One of the most influential American composers of the 20th century, James Tenney (1934-2006) combined the experimental spirit of Cage and company with a rigorous grounding in acoustics, perception, and information theory. This program explores Tenney’s music for string instruments, from his diagrammatic Postal Pieces (1965-71) to his last major work, the string quartet Arbor vitae (2006). The centerpiece is Tenney’s 1982 composition Glissade, a five-movement work for viola, cello, contrabass, and delay system that serves as a compendium of his major compositional interests and techniques.

Cellogram (1971)
Carolina Diazgranados, cello
Harmonium #5 (1978)
Myanna Harvey, violin
Emma Hughey, viola
Carolina Diazgranados, cello

Koan (1971)
Anna Lim, violin

Glissade (1982)
I. Shimmer
II. Array (a’rising)
III. Bessel functions of the first kind
IV. Trias Harmonica
V. Stochastic-canonic Variations
Veronica Jurkiewicz, viola
Tom Kraines, cello
Evan Runyon, bass
with tape-delay system

Beast (1971)
Evan Runyon, bass
Arbor vitae (2006)
Anna Lim, violin I
Myanna Harvey, violin II
Emma Hughey, viola
Tom Kraines, cello

PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT