Terry Riley shows @ Carnegie Hall tonight & LPR on Sunday

April 24, 2009

by Andrew Frisicano

Terry Riley‘s In C is being performed tonight (April 24th) at Carnegie Hall in NYC…

Experience the work that changed the course of musical history and influenced countless artists from John Adams to The Who. Specially curated by the Kronos Quartet for the 45th anniversary of the premiere of In C, a one-time-only gathering of musicians will perform the work in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage for the first time.

Featuring Kronos, Terry Riley, and original In C performers Stuart Dempster, Jon Gibson, Katrina Krimsky, and Morton Subotnick.

Plus Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan, Sidney Chen, Dennis Russell Davies, Loren Kiyoshi Dempster, Bryce Dessner, Dave Douglas, Trevor Dunn, Jacob Garchik, Philip Glass, Osvaldo Golijov, Michael Harrison, Michael Hearst, Scott Johnson, Joan La Barbara, Saskia Lane, Alfred Shabda Owens, Elena Moon Park, Lenny Pickett, Gyan Riley, Aaron Shaw, Judith Sherman, Mark Stewart, Kathleen Supové, Margaret Leng Tan, Jeanne Velonis, Wu Man, Yang Yi, Dan Zanes, and Evan Ziporyn.

Also with Koto Vortex, Quartet New Generation, So Percussion, members of the GVSU New Music Ensemble, and members of the Young People’s Chorus of New York City.

Tickets are still on sale.

The group composition incorporates elements of improvisation and has no definite end point.

In C (1964) is probably Riley’s best-known work and one that brought the minimalist music movement to prominence. Its first performance was given by Steve Reich, Jon Gibson, Pauline Oliveros, and Morton Subotnick, among others, and it has influenced their work and that of many others, including John Adams, Roberto Carnevale, and Philip Glass. Its form was an innovation: the piece consists of 53 separate modules of roughly one measure apiece, each containing a different musical pattern but each, as the title implies, in C. One performer beats a steady pulse of Cs on the piano to keep tempo. The others, in any number and on any instrument, perform these musical modules following a few loose guidelines, with the different musical modules interlocking in various ways as time goes on. The Keyboard Studies are similarly structured – a single-performer version of the same concept. [Wikipedia]

Also this weekend, Terry Riley and son Gyan Riley will perform as a duo at (Le) Poisson Rouge Sunday, April 26th. Tickets are on sale.

Videos of In C, the Riley’s at Terry’s 70th birthday concert, and an interview with the composer, below…

Plastic Acid Ensemble perform In C 12/1806