“Minimalist” Picnic in the Cemetery
(an excerpt from the column Music and Life written by Chow Fan Fu published in the July 2013 edition of the magazine
Music and Audiophile.)
Let’s talk about another concert, “Picnic in the Cemetery”, which was part of the Macao Arts festival a while back. Together with the added show, it was performed three times. This writer attended the last performance on May 26. The nineteen musical compositions performed during the concert are all by the Macanese composer and Canadian resident Njo Kong Kie, most of them already recorded in the album “Picnic in the Cemetery”, released two years ago. My experience listening to the album is very different to my experience attending the live performance of the repertoire. That evening, Kong Kie and his trio partners, violinist Hong Iat U and cellist Jean-Christophe Lizotte, gave a performance utterly unlike what one would experience in a formal concert venue. A lot of theatrical elements are included in the performance, and the whole design of the show transported the concert to the realm of alternative theatre. The show took place in the Live Music Association, located inside a big factory building. The venue has a slightly higher ceiling than most residential buildings, and is commonly used for pop concerts. That evening, the usual stage was abandoned; the three musicians moved onto the floor space and performed with the audience surrounding them; the randomly-placed chairs (said to be on loan from Theatre Horizon) were all different from another, and everyone was free to choose his or her own seat. In total there were about sixty seats.
At the top of the show, Njo Kong Kie, dressed from head to toe in winter garments, wearing a hat and pushing a bicycle, guided the audience waiting in the narrow lobby towards the entrance of the room where the concert was to take place. When the door was pushed opened, the concert began. During the show, whenever the music stopped, the audience was encouraged to get up and switched seats. Kong Kie himself played the piano; because he had chosen to play on an upright piano, the audience sitting directly in front of him could not see him. Ingeniously, a round mirror was installed on the ceiling above the piano allowing some audience members to clearly observe (albeit in an inverted way) Kong Kie’s manner and hand movements while he played, left becoming right and right becoming left. This setup demonstrated clearly to the audience how differently, because each seat offered a different perspective, each one of them would experience the music depending on where he or she sat. This is truly one of the unique aspects of live performances.
As for the theatrical aspects of the show, there were lighting changes and video projection of a picnic in a cemetery. Several lady characters from the video, wearing the same clothes they wore in the film, appeared in the flesh during the actual show, sometimes offering wine to the musicians, other times encouraging the audience to switch seats. But even without these theatrical elements, Kong Kie’s music exudes more vivid energy in live performances than on a recording.
As mentioned in last month’s column, the aforementioned album is very difficult to categorize. Classical music, pop music, east and west elements are all combined. A majority of the compositions were played on the violin, cello and piano. However, during the second half of the show, starting with “Pulsing”, they were joined on the guitar by Bruce Pun Chi Man. But the effect of the guitar was not too distinctive. Many of the compositions performed that night employed a “minimalist” approach, the difference is that this is mainly used as background with the percussive fragments on the piano acting as motifs towards transformation and becoming the driving force of music. On the other hand, Kong Kie writes elegant melodies of deep emotion for the violin and cello. Sometimes, strong rhythmical element suggestive of a tango is added. The theatrical packaging of the concert that evening added much color to the kind of music that is inherently lacking in dramatic contrasts. As such, the performance clearly resonated with everyone in the audience. This is music that brings incomparable comfort to the listeners,. This music is not in any way “background music”, or even “pop music”. If we call it “art music”, furthermore referencing “minimalist” technique, once again we risk being misunderstood, giving the impression that this might be some kind of difficult-to-understand avant-garde music. It seems we have to let time decide if in the future this kind of music will have a proper name that is succint and not misleading.
The music of Njo Kong Kie proves that compositions created in the style of minimalism as exemplified in Philip Glass’ music do not all have to be works consisting only of repetitions “ad nauseam”, but can indeed be very enjoyable and satisfying to listen to.
(an excerpt from the column Music and Life written by Chow Fan Fu published in the July 2013 edition of the magazine
Music and Audiophile.)
Let’s talk about another concert, “Picnic in the Cemetery”, which was part of the Macao Arts festival a while back. Together with the added show, it was performed three times. This writer attended the last performance on May 26. The nineteen musical compositions performed during the concert are all by the Macanese composer and Canadian resident Njo Kong Kie, most of them already recorded in the album “Picnic in the Cemetery”, released two years ago. My experience listening to the album is very different to my experience attending the live performance of the repertoire. That evening, Kong Kie and his trio partners, violinist Hong Iat U and cellist Jean-Christophe Lizotte, gave a performance utterly unlike what one would experience in a formal concert venue. A lot of theatrical elements are included in the performance, and the whole design of the show transported the concert to the realm of alternative theatre. The show took place in the Live Music Association, located inside a big factory building. The venue has a slightly higher ceiling than most residential buildings, and is commonly used for pop concerts. That evening, the usual stage was abandoned; the three musicians moved onto the floor space and performed with the audience surrounding them; the randomly-placed chairs (said to be on loan from Theatre Horizon) were all different from another, and everyone was free to choose his or her own seat. In total there were about sixty seats.
At the top of the show, Njo Kong Kie, dressed from head to toe in winter garments, wearing a hat and pushing a bicycle, guided the audience waiting in the narrow lobby towards the entrance of the room where the concert was to take place. When the door was pushed opened, the concert began. During the show, whenever the music stopped, the audience was encouraged to get up and switched seats. Kong Kie himself played the piano; because he had chosen to play on an upright piano, the audience sitting directly in front of him could not see him. Ingeniously, a round mirror was installed on the ceiling above the piano allowing some audience members to clearly observe (albeit in an inverted way) Kong Kie’s manner and hand movements while he played, left becoming right and right becoming left. This setup demonstrated clearly to the audience how differently, because each seat offered a different perspective, each one of them would experience the music depending on where he or she sat. This is truly one of the unique aspects of live performances.
As for the theatrical aspects of the show, there were lighting changes and video projection of a picnic in a cemetery. Several lady characters from the video, wearing the same clothes they wore in the film, appeared in the flesh during the actual show, sometimes offering wine to the musicians, other times encouraging the audience to switch seats. But even without these theatrical elements, Kong Kie’s music exudes more vivid energy in live performances than on a recording.
As mentioned in last month’s column, the aforementioned album is very difficult to categorize. Classical music, pop music, east and west elements are all combined. A majority of the compositions were played on the violin, cello and piano. However, during the second half of the show, starting with “Pulsing”, they were joined on the guitar by Bruce Pun Chi Man. But the effect of the guitar was not too distinctive. Many of the compositions performed that night employed a “minimalist” approach, the difference is that this is mainly used as background with the percussive fragments on the piano acting as motifs towards transformation and becoming the driving force of music. On the other hand, Kong Kie writes elegant melodies of deep emotion for the violin and cello. Sometimes, strong rhythmical element suggestive of a tango is added. The theatrical packaging of the concert that evening added much color to the kind of music that is inherently lacking in dramatic contrasts. As such, the performance clearly resonated with everyone in the audience. This is music that brings incomparable comfort to the listeners,. This music is not in any way “background music”, or even “pop music”. If we call it “art music”, furthermore referencing “minimalist” technique, once again we risk being misunderstood, giving the impression that this might be some kind of difficult-to-understand avant-garde music. It seems we have to let time decide if in the future this kind of music will have a proper name that is succint and not misleading.
The music of Njo Kong Kie proves that compositions created in the style of minimalism as exemplified in Philip Glass’ music do not all have to be works consisting only of repetitions “ad nauseam”, but can indeed be very enjoyable and satisfying to listen to.