Big Ears Preview

And just like that, the Big Ears discovery process begins.

I had heard of Nate Wooley before, but wasn't really familiar with his music. I had not previously heard of Carol Robinson.  

Here the two of them are performing work by French composer Éliane Radigue, who is definitely new to me. The piece is from Radigue's Occam Ocean series. So far, Radigue has released four volumes in the series, each selection composed for the specific musicians performing her music. 

Wooley uses a sheet of some sort of material for special effects on his trumpet; the way it seems to leap to the trumpet's bell at the 0:37 mark suggests he may actually be inhaling rather than blowing through the mouthpiece.  Robinson is playing a birbynė, a traditional Lithuanian instrument somewhat analagous to a clarinet.  The lower end of a birbynė is fitted with a flared cow horn. The instrument's physical traits result in a warm rich sound close to the human voice, an Asian flute, or the Armenian doudouk.

Clocking in at a brisk 4:34, this composition is easily one of the shortest pieces in the Occam series. Other compositions range from 15 to 50 minutes in length and average about 20 minutes.  Of course, the video seems to jump right into a performance already in progress, so it's impossible to tell how long the piece was being performed before the tape began rolling, or how long it continued after the video ends.

The epic lengths and slow, meditative pace of Radigue's music likely has something to do with her active practice of Tibetan Buddhism.

Wooley and Robinson are scheduled to perform a selection of Rodigue's music at Big Ears 2023. The composer, now aged 91, hopefully will be present, conditions allowing.