Against Method counter)induction

• Douglas Boyce (b. 1970):
• 1 Boyce: A Book of Etudes, Quire 7: No. 3, The Hunt by Night 12:07
• Kyle Bartlett (b. 1971):
• 2 Bartlett: Before 08:23
• Alvin Singleton (b. 1940):
• 3 Singleton: Ein Kleines Volkslied 06:59
• Jessica Meyer (b. 1974):
• 4 Meyer: Forgiveness 08:49
• Ryan Streber (b. 1979):
• 5 Streber: Piano Quartet 12:19
• Diego Tedesco (b. 1974):
• 6 Tedesco: Scherzo 08:23
• Total Runtime 57:00

Info for Against Method

New York based new music collective counter)induction celebrates its 20th anniversary with an album that features premiere recordings of works written for the group by its member composers, Kyle Bartlett, Douglas Boyce, Jessica Meyer, and Ryan Streber. First recordings of Diego Tedesco's Scherzo, also written for the ensemble, and Alvin Singleton's rarely heard Ein Kleines Volksleid round out this album from an ensemble that has steadfastly held course over two decades, championing compositional craft and aesthetic integrity in their programming and performances.

Against Method celebrates a landmark anniversary for veteran New York new music ensemble counter)induction. Their two decades of musical life are a testament to their focused artistic vision, vibrancy of performances, and tenacity of spirit. This recording, featuring works by c)i’s member composers alongside music by two guests, captures the fundamental subversion at the core of the ensemble’s ethos -- the prioritization of substance over fashion, despite the existential pressures on a group of its kind in our contemporary landscape.

Douglas Boyce’s vigorous trio etude for clarinet, cello, and piano The Hunt by Night opens the program. Boyce writes that the piece, “is a modern caccia wherein the temporal orientations of the three musicians are bundled and re-bundled as the players shift roles from pursuer to pursued, from leader to outsider, from furious precision to savage confusion.” The virtuosity in this music is physical and mental, balancing the deft passagework with the vigilance needed to navigate the quickly shifting meters and shuffled motives.

A second trio, this time for bass clarinet, cello, and guitar, Kyle Bartlett’s Before is the expressive anthesis of the Boyce, swapping hardiness for delicate tactility and breadth of permutation for depth of examination. Bartlett’s music unfolds at the pace of an inner emotional dialogue, pausing when necessary to absorb the import of a certain expressive phrase, or digging in to an uncomfortable timbre to mine its essence. This balance between the poetic and visceral impulses binds together the sectional structure of Before.

Alvin Singleton’s Ein Kleines Volkslied was written for the Bang on a Can All-Stars in 1997 and is based on the Scottish folk song, “Annie Laurie.” Singleton establishes fixed vocabularies of musical material for each of the instruments in the sextet. The sparseness of the orchestration throughout much of the work gives way to density as Singleton merges the disparate threads together into a brief closing climax. The work’s gesture towards populism is subverted by an injection of complexity and abstraction. The balance between populism and modernism notwithstanding, the playful pun on Mozart in the title sets the tone for this lightly bittersweet piece.

counter)induction

counter)induction
In its twenty years of virtuosic performances and daring programming, the composer/performer collective counter)induction has established itself as a force of excellence in contemporary music. Hailed by The New York Times for its “fiery ensemble virtuosity” and for its “first-rate performances” by The Washington Post, c)i has given critically-acclaimed performances at Miller Theatre, Merkin Concert Hall, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Music at the Anthology, and the George Washington University. Since emerging in 1998 from a series of collaborations between composers at the University of Pennsylvania and performers at the Juilliard School, counter)induction has premiered numerous pieces by both established and emerging American composers; including Eric Moe, Suzanne Sorkin, Ursula Mamlok, and Lee Hyla. c)i has also widely promoted the music of international composers including Jukka Tiensuu, Gilbert Amy, Dai Fujikura, Diego Tedesco, and Elena Mendoza. Since its inception, c)i’s mission has been straightforward: world-class performances of contemporary chamber music, without hype and without agenda other than a complete commitment to the most compelling music of our day.

Booklet for Against Method