David Sefton’s installation as programmer for RCC has essentially created a third arm of Adelaide’s festival season.
It means that as the Adelaide Festival has lurched towards an older audience, there’s still a home for the contemporary music and performance art that delighted audiences during Sefton’s tenure as Adelaide Festival Director. That’s a blessing because though it’s more than 40 years old, Steve Reich’s 'Music For 18 Musicians' still has the power to delight and amaze.
From the initial notes of the first marimba, this is a work that deals in patterns and phrases rather than melodies. As other instruments join, the parts become so interwoven that it’s hard to tell where one ends and another begins. But rather than fusing into a whole, the individual parts remain just that, slowly moving into and out of phase in a mesmerising dance with infinite, barely perceptible variations. The result is a shimmering mirage, a work of audio illusion that plays tricks with even the most trained ear.
Soundstream Artistic Director Gabriella Smart introduced it as a “sublime democratic performance” and it's one that requires some musicians to switch between instruments regularly. Even with a 19th player added, there’s a lot going on and at times multiple musicians share the same instrument. One of the pleasures of experiencing 'Music' live is seeing this process unfold. When three players use the same marimba, the image of their mallets moving up and down metronomically creates the same sensory overload as the music. It’s impossible to detect which mallet is creating each individual note; the only thing to do is to bring the perspective back and enjoy the performance in its mesmerising totality.
Another pleasure of seeing it live is watching the performers slowly begin to smile as the performance hits the half-way part. And so they should; it’s a demanding work and seeing them visibly relax and enjoy this rare and very special performance is a delight. This is a work that requires incredible rigour on the part of the musicians, whose parts interlock and compete with each other constantly.
Occasionally the attention is drawn to a something slightly out of sync (such as the strings that seem to intrude over other elements), but overall this is a stunning execution of a complex piece. Despite its quotidian title, 'Music For 18 Musicians' is a masterpiece and the South Australian premiere managed to capture its ethereal magic. One can only hope audiences don’t have to wait so long for another airing.
