Have you ever left a performance of contemporary music feeling that if only you could hear the piece again, your appreciation and understanding would deepen – that the music would come even more alive for you?
“ONCE MORE, WITH FEELING!” was a concert series we created to give you that second listen on the same night, and to reveal the oftentimes subtle layers of a new piece through on-stage conversations with the composers. These live interactions with the composer illuminated the subtleties of and inspirations for the music, gave the audience the ability to ask questions in the moment – with the hope that any worries or preconceptions about “not getting it” might disappear.
Check out two complete “Once More, With Feeling!” performances below:
Nov 21, 2021: “Ainsi La Nuit” by henri dutilleux with kendall briggs
Henri Dutilleux’s Ainsi la nuit (“Thus, the Night”) is something like a nighttime diversion down a darkening path, where one’s other senses are magnified in the absence of sight. It is mysterious, sometimes sinister, but full of wonder. This is a piece that reveals itself with each successive listen, brimming as it is with elusive riddles, mischievous trap doors, and the subtlest Proustian foreshadowing. Even though it is a gripping listen without any knowledge of its inner workings, this quartet tends to move into the realm of the ravishing once its layers are pulled back.
We invited the eminently charming Juilliard professor and Ainsi la nuit specialist Dr. Kendall Briggs to lead our excavation of this extraordinary work as part of our “Once More, With Feeling!” series. We opened the show with a performance of a substantial excerpt of the work before inviting Professor Briggs to illuminate our way through the labyrinth. With the help of Dr. Briggs we explored the ins and outs of the composition: its structure, inspirations, and narrative, and finished out the show with a performance of the full piece. You might just be astonished at how marvelously the piece transforms for you in just one sitting…
If you want a first-hand account of the event, check out this review in The Strad Magazine by Bruce Hodges!
February 4, 2022: “Current” by SAmuel Carl Adams
We fell for our commission from Samuel Adams…hard. It’s energizing and hypnotic and unexpected, so it was an easy choice to present a movement of it on our “Once More, With Feeling!” and bring Sam up on stage with us to unearth what makes this phenomenal music sizzle.
Current is the result of a friendship that deepened during Sam’s tenure as composer-in-residence for our hometown band, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Perhaps the most unusual element of It is that it employs snare drums, but not in the way you might expect. Here’s what Sam did divulge to us when delivering the score:
“The result is a virtuosic display of four individuals performing with artificial, indifferent musical elements. Together a complex polyphonic organism emerges; the voices from the string quartet are rarely placed in a hierarchy in relation to one another or in relation to the snare drums.”
During the show you will hear two(!) performances of the mesmerizing second movement, and in between we’ll take a deep dive into Sam’s process of composition, the art and artists that inspired him when he was writing the piece, and much more…
All Past Once More, With Feeling! events:
December 1st, 2017: Featuring Eliza Brown (String Quartet No. 1)
March 4th, 2018: Featuring Wadada Leo Smith (String Quartet No. 9)
May 6th, 2018: Featuring Lisa Coons & Mark DeChiazza (The Space Between)
September 20th, 2018: Featuring Miguel Zenón (Villalbeño from Yo Soy La Tradición)
August 14th, 2019: Featuring LJ White & music of The Shaggs (My Pal Foot Foot)
December 12th, 2019: Featuring Shulamit Ran (String Quartet No. 2, “Vistas”)
November 21st, 2021: Featuring Kendall Briggs & music of Henri Dutilleux (Ainsi la nuit)
February 4th, 2022: Featuring Samuel Carl Adams (Excerpt from Current)
poster Gallery
Can’t get enough of “once more, with feeling!”?
For those who are intrigued by this concert format - particularly the chance to hear two performances of a piece in one sitting - we strongly encourage you to check out ‘The Refraction Series’, a concert series presented in Chicago by our dear friends in ~Nois Saxophone Quartet. These four are incredible musicians and educators - head to the Refraction Series Webpage to read about the series debut, and keep an eye out for future events!
Once More, With Feeling! on the Blog
