Maley Envisions Bach's Goldberg Variations

Despite the frigid temperatures Friday night, music and art lovers packed themselves into the main gallery of Side Street Studio Arts, which is quickly becoming the primary downtown Elgin venue for chamber music performance.

They came to hear J.S. Bach's 32-part Goldberg Variations (c. 1740) performed by artist-in-residence Rachel Elizabeth Maley, in conjunction with an exhibit of her visual art that was inspired by the music.

Groupings of four small, float-framed paintings echoed the orderly mathematical subdivision of the music. Each element was related in scale, tone and color, but fully developed and individually recognizable after a thoughtful observation.

On an opposite wall, an unframed drawing emphasized unity over individuality, composed of proportionate geometric forms decorated by the counterpoint of a wandering line. The effect was Bach-like: more about the harmony of a structure than the melody of a story.

Pairing abstractions with the human touch of pencil is always beautiful, and the suggestion of architectural sketches of stained glass designs was not lost on those of us from the Prairie.

The concert opened with Wichita Vortex Sutra (1988) by Philip Glass, a piano piece composed to accompany the reading of Allen Ginsberg's 1966 anti-war poem of the same name. Wearing fingerless gloves, Maley's fine rendition of the piece reminded us of the repetitive rhythmic and tonal structures that serve as Glass's characteristic compositional material. 

Some musical detail was acoustically blurred for listeners seated in the back of the room, an unusual placement made necessary by the sheer size of the audience. Some might suggest the Glass could have fared better here with the soft pedal down.

Legend has it that Bach wrote the Variations as an exercise for Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, a young harpsichordist who traveled with an ambassador prone to insomnia. The suite was supposedly used as a repertoire of soothing diversions for sleepless nights.

Reading the score from a digital tablet, Maley worked her way through the nearly eighty minutes of continuous music, subtly differentiating each piece with tempo and affect, and deftly negotiating difficult crossing passages that were originally played on an instrument with two separate keyboards.

The dim light and salon-like atmosphere effectively recreated variations of the scene from 275 years ago, as some listeners experienced closed-eye serenity, while others anxiously counted the passing minutes.

This well-conceived program was a highly successful culmination of creative efforts by Maley, and another milestone for Side Street, whose tireless support of local artists is helping transform downtown culture.

The Colorful Art Music of Chicago's Spektral Quartet

While we love to proclaim that art should not be imprisoned within galleries, concert halls, or other rooms of some particular formality, such surroundings are usually excellent places in which to watch and listen. Elgin's Side Street Studio Arts Gallery was an ideal setting for an autumn evening of pure art music performed by the Spektral Quartet.

But the macabre artworks of Side Street's "Something Wicked" exhibit — and the music itself — may have been the only formal elements of this gathering. The musicians blended in with the casual Tuesday night crowd, and friendly greetings were offered by Sara Sitzer, co-artistic director for "Chamber Music on the Fox," organizers of this, the first in a series of chamber music events planned for Elgin venues.

For the next two hours, the artists of Spektral Quartet delivered one amazing performance after another, challenging our notions of what to expect from a string quartet, and pushing the boundaries of what's musically possible.

Aptly named "The Sampler Pack" because of its variety, the nine-part program spanned almost 200 years of music history, and included works ranging in length from five seconds to more than ten minutes, punctuated by impromptu remarks from the musicians themselves. 

Violinists Clara Lyon and J. Austin Wulliman

In contemporary pieces from Philip Glass and Bernard Rands, the ensemble tightly synchronized their body language and breathing, displaying what violinist J. Austin Wulliman later described as a "group mind" that can only be formed after innumerable hours of rehearsal together. Violinist Clara Lyon, the newest member, meshed seamlessly in this, her first appearance with Spektral.

Verses from the late American poet Russell Edson served as lyrics for two parts of a suite by contemporary Chicago composer David Reminick, whose score calls for simultaneous singing, playing and, arguably, musical movement. There may be many great musicians in Chicago, but few are asked to sing and dance while playing passages of such rhythmic and melodic complexity.

For the Spektrals, Art meets Life in a project called "Mobile Miniatures," a commissioned collection of dozens of complete scores by different composers, of suitable length for cell phone ringtones. But the playful concept belies the sophistication of this music, and the skill and sensitivity with which it was played.

Violist Doyle Armbrust and cellist Russell Rolen

Taken from the classic end of the spectrum, selections from Beethoven, Dvorak and Stravinsky amply demonstrate the depth of talent and experience of this quartet. Passages played as expressively as any concert master by violist Doyle Armbrust and cellist Russell Rolen moved us inwardly with intimate phrasings that were never intended for a full orchestra.

Great art challenges us and changes us. Like something conceived by Edgar Allan Poe, whose portraits were displayed on the walls of the gallery, this concert took us to places where music has no pulse, where ugly noises and long silences are strangely beautiful, and our subconscious becomes conscious.

Evocative language and imagery are powerful objects, but it's live performances of such superb quality and authenticity that create a truly transcendent experience. And when this quartet plays, the specter is real.