Montreal's Collectif9 Releases NO TIME FOR CHAMBER MUSIC
By: Julie Musbach Nov. 27, 2018
Montreal's trailblazing 9-piece classical string band, collectif9 releases its sophomore album featuring music by and inspired by Gustav Mahler. Satirical and serious, frivolous and intense, No Time for Chamber Music delves into rich and complex musical textures with original and intimate arrangements. A contemporary classical ensemble that embraces a pop music attitude, collectif9 is known for its energized, innovative arrangements of classical repertoire, along with lighting and staging more commonly seen from rock bands. Since its 2011 debut, collectif9 has introduced a new age in genre-bending classical performance to more than 100 venues across North America, Europe, and Asia. "The talented group of friends doesn't spare any effort to achieve their ultimate goal," says ICI Musique, "to allow everyone to participate in the utter joy of classical music, initiated or not."
Watch the video about the making of the album here
Watch a live performance from the Montreal launch event of "L'adieu" from Mahler's The Song of the Earth here
"No time for chamber music ... you are nothing but an academic exercise" is a quote from the 3rd movement of Berio's Sinfonia, which is built on thescherzo from Mahler's 2nd symphony. These few words encompass the many contradictions in Mahler's music - referencing irony, perception, and musical tradition. The works on the new recording, all of which were arranged by collectif9 leader and bass player Thibault Bertin-Maghit, also use quotations from other works by Mahler, creating layered meanings and textures, transporting the listener into a world of fantasy and imagery. While it may seem that Gustav Mahler himself, with his vast symphonies, had no time for chamber music, this was not at all the case. Reflecting daily life, interactions, and intimacies, chamber music is human communication itself. The new album includes reframed excerpts of Mahler's first, second, and fifth symphonies as well as his lieder - by way of an Austrian folk dance and a funeral march or two - before a final L'adieu. In addition, composer Philippe Hersant offers an homage to Mahler à la manière de Callot, drawing on multiple works to create a unique whole.
Earlier this month, collectif9's launched No Time for Chamber Music at Montreal's NOMAD and Toronto'sLula Lounge before heading to Mexico for concerts at the Festival de Música de Morelia, along with collaborators Gabriel Prokofiev, Edgardo Espinosa, and DJ Mr Switch.
No Time for Chamber Music is the follow up to collectif9's "dazzling" (The WholeNote) debut release,Volksmobiles, featuring folk-inspired music by Brahms, Bartók, Schnittke, André Gagnon, and a world premiere by Geof Holbrook, which toured extensively across North America and in China. Most recently, collectif9 presented the concert program My Backyard Somewhere, a multi-disciplinary collaboration withArchitek Percussion. A poetic migration through words and places featuring original music commissioned from composers Derek Charke, Nicole Lizée, Eliot Britton, Luna Pearl Woolf, and Bret Higgins, and words by Kaie Kellough, My Backyard Somewhere toured to Canada's east coast in October and will hit Winnipeg as well as Sherbrooke, QC early in 2019. Not resting for long, March and April 2019 will see collectif9 on an extensive US tour with dates in California, Washington, Colorado, Idaho, and Wyoming.
collectif9 is: Thibault Bertin-Maghit, leader and bass; John Corban, Yubin Kim, Robert Margaryan, and Liz Skinner, violins; Scott Chancey andXavier Lepage-Brault, violas; Andrea Stewart and Jérémie Cloutier, cellos.
Videos