ACM Concert: Speaking in Tongues

The first ACM concert of 2019 features music inspired by and incorporating language.

I spent a lot of time programming this one and I’m really proud of it.  Ishi’s Song by Martin Bresnick calls for the pianist to sing as well as play. The text is from a recording by Ishi, the last of the Yahi indians of northern California.  The language is now lost and what Ishi is singing has never been translated.

Then there’s We Speak Etruscan by Lee Hyla. I was just in Rome and one of my favorite parts of the trip was a visit to the Etruscan museum.  Of all the ancient peoples they might be my favorite.  They were more or less peaceful arts-loving folk who gave women an equal place in society.  Naturally the Romans obliterated them.  Lee’s piece is a wonderful homage to this bygone culture.

The pieces by Alex Temple and Florent Ghys both feature recordings of their friends talking, often telling intimate details of their lives. The music has been interwoven throughout the speech in ingenious ways.  We’ll close it out with Steve Reich’s monumental Different Trains originally commissioned by the Kronos Quartet.

Monday, February 4 7:00 PM
Davis Theater
4614 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago
More info

• Written by: Seth Boustead
• On: January 16, 2019