Juillard's AXIOM Presents a Jacob Druckman Program with Pianist Derek Wang

Jacob Druckman (b Amer 1928-1996) has been declared the inheritor of the mantle of dean of American composers standing on the shoulders of one of his mentor's, Aaron Copeland.   I wasn't familiar with Druckman compositions, an oversight on my part.  This was rectified by the remarkable compositions performed by Julliard's AXIOM last evening at Alice Tully Hall.  Druckman is renown for "Horizons" music festivals he curated in the 1980s while composer in residence for NY Phil. Perhaps his achievements as a composer were overshadowed by his championing and programmer for the New Romanticism style; alternatives to the more dominate modernism aesthetic of the 20th C.  In Druckman's words "When I say romantic, everybody imagines effete late 19th C, Biedermeier, sentimental music.  That's not at all what I'm talking about.  It was leaning toward a trust of things intuitive, that things intuitive transcend things intellectual".    I sensed an avant garde approach in the 4 compositions performed.  The instrumentation & vocals for Bo (1979) consisted of bass clarinet, harp, 3 vocalists and percussionist.  The percussionist played a vibraphone with a resonating echo along with gongs, symbols and a drum.  Percussionist David Yoon's playing was central to the intriguing syncopation & tonal quality which was modern.  The harp added a romantic lure and the clarinet an underlying, alluring softness.  In juxtaposition, the 3 vocalist, whose backs were to the audience gave rise to unintelligible wording or discernible rhythm.  The effect was high pitched and screechy lending an eerie, ominous aura.  Overall, I was intrigued by the artistic choices and the surprising blending of sounds.  I admired all the pieces on the evening's program.  "String Quartet #3 (1981) was written in 3 movements with 7 variations.   The composition sounded like a bantering  dialogue amongst the 4 instruments.  I heard a boisterous exchange of aggression & felt a bold, physicality from the musicians.  Druckman's THE & DEADLY SINS (1955) written for piano was my favorite.  Derek Wang's piano solo was remarkable.  The music fiercely conveyed a broad range of emotions in his playing that intuited pride, anger and sexual desires.  COME ROUND (1992) was reminiscient to Bo but more layered & complex.  The instrumentation included violin, flutes, clarinets, cello, piano and a more elaborate percussion arrangement which did feature a xylophone.  The xylophone served as the central driving voice.  I discerned a mystifying & pleasing mixture of Brahms and Coltrane.  The concert was a luxurious compilation of sounds and styles.  It was an exhilarating performance.