Density 2036 Part i
2013
DENSITY 2036: Part I (prelude), 2013
Premier: The Kitchen, New York City
________________________________
Flutist: Claire Chase
Live performance directed by: David Michalek
Sound engineering: Levy Lorenzo
Light Sculpture: David Michalek
Grid lighting: Nicolas Houfek
________________________________
DENSITY 2036 is a 24-year project begun by Claire Chase in 2013 to commission a new body of repertory for solo flute each year until the 100th anniversary of Edgard Varese’s groundbreaking 1936 flute solo, Density 21.5. Chase will commission and premier a new program of flute music every year until 2036. Each piece in the project will expand the boundaries of the instrument.
Beginnings:
In 2012, Claire approached me to help her launch a project that would eventually become known as Density 2036. Musing about the seed of the idea, Claire wrote, “I had recorded all the individual parts of each of these pieces myself in studio, I had never imagined that the album, with all of its manicured, rhythmic intricacy born of so many fits and starts in the studio, could live compellingly as a live show. But when it was finished, I wanted to see what would happen if I performed Density the record from start to finish, without breaks, in a kind of woman-versus- machine version, with the solo line from each track performed live over the pre-recorded tracks, and with Varese at the bitter end, bare and unadorned.” That’s where we started.
Looking to breathe new life into the recital form, Claire and I began to explore how we might use the stage and venue in unexpected ways. We examined possibilities for filling a volume of space with not only with music and sounds, her bodily presence, props, costumes and sculptural lighting design. We also explored her relationship as a performing musician to the audience, both in terms of orientation and intimacy. Nothing would be fixed for Claire -- we moved her everywhere and those movements were carefully choreographed. Claire took to it like a fish to water.
The light sculpture for this iteration of Density 2036 would make use of scaffolding and nine fluorescent tubes arranged in three horizontal rows of three. As a whole, they are suggestive of the music staff, individually — the flute. The tubes could be individually manipulated, allowing for a variety of shapes and visual ideas as well as qualities of light to unfold.
We decided to call Part I the “prelude” because the project was a seedling of an idea (it would take us two more years of collaboration to fully find the form). "Density 2036” has since grown into perhaps one of the most ambitious commissioning projects of the 21st century.
________________________________
DENSITY 2036: Part I (prelude), 2013
Works performed:
Steve Reich: “Vermont Counterpoint” for flute and pre-recorded flutes (1981)
Marcos Balter: “Pessoa” for six bass flutes (2013)
Alvin Lucier: “Almost New York” for five flutes and oscillators (2007)
Philip Glass: “Piece in the Shape of a Square” for 2 flutes (1967)
Mario Diaz de Leon: “Luciform” for flute and electronics (2013)
Edgard Varese: “Density 21.5” for flute alone (1936)
____________
DENSITY Show Flow Notes
PROPS (FLUTES, MICS, STANDS) STATIONS AND CHOREOGRAPHY
Pre-show setup:
6 flutes in total; 8 instrument stands in total
Piccolo
Gold Flute
Platinum Flute
Alto Flute
Bass Flute
Contrabass Flute
7 microphones in total, all pre-set; 16 music stands for Glass only, pre-set.
UPSTAGE CENTER: REICH PRE-SET
Alto flute pre-set on instrument stand
Piccolo pre-set on instrument stand
One microphone
DOWNSTAGE CENTER-RIGHT: BALTER PRE-SET
One microphone
DOWNSTAGE CENTER: LUCIER PRE-SET
Contrabass pre-set downstage right on instrument stand
Bass pre-set downstage center-right on instrument stand
Empty instrument stand pre-set for alto downstage center
Empty instrument stand pre-set for flute downstage center-left
Empty instrument stand pre-set for piccolo downstage left
Note: This piece is designed by Lucier to move across the front of the stage in between two dedicated speakers.
UPSTAGE LEFT: GLASS PRE-SET
16 music stands or scaffolding form a square upstage left for Glass, with four mics pre-set inside the square
Note: This piece is designed by Glass to move in the “shape of a square,” with Claire traversing the entire square over the course of the work.
DOWNSTAGE CENTER-LEFT: DIAZ DE LEON PRE-SET
One microphone
DEAD CENTER, VARESE PRE-SET
Platinum flute (sans headjoint) pre-set dead center on instrument stand
_________
TRACK ONE: REICH
Transition in: Claire enters as sound piece finishes and Reich begins (three bars of tape before live flute entrance, ie no break between Du Yun and beginning of Reich)
Flute switches: Alternates between flute, alto and piccolo, all on stands nearby
Lighting notes: three different looks for the three big sections
Transition out: ends with a high A, Claire goes right into breath sounds (improv, about 30 seconds), walks to place flute on Lucier flute stand, at which point Levy starts the first two phrases of Balter (on recording).
TRACK TWO: BALTER
Transition in: After two phrases of recorded bass flute, Claire picks up the bass flute and takes over for the recorded bass flute on Balter.
Flute switches: no switches, bass flute only
Lighting thoughts: something warm, intimate; this is by far the sweetest and most emotional of all of the pieces…it should be like a warm bath, and people will want to see Claire and the big flute on this one.
Transition out: ends with a low breathy bass flute/voice note, at which point Levy immediately starts the oscillator sound of the Lucier. 15 seconds of this gives Claire time to put the bass down, take the Reich flutes and put them in their Lucier spots.
TRACK THREE: LUCIER
Transition in: Once the Reich flutes are placed on the Lucier stands at the edge of the stage, Claire picks up the Lucier flute center stage and plays the piece.
Flute switches: every 15 seconds or so, there is an instrument switch (piccolo, flute, alto, bass and contrabass)
Lighting notes: perform in near total darkness, or to at least start it in darkness and slowly reveal what is going on. Sounds will be coming from all parts of the stage and depriving the audience of the ability to see what Claire is doing will very much serve the music and the meditative space it creates.
Transition out: Claire is far stage left playing the last piccolo note, and Levy holds the last oscillator pitch so that Claire can put down the piccolo and walk to the Glass SQUARE.
TRACK FOUR: GLASS
Transition in: Levy fades the last oscillator note of the Lucier and immediately begins the Glass tape part (two bars before Claire plays)
Flute switches: no switches, only gold flute; Claire moves in a square around the outside of the box of music stands. Four microphones are inside the square.
Lighting notes: Shocking brightness after the darkness of the prior piece.
Transition out: Claire is back where she started at the edge of the square, and plays alone for two bars as she walks to the DIAZ DE LEON set up.
TRACK FIVE: DIAZ DE LEON
Transition in: Levy plays the first few bars of the CD right on the tails of the last Glass note, as Claire catches her breath, and Claire joins when the electronics enter.
Flute switches: no switches, gold flute only
Transition out: Piece finishes and the electronics continue for 20 seconds or so as Claire walks to dead center, switches out the headjoint on the gold and platinum flutes. Levy fades electronics into nothing.
TRACK SIX: VARESE
Transition in: Levy fades electronics when Claire has her flute raised, there’s a brief moment of silence, then Claire plays Density.
Lighting ideas: simple, spare, bare – just a spotlight,
Last note (high B) is followed by two big beats of rest. Blackout.
APPLAUSE. END.
Press
The New York Times
Review: Claire Chase Explores the Flute�s Possibilities
4 Oct 2015
As the neon symbol in the background seemed to suggest, any exploration of flute music is also a study in human breathing and the interaction of that breath with the physical world. Thoughtfully choreographed by the director David Michalek and beautifully lit by Nicholas Houfek, Ms. Chase’s one-woman journey highlighted the flute’s adaptability to fluctuating expressions of energy, density and resonance.