For a few composers, writing music is easy. “I produce music
like an apple tree produces apples,” remarked the French composer
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921). Most everyone else has to
sweat, so I asked hornist and composer Tom Varner whether the
title of his Heaven and Hell might describe his struggle
to compose a multimovement suite.
Varner laughed, let loose a “that’s good,” and explained the
origins of this unusual work for 10 musicians. “It’s about a lot of
things—living in New York during 9/11, then flying to Vietnam to
adopt our son nine days later, and moving to Seattle, which has been
wonderful. Like a lot of people, I’m fascinated by the simultaneous
combination of the good things and horrible stuff that everyone has
in their lives.”
Reflecting on the suite’s musical influences, Varner added,
“I want to combine my love of jazz and improvised music with
Stravinsky’s Symphonies of Wind Instruments. I
think of that piece as a series of glittering orbs with those chords
like Messiaen where they just hang in space.”
The sections of Heaven and Hell I heard in rehearsal
capture Varner’s dichotomy vividly. Some sections swing hard, at times
launching into a free approach—one direction in the score reads
“open improv back top on cue.” At one point in the rehearsal, Varner
advises clarinetist Jesse Canterbury to “sit a little bit on
that three if you can. You’ll hear it with the other guys and know when
to come in.”
Other sections loyally reflect Varner’s fascination with
Stravinsky’s Symphonies, a little known but unforgettable elegy
for Claude Debussy written in 1920. Canterbury, trombonist Chris
Stover, and Varner, with his hand perched inside his horn, played a
gentle procession of bell-like chords at once suffused with sadness and
hope for the future. 
Catch the Tom Varner Tentet on Thurs April 10 at Seattle
Art Museum, 1300 First Ave, 547-6763, 5:30–7 pm, free with
museum admission.
Thurs 4/10
MUSIC FOR LUNCH
My pick for classical music bargain of the week. Pianist Erin Chung,
violinist Susie Kim, and cellist Jihee Youn sally through Beethoven’s
Piano Trio op. 1 no. 3 along with morsels by the ubiquitous
Piazzolla. Sherman-Clay Piano & Organ, 1624 Fourth Ave,
622-7580, 12:15 pm, free.
Fri 4/11
SISSY SPACEK
Not the lithe, Oscar-winning actress (think Coal Miner’s
Daughter or the eponymous blood-smeared waif Carrie), but
a project featuring noise-maestro John Wiese. Spacek’s latest,
Remote Whale Control (Misanthropic Agenda), disgorges
machine-gunned samples, arcs of feedback, and a churning, yet somehow
melodic vomit of jagged digital snippets. Also on the bill: Yellow
Swans, Iron Lung, and the self-explanatory Blue Sabbath Black Cheer.
Vera Project, Seattle Center, 956-8372, 7:30 pm, $7/$8.
PAUL RUCKER
The composer, improviser, and installation artist gets back to
basics with a solo cello concert benefiting the Innocence Project.
Fourth floor Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, 4649
Sunnyside Ave N, 8 pm, $5—$15 sliding scale donation.
Sat 4/12
MUSIC OF REMEMBRANCE
MoR concludes its season-long cycle of free concerts with scenes
from Brundibár, a children’s opera composed by Hans
Krasa (1899—1944). Sung in an English adaptation by Angels in
America playwright Tony Kushner. Seattle Asian Art Museum,
Volunteer Park, 365-7770, 2:30 pm, free.
GAVIN BORCHERT
An afternoon microfestival of music by the classical music guru for
KUOW: Guitarist Mark Wilson performs Shepherd’s Life, with
variations; Dave Beck and Amy Rubin collaborate on the Cello
Sonata; and young cellist Julian Schwarz helps premiere a trio for
violin, cello, and piano. Borchert’s music, like his prose, brims with
wit and vivacity. Fourth floor Chapel Performance Space, Good
Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside Ave N, 4 pm, $5—$15 sliding scale
donation.
LA SERVA PADRONA
Seattle Baroque Orchestra is the backing band for this frothy,
semistaged one-act opera by Pergolesi starring soprano Melissa Fogarty
and baritone David Stutz. Telemann’s Overture Burlesque and a
viola concerto by the almost-forgotten Johann Gottlieb Graun round out
the program. Also Sun April 13 at 3 pm. Recital Hall at Benaroya,
200 University St, 322-3118, 8 pm, $10—$35.
Sun 4/13
MIRA TRIO
Stellar pianist Byron Schenkman returns from the Big Apple for the
debut of this piano, violin, and cello trio. On the docket: Beethoven’s
Piano Trio, op. 1, no. 1, the Trio in B-flat, op. 99
by Schubert, and Haydn’s Trio in G minor. Town Hall, 1119
Eighth Ave, 652-4255, 7 pm, $15—$20.
Tues 4/15
DEEP BLUE ORGAN TRIO
I savor this Chicago outfit’s laid-back grooves, the bluesy (but not
histrionic) guitar solos by David Broom, and most of all organist Chris
Foreman’s choice of settings on his Hammond B-3. Foreman does it all,
from gospel tremolos to chunky, log-drum-like comping to deeply funky
solos. Also Wed April 16. Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave, 441-9729,
7:30 pm, $22.50.
DX ARTS
Digital video and surround-sound electroacoustic music from the UW’s
Center for Digital Arts and Experimental Media. Best bets on the
program include Richard Karpen’s Camera Cantorum and Joseph
Anderson’s “Mpingo” (2003). Meany Theater, UW Campus, 543-4880,
7:30 pm, $5/$10.
