Four LCCE Players Visit SF Public Library

Early yesterday evening, as part of its Workshops & Education program, the Main branch of the San Francisco Public Library hosted a visit by four of the members of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble (LCCE). They presented a one-hour program entitled Deep Ecology and Deep Listening. This began with a piano trio performance of “Tree/Peace” by Pauline Oliveros, played by violinist Anna Presler, Leighton Fong on cello, and pianist Allegra Chapman. Only one other selection involved more than one performer, Amy Beach’s “Romance,” which was scored for violin and piano.

Hildegard of Bingen with nuns, possibly leading them in chant (source unknown, public domain, from a Wikimedia Commons Web page)

Stacey Pelinka delivered two solo flute performances, which were as engaging as they were contrasting. The first of these was an instrumental account of the monodic chant of Hildegard of Bingen: “O viridissima virga, Ave.” The absence of voice detracted from the rich semantics of the text, but Pelinka’s account of the vocal line was both compelling and engaging. This contrasted sharply with her account of “Ainava ar putniem” (landscape with bird), composed by Pēteris Vasks, a bold effort to capture natural sounds through a solo instrument. This was preceded by another recent European selection, “Nocturne,” composed for solo violin by Kaija Saariaho in 1994. The solo piano offering was “Ice Calf” by Monica Chew, who is currently based in Oakland.

Whether or not this program reflected ecological connotations (or denotations) was left as an exercise for the listener. Personally, I was more inclined to reflect on the music, rather than the titles. I was particularly struck by the sensitivity of the contemporary composers’ efforts to explore diversities of sonorities, and I was impressed by how the LCCE players rose to the challenges of those sonorities. Taken as a whole, this was an hour well spent venturing into unfamiliar territories.