Music and poetry have always enjoyed an affinity, which makes it appropriate that the sextet eighth blackbird was inspired by one of Wallace Stevens’ greatest poems.
The group was formed in 1996 by six Oberlin Conservatory graduates, who were collectively inspired by the eighth stanza of Stevens’ “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird”: “I know noble accents/And lucid, inescapable rhythms/But I know, too/That the blackbird is involved/In what I know.”
And off they flew, charting their own distinct course.
“Every group has its own sound,” said Lisa Kaplan, the group’s pianist. “For us, we’re most excited about forging our unique interpretations of new music. So few recordings exist of the pieces that we’re playing, which allows us to really develop our own artistic vision without preconceived notions.”
From the start, the ensemble – flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion – has consistently pushed artistic boundaries by commissioning and performing new works, as well as spearheading numerous educational outreach efforts.
The University of Colorado’s Pendulum concert series will present a two- day residency with eighth blackbird on Monday and Tuesday for local composers, students and the public. On Wednesday, the group returns to Denver for its second appearance on the Friends of Chamber Music series at Gates Concert Hall.
“Before I went to Oberlin, I hadn’t played anything more contemporary than (Aaron) Copland,” Kaplan said with a laugh. “At the time, contemporary music at Oberlin was viewed as being at the bottom of the totem pole. But the conductor of the contemporary music program, Tim Weiss, brought us together as a group and got us excited about new music.”
Kaplan describes herself as “a math geek,” and therefore naturally suited to the complex meters of many contemporary works.
“I get nerdily excited about figuring out metric modulations, like five against two or seven against four,” she explained. “And the first time I played inside the piano, it was a real revelation to me. I didn’t know there were so many different sounds that a piano could produce besides just playing the keys.”
In Denver, eighth blackbird will perform several selections from its latest album, “strange imaginary animals.”
“The title of the album and our touring program is the same,” Kaplan said. “The name comes from Steve Mackey’s piece ‘Indigenous Instruments.’ In the third movement, the violin markings indicate creating the strange moaning of some imaginary animal. The G-string is tuned way down so there’s no tension, which makes it sound crazy and strange.
“The whole CD is like that … an exploration of different sound worlds, including microtonal tuning and prepared piano. In David Gordon’s ‘Friction Systems,’ 26 piano strings are prepared with screws, like gamelan instruments.”
In Denver, the group will perform Gordon Fitzell’s “violence.”
“It’s a really beautiful piece,” said Kaplan. “One of my favorite things about it is that it doesn’t sound like you think it would, given the title. Rather, it’s the necessary actions, the required gestures to play the piece that make it look violent, even though those gestures don’t generate huge sounds.
“We’ll also play Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez’s ‘Luciérnagas,’ or fireflies, representing the souls of all the innocent people who died in the massacre of El Mozote during the civil war in El Salvador.”
Described as “friendly, unpretentious, idealistic and highly skilled,” by The New Yorker, eighth blackbird’s mojo also rests in its distinctly provocative approach to performance.
“The way we present music is some of how we differentiate ourselves,” said Kaplan. “Two-thirds of our Denver program is entirely memorized, which allows us to be really engaged and spontaneous in what we’re doing.
“We also present the music in a theatrical way. … In fact, we’ve worked with choreographers in the past to better visually highlight what’s going on in the music.”
eighth blackbird
CLASSICAL MUSIC|Presented by Friends of Chamber Music; Tim Munro, flutes; Michael J. Maccaferri, clarinets; Matt Albert, violin and viola; Nicholas Photinos, cello; Lisa Kaplan, piano; Matthew Duvall, percussion|Gates Concert Hall, Newman Center for the Performing Arts, 2344 E. Iliff Ave.|7:30 p.m. Wednesday|SOLD OUT|303-388-9839 or friendsofchambermusic.com
