FORFEST Kroměříž 2005

COMPOSER USA 3/2005

Forfest, an international modern arts festival with a spiritual emphasis, took place for the sixteenth time in the historical city Kromeriz, situated in the region of Moravia, Middle Eastern Czech Republic.

This fertile region with the city Olomouc on one side and Kromeriz on the other is called “Haná”. The people have a specific dialect and distinctive character. The area is full of panoramic views, beautiful countryside, hospitable people and various historical sites, many of which are protected and preserved under UNESCO. It is not by chance that the city Kromeriz calls itself ‘Athens of Haná’. Between the 18th and 19th century an unknown geographer drew Kromeriz into his map and underneath he wrote “Terra promissa vulgo sacra Haná”.

Forfest is not unknown to the reader of Composer – we have already written pre-existent about this festival. The festival is also not unknown to a number of American composers, musicologists, soloists, music groups, performers and visualists which have visited the festival from its first year in 1990 to its sixteenth year in 2005.

Forfest 2005 commenced on the 19th of June and concluded on the 26th of June. Most of the festival took place in the Baroque Assembly Hall, the Gallery and the Salla Terrena in the majestic Archiepiscopal Chateau – originally a gothic castle, later reconstructed into a renaissance castle and then at the end of the 17th century it was reconstructed into the Early - Baroque palace, it is today with characteristic towers, a unique collection of paintings, libraries with rare volumes, spacious historical gardens and many other historical sites (more at www.azz.cz). Some of the shows were also held at the Kromeriz Museum, in St. Morice, a pseudo gothic cathedral from the 13th century and in the Artus’ Gallery.

Although the festival was mostly made up of twelve music productions, a four day’s international Colloquium Spiritual Streams in Contemporary Arts and four remarkable art shows by Vaclav Vaculovic, Jan Simek, Marek Mucha and Jan Tichy, also took place.

In all, there were twelve music productions – solo recitals, chamber groups, and orchestras -centered on spiritual oriented compositions with a number of extraordinary international performers and composers from abroad.

When I speak of orchestras, I mean chamber orchestras. Regrettably there are not enough funds to cover large scale music productions, even though such performances would certainly add a great deal of appeal to the festival. It is unfortunate because full size orchestras with choirs and soloists are a favorite among modern music listeners and organizers have more then enough such large scale music projects prepared.

It is remarkable how Zdenka and Vaclav Vaculovic, the couple that single-handedly organize the festival for the whole sixteen years, including all the accompanying shows, manage to raise such funds. Even sixteen years after the Velvet revolution, Czech legislature and tax system does very little to support culture, in fact it does just the opposite. Thankfully, musicians, both foreign and native, know of the modest funds of the festival and support the festival by requesting minimum payment for their performances. It is therefore necessary to give a big thanks to both organizers and all guest artists.

On the other hand it should be noted that the helpfulness musicians displayed, the professionalism with which they played and the interest and enthusiasm of the listeners combined into genuine friendships, something that is not common in our commercial world.

One of the trends in modern music concerts is to focus on a certain area, country, style or school. Throughout this years festival there were seven such national concerts planed: two centered on the Romanian region, one on Sweden, one on Slovakia, one on Poland and two concerts focused on composers from the USA. Disappointingly, the Sweden concert had to be cancelled due to sudden illness in the music group. Some of the national concerts was as author’s concerts at any one time. The two Romanian concerts were presented as part of Romanian Culture Days in Kromeriz with the cooperation of Czech-Romanian organization and created the opening night of the festival.

I missed the first concert due to transportation problems – a traffic jam. However I heard that the concert had notable quality (violinist Ion Marius Lacrary, composers Anatol Vieru, Octavian Nemescu, Liviu Danceanu, Stefan Niculescu).

The second concert was presented by the musicologist and professor of composition at the University of Bucharest, Liviu Danceanu and his music ensemble Archeaus. They performed selected works from a lot of Romanian composers: Dometian Vlahul, Stefan Niculescu, Dimitrie Cantemir, Calm Ioachimescu, Macarie Ieromonahul, Liviu Danceanu, Dimitrie Suceveanu, Livie Marinescu and Horia Burianu. Even though the composers come from one of the poorest nations of post communist Europe, they are receiving noteworthy standing in composition and spiritual areas. It could be said that the concert was edifying in that it demonstrated contemporary trends in Romanian music which are truly diverse. There were compositions from so called modern (in terms of the Darmstadt school), timbre and polystyled to postmodern and neofolklore and all the way to simplifying compositional method for tone, timbre and even kinetic components, but not so much in the direction of minimalism but in the premeditated archaism. The soloists and ensemble group received a standing ovation for their outstanding performance.

The compositional work of Roman Berger was represented by the composition De Profundis for baritone (vocal and recitation), cello and piano to the verses of Tadeusz Rozewicz. For an hour digital music recordings mingled with the concrete sounds of live instruments and voice into the atmospheric archway of the cathedral of St. Morice. Uniquely altered sounds, mixed, layered and echoed are weaved into tectonic expansive shapes and collages. Moments of soft gentleness are replaced by strong gradual pulls to pinnacles and punch lines. According to the composer, the composition is giving witness to the totalistic regime, a time when “souls rusted”. Many of us that have lived in that time rarely want to remember, and thus this music emotionally affected us all the more. The composer also said: “After some years I realized, that this is an archetype of Cain and Able from the Biblical myth. However there is a difference: Rozewicz saves Abel …” P. S.: The work was composed during 1975-80, therefore a time when the communistic regime seemed truly never-ending.

Anna Zielinska’s performance was truly an amazing experience. This young polish violinist prepared an a cappella program which was composed by musicians in her age group and even family and in tune to her compositional technique. Anna disclosed that she relates to modern music Polish composers in the 20 to 30 age bracket and cooperates closely with them. Some young Polish composers wrote their music especially for her and some even in collaboration with her. In all the works she was accompanied by digital sounds of altered traditional instruments and voices and also electro acoustic sounds and methods. It was astonishing how synchronized the individual performances sounded. The performance of the violinist and the recordings were well worked out and enthralling. Most interesting was DG00-B1C3 of Jaroslaw Kordaczuk in cooperation with A. Zielinska (a combination of concrete and EA music; composed in layers; using ostinate on tape), Mentiras of Monica O’Reilla Viamontes (also a combination of concrete a EA music; non sensate verbal rhetoric, motor like obstinate; the finale being solo violin strings in a enlightened cantabile moving between tonality and atonality), Incarnations of Dream II of Daria Jablonska also in cooperation with A. Zielinska (clean EA sounds; more spaced out, but interestingly worked out material; varied contrast and flawlessly synchronized; tape and violin playing side by side in interaction; the violin with nearly Paganini like passages and virtuosity), Rhapsody of interpretation’s Mother Lidia Zielinska (sudden, sharp entrance of the recoding; the violin part more meditative, but gradually gaining in drama and virtuosity; the recording is based more on sharp cuts which overlap; there is an association with organ, bells and drums; the rhapsodic element is found more in the violin part which gradually softens). The final work, full of interesting sound effects Elektroberek of Katarzyna Taborowska (music full of wittiness; piquant musical twists and recoding stereotypes on and in violin resulting in laughter; excellent synchronization; the recording played humorous sounds of traditional instruments; the violin was more virtuosic) received a long loud applause and consequently gave an encore.

Theodor Wiprud, the artistic advisor of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, director of the educational departmanet of the New York Philharmonic and innovator of contemporary spiritual oriented concert productions was represented by a quartet made up of musicians from the B. Martinu Philharmonic of Zlin (a city about 30 km from Kromeriz). Their performance (String Quartet n.1 and 2, Refining Fire and Intimations Incarnations) was not too long, yet very clean, using simple means, and yet expressive and innovatively written.

The American composer with Greek roots, Dinos Constantinides, professor of composition at the School of Music of Louisiana State University, conductor of LSU New Music Ensemble, music director of Louisiana Sinfonietta Orchestra and a holder of numerous awards for composition, was represented on two concerts. In the Czech premier, China II – Beiing, Sapho songs, Homage to Kromeriz and Three selections from Antigone were performed. When writing about this author, very kind and sympathetic man, I will allow my self to be subjective. His music was near and dear my heart. It was composed with invention, passion and intimacy, with a balanced sense for large tectonic range as well as for detail and thumb sketch. In China II I was amazed by the palette of colors, the philosophical and emotional depth and spirituality. Homage to Kromeriz was full of emotion, quiet depth and passionate tension too. There were quiet areas with virtually near up on no vibrato, and then came sudden outpouring of emotion, passion and color. In the Sapho songs based on Greek texts, one could feel deep currents, love for ones homeland, its culture and its ancient roots. The music subtly radiated a strange melancholy. And the finale – it was a beautifully diminutive, soft and gentle into nothing. In conclusion I will illustrate the three scenes from the composers opera, Antigone. The opera, an Ancient Greek myth about a victim of pure, courageous, yet unhappy love, was expressed in music with strong persuasive melodic lines, neo-romantic - expressionist opera phrases culminating into passionate pinnacles full of the impressive human fervency and humility silent. I felt a yearning to hear the whole opera. To observe the scenes and the stage scenery. To take in pleasure in a mysteriously fine-drawn preexposure. To get lost in the atmosphere of an ancient virtual reality. After having bean so affected by the arias, I conclude, and I hope that I am not mistaken, that Constantinides is a born opera composer.

The second artistic aspect of the Forfest music part were individual author’s concerts. There were five: of Roman Berger, Theodor Wipprud and Dinos Constantinides, of which we have already discussed, and Dan Dlouhy and Arne Linka from the Czech Republic.

Unfortunately the one-man-show concert of Dan Dlouhy, composer and percussionist, head of the legendary Brno’s percussion group DAMA DAMA and percussion duo, Konvergence, left me with mixed feelings. At the concert also was represented the composition Nomen Omen or 13 Snake Portraits for a modified recording male voice (tape) and percussion with fantastic sonorous, magical and effective yet witty composed by Alois S. Pinos, professor of JAMU (Janacek Academy of Arts), Brno. However the rest of the program was solely made up of compositions by Dan Dlouhy, who as composer and performer played with great sound effects and virtuosity and attempt at variety, was not able to avoid a monotonous performance especially in terms of color. From Dlouhy’s compositions, I wish call attention at least to Sounding Object I and II and marimba Micropandemonium. On the whole I left disappointed by dramaturgical and sound ecological sakes.

The fifth author’s concert was dedicated in memorial to a fabulous piano improviser, beautiful person, active music therapist but a less original composer, Arne Linka. Well interpreted arrangement of Haná folk songs, Two pieces for violin and piano and other compositions were heard. Probably the best sounding piece was the neo-Prokofiev Sonatina for piano under the interpretation of the excellent Kromeriz pianist Karel Kosarek. Those who had the privilege to know A. Linka as a pedagogue at JAMU in Brno, will probably ask with me: Was it Linka’s fortune or misfortune, that as a piano improviser he was able to capture compositional finesse of various styles and composers, but in his own compositions was not capable of obtaining the same creative heights? The fortune was really for us, his students, that we were shown different styles and techniques in a way that was both creative and compelling.

The third part of the festival was made up of six solo recitals and one flute trio recital. Solists that performed were: violinist Ion Marius Lacraru (Romania), who I was not able to hear because of previously mentioned reasons, trio (flute, cello, piano) Karin Hoffmann and husbands Matthias and Sabine Bräutigam (Germany), violinist Anna Zielinska (Poland), who has already been discussed, and pianist Jarmila Ceskova, organist Hana Rysava, cellist Jan Skrdlik and percussionist Dan Dlouhy (all from the Czech Republic). The last recital having already been covered.

Practically all the recitals were at the high-level performer grade.

The German flute trio, Karin Hoffmann and Matthias and Sabine Bräutigam intrigued me with their interesting program choice and compelling and flawless playing. The short Sonata (for cello and piano) of Matthias Drude was superbly structured. They captured the audience with their inventiveness and drama. The three-movement Sonata quasi una serenade (for flute and piano), Czech composer Jan Hanus, was almost impressionistic in coloring, full of passion and longing, however the gradations were almost masculine in their drive. The performance was a beautiful remembrance of the not long ago deceased artist who was modest, God-fearing and diligent composer. The La Fenetre Ouverte (trio) of Jacqueline Fontyn and Four Preludes (solo cello) of Sofia Gubajdulina sounded marvelous. The composition of J. Fontyn went from pleasantly sounding and sonorous cultivated structures over dramatic escalations, flaming excesses, montages and colorful effects to thematic recapitulations and multilayered formations. Four preludes of S. Gubajdulina were of gentle intimacy, colorful illumination, sorrowful, with fitful ornamentations and glissandi. Not until the fourth movement did the music explode into exciting activity with turbulent and effective pizzicato passages in the finale. Flötenmusic II, by Friedhelm Rentzsche (for solo flute), was full of flaming contrasts, subito dynamics and wheel melodies. The flutist excellently worked with long, broken, layered sound resonance which was made possible by the /no/grateful acoustics of the Assembly Hall in the Archiepiscopal Chateau. The short Lo-Shu by Hans Zender (for flute and cello) was a typical ‘timbre’ composition. The work was very well played using resonance effects and little used methods of tone creation. It was played excellently. The multi movement Trio by Jean Francaix was created on established and conventional neoclassic foundations.

An extraordinary musical experience was the performance by the Czech young attractive pianist, Jarmila Ceskova. She prepared a representative Czech-English program with works by Howard Skempton, Petr Pokorny, Pavel Zemek, Petr Graham and David Matthews. It is truly an art to be able to interpret a recital program with 14 short and even miniature pieces in such a way that the performance does not appear segmented and tiring. Ceskova accomplished this feat with bravura. With the same quality she achieved excellent technique and difficult musical phrasing in individual pieces with far-away composition poetics. I was especially moved by Tristia by P. Pokorny which was dedicated to the victims and to those that died in Osvetim – among them the composers grandmother. It was a sad, heavy piece with thick dark accompanying chords. The first movement was mournful and had interesting melodies with lightly ornamented lines. The second movement was soulful and gentle. The third began with energy and then returned to gentleness, with sorrowful tender chords and polyphony. Some of the voices seamed to come out of an impressionistic mist. It was as a subtly inwrought picture, a tree leaf interwoven with soft veinlike or as a Master pen-and-ink drawing. With immensely cultivated tone and inventive richness, Ceskova performed Etude n. 1 and Mazurka n. 1 by Petr Graham, Marianske Flowers 1-5 and Preludium and Fugue n. 13 by Zemek. In Graham’s Golden Sun, I was impressed by the artfully prepared gradations in individual parts, innovative coloring, its conception and stratified growing of voices. However I did not like the over descriptiveness of the work. In comparison to the rest of the compositions, Skempton’s instructive miniatures for piano or accordion, of which are more then 300 (the composer compares it to the “central nervous system”), seemed more likely randomly thrown together, deserted, inventively deficient gags and left me musically impassive and unsatisfied.

I am not sure why, but H. Rysava organ performance left me disappointed. Maybe it was because I was not capable of deciphering and thus understand the strange grey sound coloring which seemed similarly in the same positions as in compositions from György Ligeti, Henry M. Gorecki, Jean Langlais and Arvo Pärt? Or is it because I am not familiar enough with organ literature and technique? Or was it because H. Rysave was unsuccessful in choosing a pieces that that were contrasting in technique and style?

Surprisingly, a truly solo festival recital took place, performed by the Brno cellist Jan Skrdlik, originally from city Ostrava. He performed on the last minute in place of the Sweden concert (cancelled due to sudden illness in the group). He performed the Suite n. 3 for solo cello by Bach in a truly unique and original interpretation. In Matthias Drude’s Allegro, he impressed the audience with small motives chaining into phrases with interesting arches, gentle colors, attitudes of meditation and dramatic and passionate gradations. Music for cello II by Jiri Matys had interesting motivic work, tectonic structures and well presented phrases. I especially liked the elaborate plans contrast between the sonorous curves and areas with reduced melodiousness which were replaced by rich rhythms, timbre finesse, gradations and dynamical “bulges”. The highlight of the solo concert was the unique interpretation of the Sonata by Kodaly.

The fourth and final part of the festival – the two orchestra concerts. The first, a racy quasi orchestra, Kojetin Industrial Philharmonic, made up of children and young amateur musicians, and the Bohuslav Martinu Chamber Orchestra of Brno.

Kojetin Industrial Philharmonic with its founder, conductor and composer, Petr Samlik (who is a teacher at the Primary Arts School in Kojetin, a city only a few kilometers from Kromeriz) who year after year surprises with his always more innovative, interesting, aleatoric and timbre compositions. Children and young amateurs use various non conventional homemade, modified, found or borrowed instruments such as rattles, knockers, bangs, crepitates, rustles, lispes, rubbings; basically anything that makes an interesting sound. The number of instruments of KIF is always increasing and will probably reach the legendary collection size of the composer and performer D. Dlouhy, however the KIF musicians have a long way to go compared to D. Dlouhy virtuosity. Light hearted humor which delightfully added to the whole affect of the concert was moderated by Samlik himself . Although self taught in moderating, composition and conducting, Samlik continues to create colorful and creatively innovative compositions full of imagery and humorous twists. To note, the KIF orchestra changes subtotal far-you-well fluctuation over every year. This year the orchestra was made up of Samlika’s youngest students, schoolchildren that are now discovering music. Excitement about the festival performance and a love for their ‘gura’ was evident on their little faces. The rest of the orchestra was made up of young people, non older then thirty, who are personal friends of Samlik with a similar sense of humor. Was it really only practical jokes in their performances?

Bohuslav Martinu Chamber Orchestra performed the finale concert with compositions by D. Constantinides, J. Adamik, R. Hejnar and H. Gorecki. Kristyna Valouskova of Prague literally illuminated in the compositions under Constantinides’s inspirational direction. The compositon Heavenly Pastures of Josef Adamik, a Moravian composer, compelled with their colors and polystyle collages and montages. In Hommage a concerto grosso by the other Czech composer Robert Hejnar for cello (the convincing Jan Skrdlik) and strings were something between timbres, minimalism and neo-styles. On one hand, the style was that of purposeful neo-vivaldi, on the other, he intended give voice to a pleasant concertante camber and by contrast always recurring melancholy meditation. Then for the finale, there represented the almost ritual orgiastic Concerto for piano and strings by Henryk M. Gorecki. In this work, he used impressively repetitive minimalistic methods with constant structural gradations. Elena Letnanova, excellent Slovakian pianist, captured the audience with her precise and impressive performance at her solo piano part. At the compositions of Adamik, Hejnar and Gorecki were conducted under the sensitive and experienced hand composer, violinist and conducter, Evzen Zamecnik of Brno. A more imposing finale was not even possible.

Jan Grossmann

(The author is a composer and associate professor at the Department of Music at the University of Zilina, at Slovak Republic, and at the Institute of Arts Studies at the University of Ostrava, at Czech Republic.)

Translation: Michelle Hurnik