Guest ensemble Hinge presents the premiere of their program Clockworks, which explores themes of mechanization and dehumanization in contemporary society and features works by Chaya Czernowin, Katherine Young, Louis Andriessen, Laurie Spiegel, and Meshuggah.
Philipp Stäudlin, saxophones
Dan VanHassel, electric guitar
Matt Sharrock, percussion
Keith Kirchoff, piano
Learn more about Hinge.
Program Information
Repertoire
CHAYA CZERNOWIN: “Sahaf”
MESHUGGAH (arr. Vanhassel): “Clockworks”
KATHERINE YOUNG: “Camilles”
LAURIE SPIEGEL (arr. Vanhassel): “Clockworks”
JESSIE COX: “Black as a Hack for Cyborgification”
LOUIS ANDRIESSEN: “Hout”
Program Notes
CHAYA CZERNOWIN: “Sahaf” (2008)
“Sahaf,” composed in 2008 by Israeli-American composer Chaya Czernowin, is a concise and concentrated exploration of a singular physical gesture. Close examination of the gesture reveals the strange physical laws of the world in which the gesture exists. As the piece progresses, a “flurry” of selective incidents are increasingly parallelized until all instruments jointly imagine the powerful twirling of an oversized ratchet.
KATHERINE YOUNG: “Camilles” (2019)
“Camilles” is a speculative sonification invoked by multispecies feminist Donna Haraway’s “Staying with the Trouble.” Haraway suggests that one way to do this is to increase our capacity to experience the world as nonhuman critters do. In the book’s final chapter, Haraway explores radical ways this capacity is biologically enhanced in future generations of humans. In her story, Camilles are humans who have had “a few genes and…microorganisms” from monarch butterflies “added to [their] bodily heritage, so that sensitivity and response to the world as experienced by the animal critter can be more vivid and precise.” Recent scientific research suggests that some butterflies, although virtually silent to human ears, have remarkably expansive hearing. So, I wondered, what do monarchs sound like to one another? What would monarchs sound like to humans who are truly able to listen to them?
JESSIE COX: “Black as a Hack for Cyborgification” (2020)
“Black as a Hack for Cyborgification” is an open instrumentation work bringing musicians and audience members on a sonic journey amongst planets. Each score represents a different environment—Jupiter, the sun, a star, etc.—where hand-calligraphy is intertwined with poetry and computer code, reflecting on identity, technology, and celestial bodies.
LOUIS ANDRIESSEN: “Hout” (1991)
“Hout” (Wood) was written for Loos at the request of Dirk Simons. Although the whole work is in principle a strict canon, the successive voices are so close together that it is more like a unison melody with ramifications. Ramifications and branches are the same word in Dutch. This especially refers to the branches of a tree, so the use of wooden instruments—marimba and woodblocks—help explain the title of the work.
About the Artists
Hinge is a quartet founded in 2018 that includes members Philipp Stäudlin (saxophones), Dan VanHassel (electric guitar), Matt Sharrock (percussion), and Keith Kirchoff (piano). Lying somewhere between a classical chamber ensemble and a rock band, Hinge presents programs combining cutting-edge contemporary and experimental music, seamless multimedia integration, and the innovative reimagining of rock and pop songs.
Concert Services Staff
Senior Manager of Concert Services – Luis Herrera
Concert Production Coordinator – Matthew Carey
Concert Production Manager – Kendall Floyd
Senior Manager of Performance Technology – Wes Fowler
Performance Technology Technicians – Sara Pagiaro, Goran Daskalov
Boston Conservatory thanks audience members for viewing this program information online. This paperless program saved 200 sheets of paper, 21 gallons of water, and 18 pounds of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions.
