Livestream link: https://youtube.com/live/9CB8y1fAs2U
PEEL BACK THE LAYERS
Ethan Pinckert
(note from the performer)
April 23,2023
Hello, fellow human!
I am thrilled that tonight I finally get to share with you this program titled Peel Back The Layers, and in this space would love to share with you a few overarching thoughts about what you are about to experience.
Almost a year ago, I was planning out the steps to bring my years of study at IC to a close and move towards the next stage of my life (grad school, career, what have you) when I was asked by my professor Dr. Mike Truesdell: “So what do you really want to play before you graduate?” So, like any other student with an idea and maybe a little too much ambition, I began to ponder over every “bucket list” piece I ever thought about. Eventually, I settled on a collection of 4 works, each of which had a profound impact on my musicianship, the way I approach performing, and the person I am to my core.
Starting at said core is Vinko Globokar’s ?Corporel, a piece of postmodern theater which exhibits fragmented character, and a central focus on the human body. In this work, one observes that music comes from not an instrument or a performance space, but from within oneself. The performer struggles with this vulnerable truth, and eventually comes to accept it.
This vulnerability also comes with a community of fellow humans and artists who seek to do the same. This community for me sparked a friendship with Seessa, the artist and composer who created The Four Loves. I gave the premiere of this piece just over a year ago, which sonically explores visual art contextualized with terms defined by C.S. Lewis. From this work the movements “Philia” and “Agape” will be performed, exemplifying close friendship and self love.
We exist then in a world of constant change, whether these impacts are the natural world or the simple passing of time. This could be an overwhelming thing to dwell on, to realize that while mourning good times of yesterday, we may miss out on the present time of today (which we will probably then mourn tomorrow.) In reflection of this is Roger Reynolds’ Islands from Archipelago II: Autumn Island, which presents various short themes for marimba. These themes are then expanded and contracted by computer algorithms, bridged together with organic ornamentation from the composer. By the time the themes have fully contracted in the end, they may sound completely different from the beginning, despite being made of the same parts. Finally, amid this chaos, we find consistency. We find that the various cycles of nature and life keep moving forward, and with it that there is never truly an endpoint. I choose to close with Robert Livingston Aldridge’s From My Little Island, which presents a theme with variations in the form of small vignettes. This piece transports me to a recurring time and place in my life, a particular week of midsummer on the coast of New Jersey. These days would be an opportunity for me to relax and reflect, very often with this music as the soundtrack. Although I can not take you there physically, I invite you to come on this journey with me through sound.
And at this final outward layer: I am here, on stage in front of you. I invite you with me tonight to celebrate with this performance. Celebrate the love of music and sound, celebrate each other, and celebrate the joy that is ourselves.
With love,
Ethan Pinckert
The following is prose from the performer as a reflection on each of the works.
“?Corporel is the journey of a man finding out he is stripped of his instrument, experiencing the psychological torture that brings him, and slowly coming to the realization that he is fine with that, realizing the music comes not from his instrument but from within himself.”
(Bill Cahn)
This music from within myself is a powerful, sometimes frightening force. What comes with a desire to shout out these sounds, comes the desire to shout out every secret and intimacy from the corners of my soul. How far will this vulnerability push me? Does it know any bounds at all?
(?Corporel)
In this innate desire to be vulnerable comes a desire to share with others. This core is wrapped in the fabrics of community, woven from the fibers of love and support. From artist to artist, friend to friend, heart to heart. These fabrics are tied together with a love of self, which weathers and endures all that I am with every confidence and insecurity.
(The Four Loves)
II. Philia
Philia is the love of deep friendship, empathy, and community. It is the least natural of the loves, and according to CS Lewis, is something very few people experience in a lifetime. He calls the love, in its purest, a form of art. An example of philia is the love between childhood friends.
IV. Agape
Agape is the love of greater good, selflessness, and charitability.This love is one that will never change, for example the unconditional love a higher power gives to followers. CS Lewis says this love is superior to the others. An example of agape is self love.
(Pause)
“Form is perceived of function. We know what we can know when we see what changes, when, and by how much.” (Mel Powell)
How do I realize what’s changed before it is fully different? Do I mourn those days when these are the good old days of the future?
Does an island know of its seasons changing and erosion before it is barren and underwater?
(Islands from Archipelago II: Autumn Island)
From My Little Island
My many layers form a life story.
The sun points me eastward,
leading me over a bridge and leaving my life behind
To exist in a paradise of repose and respite.
The island welcomes me.
Its length extends like open arms across the sea. (Theme)
Settling like the sand on the shore, we reminisce.
The stories of times past brings the present together
in perfect harmony, percussed by the snickers and laughter
of new memories to come. (Tango)
The night illuminates the island with its stars.
Meteors paint the sky overhead.
Above us is a celestial kaleidoscope,
What a sight to behold! (Dance of Passion)
Rain. A tired calm and quiet. A peaceful loneliness… (Sad Song)
…and then, through the clouds, sun. (Hymn)
The lights of a carnival whiz past us.
The world spins faster and faster,
And the dizziness lifts us from the ground.
Hold on tight! (Sweet Song)
The stars shimmer overhead.
Rolling waves lull the Earth to sleep.
I alone, experience the consonance of nature.
From my florid palace rest, I say goodbye.
When the sun rises, I must leave the island
until we meet again.
I carry with me a sadness, but not despair.
Life continues, and with it my woes and joys.
Just as the Earth will continue to spin,
the sun will rise after each night.
I will always return after departing
from my little island. (Folk Song)
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