Samuel Burt
Cog
Rose Hammer, baritone saxophone
Ann Teresa Kang, piano
Michael Formanek, contrabass
Mr. Burt's most recent compositional efforts have centered around coming to terms with musical repetition. Repetitive procedures in mid-twentieth century music were often either avoided, obscured, or over emphasized. He had a great distrust for American minimalism and commercial popular music. His initial inclination upon reflection on the examples provided to him of music from the previous generation set him on a path of non-repeating large scale forms, especially the avoidance of recapitulation. He prepared each new work with an invented process that intentionally avoided prominent repeated musical fragments and rhythmic structures. Fortunately, more positive sources of inspiration led to increasing levels of explorations into new implementations of moderate repetition. The two works on tonight's program represent important new perspectives for Burt that feature repetition at the core, yet hopefully, a different breed than the familiar sounds of the American minimalist. Cog delves into two types: strict formal duplication and poly-rhythmic phrase replication. Upon this simple premise rises unpredictable surprises and a rewarding complexity. Unwound represents repetition at a much larger scale, being the fourth piece by Burt built upon the same structural process. Unwound explores the fluidity of musical units, beginning with brief phrases that unfold into extended formal events. It allows the predictability of its periodicity to stretch memory to its distant limits.