantastic experience, especially when they sang. Vocal and instrumental solos or ensemble configurations were interspersed with sections of the entire orchestra playing. The mouth-harp performer and the circular-breathing wind player were remarkable. I would see the performance tomorrow night but will be in Graz, meeting the Koktem choir from Kazakhstan, as they participate in the World Choir Olympics. More information can be seen here.