As a composer and well-connected academic, this reviewer can recall only two new ensemble genres that are being formed in the 21st-century: the reed quintet (oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bass clarinet, bassoon) and the quartet that emerged from Louis Andriessen’s seminal 1991 piece Hout (saxophone, electric guitar, percussion, and piano). Boston, luckily, maintains one of these, the Hinge Quartet, comprising Philip Stäudlin on saxophones, Dan VanHassel on electric guitar, Matthew Sharrock on percussion, and Keith Kirchoff on piano. (In this concert, Aaron Likness joined the quartet, as Kirchoff was not available). The four new-music lovers performed “Rising From The Rubble” Saturday at the First Church Boston to great effect.
Reaching back into the 18th century for influences across the entire concert, Hinge opened with Carl Schimmel’s The Alphabet turn’d Posture Master or, The Comical Hotch-Potch. Inspired by print illustrations of a contortionist (the “Posture Master” in old-tyme slang) forming letters of the alphabet, distorting the human body in many facets into new images, Schimmel pushed together short and pointillistic utterances against slowly shifting harmonies moving around the ensemble in progressive half-steps. Schimmel noted how this decision contrasted the flexible and the lexical, stretching and sliding notes smashed against slowly moving chords. Likness felt as though he cast out the statements of pointillistic gestures into the saxophone, guitar, and percussion to mull over and digest, clear leader and generator of core ideas. Sharrock typically stayed off the pitched percussion in this work, adding an extra textural layer on top without overshadowing the ensemble-mates. Stäudlin also had a big moment to shine with a disconnected yet somehow necessary alto saxophone line that simultaneously cut through the existing music but added a missing thread. A few other notes: Schimmel allowed Hinge to show how the performers could stay perfectly precise in loosely-timed gestural passages and more controlled harmonic shifts. Also, Sharrock had to play a visually loud pink unicorn squeaky toy. Did this reviewer have to add that? No, but it was certainly memorable. And cute.
Turkish composer/sound designer Didem Coşkunseven used film scripts to inspire the quartet/live electronics work Ext.TheWoods.Night (title derived from film script location instructions), one of two pieces on the evening that had electronics playing a large part. Likness moved from piano to keyboard synthesizer while VanHassel had a chance to sit down, focusing more on the pedal board of his electric guitar, both using their instruments more as synthesizers. Coşkunseven created a slowly unfolding textural and atmospheric soundscape, testifying to her film sound design work. In many ways, this piece could have easily, if less satisfyingly, been created via sound fonts and VSTs from Omnisphere; the fact that it was composed for live performance with all live electronics made it a wonder to experience. VanHassel and Likness blended extremely well together, playing into the strengths of both their instruments’ textural forces rather than as virtuosic soloists. Sharrock controlled bowing vibraphone with the motor on exceptionally, adding to the texture without overstaying their welcome. Stäudlin also controlled his amplified tenor saxophone, pushing out air sounds and quickly moving pitches which activated his stasis.
Seeing a Haydn piano sonata listed next strained expectations. A Classical period piano sonata…in a show with electric guitar and amplification? As this reviewer joked with VanHassel before the concert, Haydn could have potentially believed electricity to be witchcraft. To see VanHassel arranged (recomposed more likely) Haydn’s Sonata in D Major (Hoboken XVI: 33) I. Allegro made every audience member ask “What on earth is this sonata doing here?” VanHassel delivered unto the audience an entire recomposition of the Haydn original, which he commented was note for note or more accurately rhythm for rhythm transcribed onto the quartet. The original notes flashed in and out of existence, coming into focus and quickly vanishing into Sharrock’s striking woodblocks and glass liquor bottles (this reviewer saw the Beefeater Gin bottle! Yum!). VanHassel muted the strings of his guitar and then stroking his plectrum down all them (believe the colloquialism is “chuggie?”), and Stäudlin grunted out multiphonics and indistinct pitch slap tongues. Knowing full well the audience expectation, this was magnificent. Perhaps Hinge could thus recompose Haydn into postmodern glory. It’s far more original than the 20,000th reworking of J.S. Bach so common nowadays.
Chen-Hui Jen’s into gloaming, representing the second recent Hinge commission, reflected on a bad point in the composer’s life. Like the Coşkunseven, Jen used electronics to supplement the quartet, this time in the form of pre-recorded tape. Sharrock had some interesting timbres in this piece, of note using a superball mallet to rub the head of a tom-tom to make an unpitched groan and vibraphone hits that VanHassel melded into with his electric guitar in slightly composed delay, echoing the vibraphone mallet hit. VanHassel has some time with e-bows while Stäudlin mirrored the pitches with long tones in his tenor saxophone. For this reviewer, though, the piano seemed severely underutilized. The tape track was far more textural, along with the trio of the saxophone, guitar, and percussion. The piano, however, never once reached into the body of the instrument to play with the strings in any manner until the end of the piece. Easily, there could have been a gentle palm strike on the low strings to make a loud, low boom or e-bows activating the piano strings. Instead, we merely heard a few disconnected keys played every now and then.
Fleisch by Enno Poppe completed the evening with a far more aggressive and forward finale. Playing on breaking-down rock music tropes, the quartet finally let loose into Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. Everyone existed in a seperate time and space, as layers upon layers collaged into a final cobbled-together texture. All the puzzle pieces came together. Likness got to utilize the synthesizer again, adding into the texture while the quartet-mates had moments to break out and shine. The second movement saw delightful imitation between Sharrock on brushes and Stäudlin before Likness rejoined. VanHassel also got to make extensive use of his whammy bar, imitating Stäudlin’s vibrato and timbral trills with the guitar. The last movement permitted Sharrock to become an out-of-control drummer until the music deliberately disintegrated into short bursts from the non-keyboard trio while Likness allowed his synth patch to play individual wave cycles.
Hinge Quartet continues to invite new music and rock music to meet and interact. The four Boston Conservatory at Berklee teachers highlighted the polystylistic nature that our age. Rock transcriptions gave way to new music to even reimagining of Haydn pieces. This reviewer can imagine no comparables. Hinge Quartet is as distinctive and progressive as postmodernists come.