The cat is out of the bag.  Now that tonality is virtually mandatory again,
we are finding out the awful truth about years of sloppy writing.  Back
then, bad music was hiding behind `innovations' that masked the simple fact
that you couldn't tell the `right notes' from the `wrong' ones.  [Boy!  Am
I going to get it...:[

But now -- for example, today, at the Bay Area Composer Symposium in Marin
-- it's clear that unison, silly-simple, almost-but-not-quite-ostinato
formula writing is very much with us...  and it has no place to hide.

Of course, there are exceptions, and I will report only on that, not the
other stuff.

For a good number of years now, I've been listening to new works by Mark
Volkert with growing admiration.  The former concertmaster of the Marin
Symphony and now an associate concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony
has orchestral and chamber-music works premiered by both organizations,
but I don't know if he has been heard elsewhere besides the Carmel Bach
Festival during Sandor Salgo days.

Volkert's `Psalm' was one of the works presented at the symposium today,
the Marin Symphony under Gary Sheldon's direction rehearsing it in public
at a first run-through.  Even under those circumstances, the 14-minute
piece was gripping, instantly accessible, and wanting to be heard again.

Stretching harmonic boundaries, with soaring woodwinds against the rich
texture of the strings, `Psalm' is lyrical, dramatic, and speaks to the
heart.  A turbulent passage near the end is less successful than the main
body; the resolution is fine but too `standard' -- from Volkert.  The work
has great solos for the woodwinds and the principal cello (the excellent
Mrs.  Volkert).

The next composer, Ronald McKean (whose `Moonphase' excerpt was fun
to hear), proposed to continue listening to Volkert's work instead of
presenting his.

`Psalm' will be heard again on the Marin Symphony's March subscription
concerts.  Volkert's String Quartet No.  4 is due in Davies Hall on June
20, and his yet-unnamed work for the SFS Youth Orchestra will be performed
in the fall.

Janos Gereben/SF
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