In a night of new music and old classics, the final work was Beethoven’s Symphony No. In a programmatic reference back to the “new music” from the earlier part of the evening by Gibson, the on-stage artistry and versatility was on display by the orchestra led by Oundjian to bring to audiences the dissonant music tradition Seeger was part of. In a brief 4 minute musical interlude to the finale, the orchestra then performed Andante for Strings by Ruth Crawford Seeger, who is one of the most important and forward-looking composers from her generation who broke down barriers in the first quarter of the 20th century.
During the pre-concert talks, maestro Oundjian described Biss as “an extraordinarily gifted pianist” and concertgoers felt similarly at the end of the piece, many standing to their feet and shouting “bravo” in appreciation. His pianissimo trills were ever so precise and yet so light as if angels on clouds were tickling the ivory keys of the piano - at times his pianissimo was so soft, they were nearly overshadowed by the orchestra in the background. He demonstrated his mastery of Mozart’s piano concertos with his graceful tone and elegant articulation. Next on the program was Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. (Coincidence or not, Schapiro was the only child of two Russian Jewish parents). Making use of LACO’s performers deftly conducted by guest conductor Peter Oundjian, the work was a musical patchwork quilt incorporating the multitude of colors and activities of everyday public and private life and ended on a challenging frenetic and dissonant note, the sound of which reminded a concertgoer of the voices and sounds heard at Russian and Persian markets.
Inspired by Schapiro and the act of weaving and sewing, Gibson’s musical composition sought to represent these disciplines in musical line and form with the “warp” being large vertical chords while “weft” emerged by weaving throughout the piece as melodies. Schapiro coined the term, “femmage” to elevate the significance of women’s crafting in the home consisting of collages of cloth and fabric this took place during an era when such works by women and folk artists were denigrated as “decorative” compared to predominantly male artists whose pieces were classified as “high” art.
Composer and pianist Sarah Gibson’s newly commissioned piece, Warp & Weft was inspired by Miriam Schapiro, pioneer of the 1970’s feminist art movement and co-founder of the feminist arts program at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts).
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