CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
Kronos Quartet
Ritva Koistinen
Hurdy-Gurdy
Kimmo Pohjonen & Samuli Kosminen
Tanya Tagaq

Zankel Hall
Saturday, March 13th, 2010 at 10:00 PM

Kronos Quartet
·· David Harrington, Violin
·· John Sherba, Violin
·· Hank Dutt, Viola
·· Jeffrey Zeigler, Cello
Ritva Koistinen, Kantele
Hurdy-Gurdy
·· Stefan Brisland-Ferner, Hurdy Gurdy and Electronics
·· Totte Mattsson, Hurdy Gurdy and Electronics
Kimmo Pohjonen, Accordion and Vocals
Samuli Kosminen, Accordion Samples and Vocal Samples
Tanya Tagaq, Vocals

TRAD. Church Bells of Konevitsa (arr. Paul Salminen and Ritva Koistinen)
SALMENHAARA Inventio (Invention) (US Premiere)
KARIN REHNQVIST Interludes for Kantele (US Premiere)
ELOVAARA Forest Lake
PÄRT Pari Intervallo
STEFAN BRISLAND-FERNER Delirium (NY Premiere)
TRAD. Ynglingen (arr. Hurdy-Gurdy) (NY Premiere)
TRAD. Maran (arr. Totte Mattson) (NY Premiere)
TRAD. Spindelleken (arr. Hurdy-Gurdy) (NY Premiere)
HURDY-GURDY Scatter (NY Premiere)
KIMMO POHJONEN & SAMULI KOSMINEN Reaktio (US Premiere)
KIMMO POHJONEN Ulaani (US Premiere)
KIMMO POHJONEN Kluster (US Premiere)
KIMMO POHJONEN & SAMULI KOSMINEN Kalma
KIMMO POHJONEN Voima (US Premiere)
DEREK CHARKE Tundra Songs (NY Premiere)

Perspectives: Kronos Quartet

Program is approximately 1 hour, 50 minutes, including one intermission

This concert is made possible, in part, by The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation.

Program Notes:

DEREK CLARKE
Tundra Songs

About the Composer

Canadian-born composer Derek Charke is also a flutist and Assistant Professor of Music at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Charke’s compositions pair electro-acoustic elements, many derived from environmental sounds, with acoustic instruments. Ecological sound as an artistic statement on environmental issues has become an impetus for some works, and his interest in the Arctic has likewise played a role in many of his compositions. His music has been performed and commissioned by artists such as the Kronos Quartet, St. Lawrence String Quartet, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Katona Twins, Group for Contemporary Music, Xanthos Ensemble, and the National Flute Association. Additionally, he is co-director of the annual Acadia New Music Festival Shattering the Silence, an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre, and a member of the Canadian League of Composers. Visit charke.com for more information.


In the Composer’s Own Words

I’ve been fascinated with the Arctic for as long as I can remember. I’ve lived there, I met my wife there, and I return as often as I can. Naturally, I was thrilled when David Harrington asked me to write a new work for Kronos and Tanya Tagaq based on the North.

In March 2007, I traveled to Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut. Fresh off the plane, and in minus-30-degree temperatures, I traveled by dogsled to a polynya, an open area of water kept free of ice due to the strong currents. Dropping my hydrophone into the water, I recorded sounds of shrimp, krill, seals, and other marine life. The next morning, I set the microphone on an ice floe and recorded the cracking ice—huge chunks of ice grinding together as the tide came in, pushing the entire frozen ocean up. Later that afternoon, back in town, I positioned a microphone in the center of some dog food to attract the ravens. I recorded their calls and shrieks, their wings flapping in the frigid weather as they attacked the food.

Over the following week I recorded daily life in the north: a group of kids playing shimmy street hockey, snowmobiles racing around town, airplanes coming and going, a dogsled race, someone carving a soapstone sculpture, the beeps of the water trucks backing up, howling wind, and dogs tied up in front of homes. The highlight of this trip was an invitation to a country feast, where we ate polar bear, seal, caribou, whale, and arctic char. After the feast, the tale of Sedna, the Inuit goddess who created all living beings, was vividly recounted.

Tundra Songs is divided into five continuous movements. Each section explores a specific sound world and roughly follows the seasons. Two primary techniques are explored: circle bowing and vertical bowing. Using these methods of tone production, it’s possible to make the string quartet sound similar to Inuit throat singing.

Ice (Winter/Ukiuq): Sounds of drums and cracking ice are heard from a distance. They quickly get closer. The string quartet enters. Circle bowing, grinding, and vertical bowing techniques over a static harmonic backdrop begin the work.

Water (Spring/Upirngaksaaq): Whale calls are heard as descending harmonic sounds; seals grunt, shrimp crackle, and streaming water is heard flowing under the arctic ice. An atmospheric and rhythmic backdrop accompanies a jazzy string quartet. A high beep signals the last part of this movement. Water, whales, and ice are heard as the string quartet plays a march-like rhythm in unison, pizzicato or col legno battuto (“with the wood of the bow”). Goose honks signal the arrival of summer, and a clash of thunder signals the transition to the third movement.

Sedna’s Song (Summer/Aujaq): “Lakaluk would like to tell us a story,” kids playing hockey, “What a goal,” and a snowmobile whiz by. Birds, wildlife, and a band saw used for carving are in the background. Castanets emulate caribou hooves clicking. The story takes an unexpected turn; the music becomes more virulent as more chromaticism ensues. Things eventually calm down; birds and wildlife return as the movement comes to its conclusion.

Lament of the Dogs (Fall/Ukiaqsaak): The sound of dogs howling is very sad. These particular dogs are singing in pitch, in the key of D-sharp minor—a dark, remorseful key. The cries are stretched in time and layered to create a pad of sounds to accompany the strings. Voices, a children’s song in Inuktitut (the main language of Nunavut), filter through.

The Trickster Tulugaq (Winter Is Coming / Ukiaq): Ravens squawk as they fight for food. Wings flap overhead. Mosquitoes swarm as they live their last moments in search of blood. Raven sounds are transformed until they become a rhythmic backdrop. Ultimately a honky-tonk ending ensues, complete with ravens and the buzzing of mosquitoes. Ice joins the mix for the last time, as the cycle completes itself. Winter, once again, settles in.

More Information:

The clarity and directness of music from the Far North can be heard through traditional folk instruments and contemporary electronic means alike. The ethereal plucked strings of Finnish kantele player Ritva Koistinen, the primitive sounds of the ancient Swedish hurdy gurdy electronically processed by Brisland-Ferner and Mattsson, the muscular and rhythmic music of Finnish accordion-sampler duo Pohjonen and Kosminen, and the raw and primal Inuit throat singing of Tanya Tagaq all join Kronos to evoke the powerful, varied soundscape of the Arctic Circle.

Kronos Quartet
·· David Harrington, Violin
·· John Sherba, Violin
·· Hank Dutt, Viola
·· Jeffrey Zeigler, Cello
Kronos Quartet

David Harrington, Violin
John Sherba, Violin
Hank Dutt, Viola
Jeffrey Zeigler, Cello

For more than 30 years, San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet has pursued a singular artistic vision, combining a spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment to expanding the range and context of the string quartet. In the process, Kronos has become one of the most celebrated and influential ensembles of our time, performing thousands of concerts worldwide, releasing more than 45 recordings of extraordinary breadth and creativity, collaborating with many of the world’s most eclectic composers and performers, and commissioning more than 650 works and arrangements for string quartet. Kronos’s work also has garnered numerous awards, including a Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance (2004) and Musicians of the Year (2003) from Musical America.

Since 1973, Kronos has built a compellingly diverse repertoire for string quartet, performing and recording works by 20th-century masters (Bartók, Shostakovich, Webern), contemporary composers (Aleksandra Vrebalov, John Adams, Alfred Schnittke), jazz legends (Ornette Coleman, Thelonious Monk), and artists from even farther afield (Azeri vocalist Alim Qasimov, avant-garde saxophonist John Zorn).

Integral to Kronos’s work is a series of long-running, in-depth collaborations with many of the world’s foremost composers, including Terry Riley, whose work with Kronos includes Salome Dances for Peace, the multimedia production Sun Rings, and 2005’s The Cusp of Magic; Philip Glass, recording his complete string quartets and scores to films like Mishima; Azerbaijan’s Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, who was featured on the 2005 release Mugam Sayagi: Music of Franghiz Ali-Zadeh; Steve Reich, whose Kronos-recorded Different Trains earned a Grammy; Argentina’s Osvaldo Golijov, whose work with Kronos includes both compositions and extensive arrangements; and many more.

In addition to composers, Kronos counts numerous artists from around the world among its regular collaborators, including Chinese pipa virtuoso Wu Man; legendary Bollywood “playback singer” Asha Bhosle; Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq; Mexican rockers Café Tacuba; and the Romanian gypsy band Taraf de Haïdouks. Kronos has performed live with the likes of icons Allen Ginsberg, Modern Jazz Quartet, Tom Waits, David Barsamian, Howard Zinn, Betty Carter, and David Bowie, and has appeared on recordings by such diverse talents as Nine Inch Nails, Amon Tobin, Dan Zanes, DJ Spooky, Dave Matthews, Nelly Furtado, Rokia Traoré, Joan Armatrading, and Don Walser. Kronos’s music features prominently in other media, including film (Requiem for a Dream, 21 Grams, Heat) and dance, with choreographers such as Merce Cunningham and Eiko and Koma.

Kronos spends five months of each year on tour, appearing in concert halls, clubs, and festivals around the world, including BAM Next Wave Festival, Carnegie Hall, the Barbican in London, WOMAD, UCLA’s Royce Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Shanghai Concert Hall, and the Sydney Opera House. Kronos is equally prolific and wide-ranging on disc. The ensemble’s expansive discography on Nonesuch Records includes such collections as Pieces of Africa (1992), a showcase of African-born composers, which simultaneously topped Billboard’s Classical and World Music lists; 2000’s Kronos Caravan, whose musical “travels” span North and South America, Europe, and the Middle East; 1998’s 10-disc anthology, Kronos Quartet: 25 Years; Nuevo (2002), a Grammy- and Latin Grammy–nominated celebration of Mexican culture; and the 2003 Grammy-winner, Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite.

Kronos’s recording and performances reveal only a fraction of the group’s commitment to new music. As a non-profit organization, the Kronos Quartet / Kronos Performing Arts Association is committed to mentoring emerging professional performers, and to creating, performing, and recording new works.

Ritva Koistinen, Kantele
Ritva Koistinen

The kantele has been part of my life since I was a child in Eno, Finland. There was so much singing in my childhood home, and my father, Otto Koistinen, played the violin and the kantele as well. My father’s father had been a skilled accordion player in his youth, and a few fiddlers can also be found in our family tree. And everyone sang. We always had kanteles at home, since my father became interested in making them when I was less than a year old. He has built more than 1,000 kanteles of varying sizes and models, and my brother Hannu is continuing his work, developing the instrument further.

I eventually started to pick out tunes on the kantele, and at the age of seven I began to study with kantele artist Tyyne Niikko. Throughout my childhood and youth, I rarely played anything but folk tunes. Their melodies and the harmonies of certain arrangements enchanted me at an early age, as did the lyrics of the songs. Later, I began to make my own arrangements of Karelian folk tunes.

The kantele has become an important channel of expression for me. Over the years, as kantele music has become more diverse and varied—particularly through certain kantele compositions written since the 1980s—I have become attracted to the contemporary idiom. Our rich folk tune tradition maintains its value beside these works. Always fascinating is the sound of the kantele, which varies with different methods of plucking.

To this day, Finns live in the midst of the natural environment, dependent on it. Thus, folk singing is also deeply influenced by experiences in nature. I was born and bred among the lakes and hills of Northern Karelia, and my mental makeup is from there, too.

The kantele is the embodiment of the sound of Finland. It is the sound of nature and the soul. The wood sings.

—Ritva Koistinen
(Translation: Jaakko Mäntyjärvi)

Hurdy-Gurdy
·· Stefan Brisland-Ferner, Hurdy Gurdy and Electronics
·· Totte Mattsson, Hurdy Gurdy and Electronics
Hurdy-Gurdy

Stefan Brisland-Ferner, Hurdy Gurdy and Electronics
Totte Mattsson, Hurdy Gurdy and Electronics

The Swedish duo Hurdy-Gurdy was formed in 2001 by Stefan Brisland-Ferner and Totte Mattsson as a project and a platform, where the basics as well as the possibilities of the hurdy gurdy are explored to their limits. The focus is on the primitive and limited nature of the Swedish version of the instrument the duo uses, recording the various noises and artifacts it can produce. Hurdy-Gurdy has built a unique wall of sound that is both beautiful and haunting, poetic and raw. The idea is simple: Make music out of every sound that comes out of the hurdy gurdy and use nothing else. Hours of material are recorded and then processed in the studio. The result is the drums, bass lines, ambient noises, percussions, and even spooky choirs that float in and out of the intense melodies. The soul of the music comes from traditional Swedish music, but it’s hard to tell in this setting.

Both Brisland-Ferner and Mattsson performed on the hurdy gurdy independently for many years before deciding to work together, exploring the possibilities of post-modern folk with Swedish bands Garmarna (Brisland-Ferner) and Hedningarna (Mattsson).

Using the Swedish hurdy gurdy onstage, in the studio, and in rehearsal, they were constantly frustrated with the stubborn nature of the instrument. A love-hate relationship with the hurdy gurdy led to the discussion where they decided simply to embrace its flaws and make music out of them.

Hurdy-Gurdy’s debut album Prototyp (2005) was a satisfying presentation of ideas—a prototype of things to come. Hurdy-Gurdy is currently working on a follow-up album.

Kimmo Pohjonen, Accordion and Vocals
Kimmo Pohjonen
Samuli Kosminen

Finnish accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen and sampling guru Samuli Kosminen are recognized as musical and conceptual adventurers, with their unique collaboration that takes accordion music to unexplored territory. On stage, Kosminen reproduces samples of Pohjonen’s accordion and voice percussively by way of electronic drum pads. Combining that with Pohjonen’s accordion, voice, live loops, effects, and surround sound, they create a maelstrom of multi-dimensional music. All sounds produced on stage originate from Pohjonen’s accordion and voice.

Pohjonen’s mission is to expand the capabilities, sound, performance, scope, and experience of the accordion. Playing since the age of 10, Pohjonen has performed in rock, folk, theater, dance, classical, improvisational, and avant-garde music groups for three decades. He has played on more than 70 albums and has received several jazz and folk music awards. Music from his debut album Kielo has been used in ballet performances in Holland, Helsinki, and Australia. His various projects include solo concerts, shows with Kosminen, Animator with multimedia artist Marita Liulia, and an improvisation duo with French percussionist Eric Echampard. He also composed the score for the British silent film Flickerman and the Ivory Skinned Woman. In 2005, Pohjonen performed at Patti Smith’s Meltdown festival in London, playing Jimi Hendrix songs with drummer Sami Kuoppamäki. Pohjonen has composed music for theater and dance, most recently in 2009 for the Helsinki Dance Company. He also has composed music for accordion and farm machines for the Earth Machine Music project.

Kosminen started drumming at age 13 before becoming a student at Helsinki’s Pop and Jazz Conservatory. By exploring electronic effects, toys, samplers, and computers and adding them to his acoustic drum and percussion setup, he achieved new sounds and dimensions in the world of percussion. Through his experiments with electronics, he moved to producing and composing music. He has collaborated with an array of Finnish and foreign rock, pop, jazz, and electronic music artists. In recent years, he has focused on playing, composing, and producing music with Pohjonen and with the Icelandic band múm.

Pohjonen and Kosminen have worked in numerous projects and formations, including a concert collaboration with the Kronos Quartet that featured the 80-minute Pohjonen/Kosminen composition Uniko. The world premiere performances took place at the Helsinki Festival in 2004, followed by concerts in Moscow, Molde (Norway), and at BAM in 2007. The Helsinki concerts were filmed by Finnish digital TV YLE Teema, in cooperation with Moving Images, Austria, for broadcasts in Finland, the UK, Sweden, the Czech Republic, and South Korea.

In 2004, Pohjonen and Kosminen, working under the name Kluster, joined forces with duo TU, featuring King Crimson’s Pat Mastelotto and Trey Gunn. The double duo project KTU (pronounced K-2) had their premiere in Helsinki, followed by concerts in Tokyo. The concerts were recorded for the album 8 Armed Monkey. As Kluster, Pohjonen and Kosminen appeared at David Bowie’s 2002 Meltdown festival in London. They also presented the Kalmuk project with Tapiola Sinfonietta and have performed internationally with Proton String Quartet. In addition, Pohjonen and Kosminen have composed music for the Finnish/Chinese feature film Jade Warrior and the Russian film Majak.

Samuli Kosminen, Accordion Samples and Vocal Samples

Tanya Tagaq, Vocals
Tanya Tagaq

“Inuit throat singer” is one part of her sonic quotient. So are descriptions like orchestral, hip-hop–infused, and primal, but these words are not usually used collectively. In the case of Tagaq, however, they all apply.

So much has happened to Tagaq since the release of her 2005 debut Sinaa (meaning “edge” in her ancestral language of Inuktitut). The Nunavut-born singer has not just attracted the attention of some of the world’s most groundbreaking artists, but many of them have invited her to participate on their own musical projects. Tagaq recently has recorded with Björk (specifically on the soundtrack for the Matthew Barney film Drawing Restraint 9), having previously appeared on Björk’s Medúlla album and accompanied her on the Vespertine tour. In 2007, another monumental collaborative project came to fruition when the Kronos Quartet invited Tagaq to participate—as co-writer and performer—on a project aptly titled Nunavut, which has been performed at venues across North America. Acclaim and respect has followed Tagaq on her solo ventures as well. Both Sinaa and Auk/Blood were nominated for Juno Awards (Best Aboriginal Recording and Best Instrumental Recording); both also were recognized in several categories at the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, including Best Female Artist.

Tagaq’s most recent project is the video Tungijuq, on which she collaborated with Jesse Zubot and Montreal filmmakers Félix Lajeunesse and Paul Raphael. Tungijuq won the award for Best Short Film at the imagiNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, and has been accepted at the Toronto International Film Festival (2009) and the Sundance Film Festival (2010).