Thursday, November 09, 2006

Son Report: Metamorphosis II

I apologize for having two posts in a row about my youngest son, the violinist/composer, but that seems to be how the stars are aligned right now. I do not intend to turn this blog into a p.r. vehicle for Chris, but I write about what interests me and right now there are interesting things going on with him. Google has this handy feature that constantly prowls the internet and sends me an email if it finds anything relating to either of my two sons. (This is how I found out that my oldest son is a prolific song parodist and that he writes poetry.)

In any event, Google this morning directed me to composer, Jeff Myers' website, on which he has posted descriptions of various pieces he has written and excerpts of some of their performances, one of which is by a quartet in which Chris was one of the violinists. This is very listenable, even for ears not yet attuned to new music. The description is from the website:

"Metamorphosis II for string quartet (2002) 23’

"Metamorphosis II, a string quartet in one movement, is a tour-de force, traversing quiet sonorities, amorphous textures, driving rhythms, and lyrical outpourings. Most of the musical motives and melodies are remotely derived from the R&B tune California Soul. Although this tune is never heard, elements of it pervade the piece is various guises. Metamorphosis II was written on a commissioning grant from the Fromm Foundation and premiered at the Eastman School of Music by Christopher Otto, Yuki Numata, Kirsten Swanson, and Kevin McFarland in February of 2003.

Metamorphosis II (premiere performance)
excerpt from beginning
excerpt from middle
excerpt from near end

6 comments:

Jess D'Zerts said...

Google Alerts... awesome, useful and scary at the same time.

Personally, I'm thrilled to know there are still parents who are interested in what their kids are doing, John. You have good reason to be the proud papa, too. Thanks for posting the music clips. You're right, very listenable, and much easier to appreciate the review having heard it. I suspect it brought something exceptional to the bread pudding I constructed while listening, too. I hope that doesn't sound flaky--I'm serious. It put me in a zone, so to speak, and that definitely has an effect on the food... (or whatever it is that one happens to be creating at the time)

gerry rosser said...

You can kvell about your son all you want.

Crockhead said...

Thanks for your support, Jessie and Gerry. I want to be mindful that not everyone is as interested in my progeny as I am. Hopefully, soon I will have up some more general interest posts.

rdl said...

it's very cool!!

Trucking Fiddler said...

thanks for sharing these 4tet excerpts. i tried to hear them on the laptop as we are rolling down the hiway, but too much interference. must wait for better conditions. looking forward to it.

Patry Francis said...

When the progeny are as interested and talented as yours, you're not likely to bore anyone any time soon. I loved hearing the clips.