Tyshawn Sorey: Monochromatic Light (Afterlife)
“For Sorey to interpolate his own invocation, his own heritage, history and memory, is a gesture of both respect and daring. Rarely does a composer present a new work haunted so openly and pervasively by a predecessor’s. But “Monochromatic Light” feels less like a nostalgia trip than a broadening of Feldman’s path deep into the pain and community of our time and the distant but resonant past.” – The New Yorker
Fifty years ago, composer Morton Feldman wrote music to commemorate the opening of the Rothko Chapel in Houston. A half-century later, composer, conductor, multi-instrumentalist, MacArthur “Genius,’ and now Pulitzer prize-winning Tyshawn Sorey has created a new piece, commissioned by the Armory, as a tribute to both the deeply contemplative space and the work by this composer that has influenced his creative output. The resulting score provides the listener with the feeling of being enveloped in sound in much the same way that Mark Rothko’s paintings give in that space, revealing ever changing shades of color and texture.
Personnel / Performers
Tyshawn Sorey, composer, conductor
St. John’s Episcopal Choir
Davóne Tines, bass-baritone
Kim Kashkashian, viola
Steven Schick, percussion
Sarah Rothenberg, piano/celesta
