Day 2 of New Music Dublin, and the GoldenPlec team were in the thick of the action. From 4 hour marathons, to Brian Eno, there was plenty of action!

2:00pm: Bang on a Can Marathon

This being a festival dominated by Bang on a Can composers and performers, a Bang on a Can Marathon had to be on the cards. At only four hours long, this wasn’t quite the mammoth 20-hours-plus extravaganzas for which the group has become famous in NYC, nor did it involve the simultaneous programming found in music circuses in other places and times. Put on in the National Concert Hall’s main auditorium, this became simply a long concert with a variety of performers.

David Lang invited the audience to come and go as it pleased and experience the event individually, but with the fixed seating keeping everyone still while music was played, admission by ticket was like any other concert;  and with little else to do in the building,  it could only distantly evoke the Bang on a Can tradition and atmosphere. From the layers of sound built up by SO Percussion on their ‘chordsticks’ – half hammered dulcimer, half electric guitar – in Bryce Dessner’s Music for Wood and Strings, to the madcap sounds of Hamilton’s Music for People Who Like Art, David Lang’s programme was eclectic, extensive, and never less than engaging.

Dessner’s work makes use of a combination of bows, hammers, and what look like No. 2 pencils, to create a complex wash of interlocking patterns – driven through four guitar amps, it’s a sound that builds inexorably, creating a rich tapestry of textures. Kate Moore’s Ridgeways sees the Bang on a Can All-Stars take the stage. Dark and with a cinematic sweep, it’s a work that is at times beautifully unsettling. They follow this with Donnacha Dennehy’s Streetwalker; a vibrant work of barely constrained energy, it’s one that calls to mind the disjointed feel of a late-night NYC scene.

One of the strengths of the programming is the way in which different pieces also play off each other, as is heard straight away in the contrast with the piece that follows. This is Konstateringer [‘statements’] (1969) by Danish composer Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, a standard-bearer (with Hans Abrahamsen) for the ‘new simplicity’ of the 1970s and ’80s. Beautifully sung by members of Chamber Choir Ireland, this vocal piece sets simple, self-evidential texts in Danish (‘it is – it is enough – it is good enough…  that  is  all’)  as  long  phrases,  punctuated  by  short  spoken  interjections, accumulating through reiteration and layering, creating an impression of coolly serene objectivity.

Another great contrast comes with the turn from George Crumb’s funerary and  still-great  Black  Angels  (1970)  –  brilliantly  played  by  the  RTÉ  ConTempoQuartet – and the punchy, robotic sequences of music for people who like art (2011) by Andrew Hamilton. This features the Crash Ensemble in the most confrontational piece of the afternoon, a work at times loudly stuttering like a scratched CD, with vocalist  Michelle  O’Rourke heroically  switching from chanting art  statements  toretching and coughing and back without any loss of composure. This in turn proves the perfect foil to Meredith Monk’s gently formal  St Petersburg Waltz, played with nostalgic refinement by pianist Andrew Zolinsky. Working in a different way is Sean Clancy’s 14 minutes of music on the subject of greeting cards. With just piano, violin, and flute, the spare melodies together gradually build a starkly beautiful web of sound.

Closing out the marathon afternoon, Linda Buckley’s Torann sees Crash Ensemble bring to life evocative, almost discordant soundscapes; each time the tension builds, it finds release in warm, richly textured resolutions. Combined with washes of processed sounds, the ultimate result is a work that is hauntingly effective.

Though Lang’s programme may have been more of a half-marathon than the full thing, it’s one that showcased well the wide scope of new music today – sometimes challenging but, in this instance at least, always interesting.

John Millar & Michael Lee

8:00pm: Bang on a Can Allstars

For the final show of New Music Dublin’s What?…Wow, festival curator brought out the big guns. A doubleheader of heavyweight composers Brian Eno and Steve Reich brought a solid crowd to the National Concert Hall for a programme featuring just two works.

Brian Eno’s landmark Music for Airports ushered in a wave of ambient music. Leading the way for a reimagining of what background music could be, it was conceived in response to the proliferation of insipid music all around us. Never intended to be performed live, it was arranged by members of Bang on a Can, whose All-Stars tonight take it to the NCH stage.

Perfectly balanced and rich, the soundscape the ensemble establish from the start is lush, the ringing bell melodies struck by percussionist David Crossin hovering over the ethereal tones of Mark Stewart’s guitar. Unhurried and gently paced, the spare melodies moving across and with each other gradually unfold as the first movement progresses, it is undeniably beautiful.

No matter how beautiful the sounds, and here they are impeccably executed, it is still background music. That the second movement stalls a little can only be down to this. With only minimal development, it comes across in this setting as insubstantial. The final movement fares better; as guitarist Stewart and clarinettist Ken Thomson trade lines, there is a glimpse of what these musicians can make of this music, bringing a fresh sense of experiment to the piece.

Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians is an altogether more engaging work. Joining the Bang on a Can All-Stars are members of SO Percussion, the Crash Ensemble, and Chamber Choir Ireland – making for a total of twenty musicians tonight. From the moment Josh Quillen sets up the opening pulse on the marimba, the whole ensemble lock in. From the deliberate movements of the four vocalists to the smooth moves among instruments, they maintain a measured display of composure.

As they work through each of the sections, the changes signalled by Ken Thomson, they remain tightly focussed. At sixty minutes in length, it’s not short, but the finely balanced textures and precise execution tonight show just why it is held in such regard.

John Millar