A&E
3rd Annual Sight/Sound/Spoken showcases Hamilton’s various artistic talent
By Audrey Darnis ’18
December 8, 2016
Tags a+e
On Sunday, Dec. 4 the Departments of Music, Art, and Literature & Creative Writing presented Sight / Sound / Spoken, a series of diverse performances including chamber music, poetry and video art. The show included a menagerie of instruments and types of poems and over forty performers.
The performances took place in the Linda Johnson Gallery in KTSA, which proved itself to be a magnificent space with strong acoustics that complemented the performers.
The opening ensemble consisted of a group of four flutists (Zachary Brookler ’19, Erica Chen ’19, Yueran Ding ’20 and Lillian Behm ’20). Their performance involved one larger flute with a deeper sound, four flutes of the same pitch variety, and a piccolo, which produced a clear, high-pitched sound. They performed two pieces: James Hook’s “Trio No. 1– Movements 1 & 3,” as well as Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Mirlitons” from The Nutcracker. Both pieces were pleasant, and it was enchanting to hear a piccolo fluttering the melody, backed by an accompaniment of flutes.
The second performance was a beautiful piano duo, performed by Eliza Burwell ’17 and Erica Chen ’19. They played Claude Debussy’s “Petite Suite: Movements 4 Ballet,” and although they had to play the piece on an electric keyboard, which took away from some of the dynamic possibilities, the duet proved melodic and powerful, as the four hands danced around each other.
After the piano duo, the first poet of the afternoon, Nora Boyle ’18, performed. Her strong piece, which had been written in a traditional poetic form about shadows, used repetition. The continued use of the phrase “stray into shadow” created a powerful, enunciative effect.
Next, an oboe and clarinet trio (Elisa Griffin ’20, Cal Hagan ’20 and Abigail Uehling ’18) performed Alexander von Kreisler’s “Allegro” from Little Trio. All three instruments on stage were of the same family, yet each produced sound in a different range, which made for a melodious meld of sounds in different octaves.
Following this trio was another ensemble of flutes (Mary Beringause ’20, Ruo Non Huang ’20, Christopher Williams ’17, Kaitlin Poole, Mei-Xing Lin ’20, and Anthony Reyes ’20) who performed two pieces: James Hook’s “Trio No. 4 – Movement 1,” and the recognizable and pleasing piece,“Greensleeves.”
Next, Josh Rourke ’18 performed two poems. The first of these concerned the difficulties of sleep and sadness, filled with wondrous wordplay and a Sufjan Stevens reference. Dissimilarly, the second poem discussed displeasure towards the politics within the United States.
Another piano duet, played by Fuming Qiu ’19 and Qichen He ’19, succeeded Rourke’s poetry. They performed Franz Schubert’s “Marche Militaire in D Major, Op. 51 No. 1.” As with the aforementioned piano duo, it was delightful to watch four hands flutter on one singular keyboard. There was a sense of harmony and focus amonst the two pianists.
Following the Schubert piece on the piano was Schubert’s “String Quarter in A Minor D. 804 – Movement 1.” It was engaging to hear two Schubert pieces one after the other. What made it interesting was that the pieces were performed in two completely different ways. The quartet consisted of three violins and a cello (Nora Silva ’19, Jacob Circelli ’20, Emily Magruder ’17 Elijah Barstis ’19), which produced a hollow, deep sound that beautifully backed the violins’ melodies. This performance proved to be one of my favorites, as the strings seemed to weep their enchanting tunes.
After the quartet, Hunter Lewinski ’20 read three poems, one of which discussed the self-centeredness of writing and publishing one’s work through a powerful swan metaphor.
The next two ensembles consisted of saxophones (played by Stephen Wisser ’20, Ian Hohm ’20, Julia Taylor ’20, Linds Cadwell ’20 and Tyler Boudreau ’20) . The first ensemble opened with a playful introduction about the piece they played, “Bach’s Bouree.” I had truly never heard a group of saxophones produce classical sounds, and it was fascinating to hear such a melody coming from the smooth, traditionally jazz instruments.
The second ensemble (Stephanie Talaia-Murray ’17, Jeffrey Greenwald ’17, Claire Han ’19, Sung Hwan Hong ’18 and Kelt Wilska ’17) played Kabalevsky’s “Piano Pieces,” a fun and playful tune. Perhaps the best part of the piece was the large baritone saxophone, whose bold and somewhat comical sound provided a strong and supporting bass sound for the ensemble.
The final two poets performed one after the other, which felt moving as their poems related to each other thematically. The first poet, Christopher Albino ’20 spoke powerfully and politically by problematizing the United States. Albino referenced to the nation’s violent police-state and the situation in Guantanamo Bay. The final poet, Ruben Martinez ’20, read a beautifully stimulating poem that felt like a story. Martinez’s poem detailed a xenophobic, hateful and racist encounter. However, as the piece ended Martinez shared a positive lesson he learned from the experience that prompted universal love and kindness.
Following these two poets was perhaps one of the most bizarre and interesting musical performances I have ever seen. The show ended with a percussion ensemble, which performed Steve Reich’s “Music for Pieces of Wood,” in which Austin Ford ’19, Daniel Wall ’19, Lucas Mangold ’20, Julia McGuire ’20 and Lecturer in Music Erik Lutters hit slabs of smooth wood with the back of a drum stick. I had never heard or seen anything quite like it, and I found myself mesmerized by the syncopated, high-pitched percussive sounds.
Sight / Sound / Spoken proved to be an incredible afternoon of art, music and poetry. Throughout the entirety of the performances, I found myself gazing around at the various televisions, which portrayed a wide variety of visual art. It was incredible to have witnessed a diversity of instruments play within the same show. Additionally, the spoken word and poetry provided an incredible dynamic to the show. Each poem felt genuine and raw, and although they greatly differed in form, length and style, it was unique to hear various poems, interspersed by ensembles of different musical groups.
I attended the same show last semester, and I plan on visiting again next semester. It is truly unlike any show I have attended at Hamilton. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in poetry and music that is played across a wide spectrum of instruments.