Golijov’s Phoenix: A world premiere

Osvaldo Golijov’s long-awaited new work, commissioned for The Phoenix Symphony by the folks at The Musical Instrument Museum, turned out to be a slow, meditative, color-drenched piece about 12 minutes long (an estimate – I didn’t time it) notable for its use of electronics in dialog with ancient instruments. Symphony music director Michael Christie conducted the premiere Thursday night; the concert repeats Saturday night.

The composition, logically enough titled Phoenix, started with the eerie sound of the kamancheh, or Persian fiddle (played by Kayhan Kalhor), sounding a Middle Eastern-tinged melody echoed and altered by electronics (Jeremy Flower on a laptop). At length, percussion (Jamey Haddad, helped by two members of the Symphony percussion dept.) began to tap out an 11-count rhythmic pattern (1-2/3-4/5-6/7-8/9-10-11). Suddenly an accordion (Michael Ward-Bergeman) took up the melody, supported by the strings and low-lying flutes of the Symphony. The rest of the piece consisted of the main melody tossed about and embroidered by these forces until at last the kamancheh intoned a quiet close.

The challenge in writing for a mix of traditional instruments and Symphonic ones is that the expressive modes of each differ widely from those of the other. There are various ways of overcoming this. Lou Harrison, in his Pipa Concerto (played by the Phoenix Symphony a couple seasons back) decided to let each “side” have its way, and underline the contrast. Golijov has chosen instead to let the traditional instruments boldly paint the stage with their bright timbres and distinctive gestures, while placing the orchestra in a strictly background role.

It would be interesting to witness an entire season of such work, and the ways in which different composers faced the challenge.

– Ken LaFave