s
s
Charleston
Post
and Courier
June 3, 2007 ”Heaven’s Door?”
”. . . Following Himmelstür Ensemble Sirius
presented
Kontakte,
composed in 1959. While Kontakte was a difficult piece for the
audience, Stockhausen came closer to engaging his audience in this
composition. The ’contact’ to which the title
alludes was
more evident
with the percussive elements of metal, skin and wood, as well as the
call and response between the two instrumentalists. Toward the end of
the 38- minute work, the clasping of the wood chimes alternately played
by the two instrumentalists and then played together in rhythm was
moving, and the musical structure was welcome. . . Ensemble Sirius was
exceptional in the skill in which it delivered Program III of the
series, and Stockhausen has certainly pushed the boundaries of
composition. . .”
Loretta Haskell
June 4, 2007 ”Major Bang”
”. . .The second piece, also by Stockhausen, was Kontakte,
from
1960,
for two percussionists (Gerber plus Michael Fowler, who also took on
piano duties) and electronic tape. This is quintessential mid-century
’avant-garde’ serialism, and nearly fifty years
later, it
apparently
still has the power to shock. . .The sounds on the
tape—Stockhausen’s
painstakingly generated roars, rattles, whooshes and electronic
shrieks—are often loud and harsh, but they interact precisely
with the
two live musicians and their vast array of percussion (hence the title
of the piece), producing a dazzling spectrum of bracing, ear-bending
sound combinations. . .”
Grace Beham
The Birmingham News
February 7, 2009 "Ensemble
Sirius makes compelling music from
noisy scores"
"Ensemble Sirius, a remarkable
piano-percussion duo, performed an array
of new works by local composers along with a 20th century classic for a
modest audience at
Birmingham-Southern College Thursday night. . . . Even if some in the
audience may have lost interest through fatigue brought on by
overly-ambitious programming, Ensemble Sirius didn't let up. Precise
and focused, the duo succeeded in making compelling music out
of
some
potentially unmusical materials.
Phillip
Ratliff
New
York
Times
June 5, 2007 ”The Questions are Big, but the Devil is in the
Details”
”. . . In Kontakte (1959-60), two percussionists, one mostly
on
piano,
again raise a clamor, only to be repeatedly overwhelmed by electronic
’sound projections.’ Even the tone clusters
produced with
forearm
wallops on the piano sound pale beside the electronic flutters, twangs,
growls, buzzes, gasps and belches. Here Mr. Gerber was joined by
Michael Fowler and Bryan Wolf, the sound projectionist, in a
performance of cons ummate virtuosity.”
James
S. Oestreich