"Hard Music, Hard Liquor" at The Spot

By Alexander Hough in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 17, 2009 5:40PM

Chicago new music group dal niente will be performing a show entitled "Hard Music, Hard Liquor" at The Spot this Saturday night. The program gets its name because it features five solo pieces so mind-numbingly difficult, it took these accomplished musicians up to six months to prepare for this concert.

Most of the music comes from the New Complexity school of composition. Much of the style's aural qualities are evident from the name, but the idea behind the music is to expand what is sonically possible, an aim often accomplished through innovative notation. "Asphyxia" for soprano sax, written by Aaron Cassidy and to be performed by Ryan Muncy, is the most obvious example of this. The piece is written on separate staves, one dictating the actions of the hands, the other for the actions of the mouth, and each is independent of the other. Click here for an example, and you'll get an idea why dal niente's musicians chose as a venue a place where they could immediately consume a drink upon completion of their solos.

The other works in the concert are Karlheinz Stockhausen's "In Freundschaft" ("In Friendship"), written for a number of various solo instruments but will performed on horn by Matt Oliphant; James Dillon's "Ti-Re-Ti-Ke-Dha" for percussion, inspired by the composer's studies with Punita Gupta in India (Peter Martin, percussion); the U.S. premiere of Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf's "La terreur d'ange nouveau" ("The Terror of the New Angel") for flute (Shanna Gutiérrez, flute); and Aaron Einbond's "Inside Out," written for dal niente violinist Austin Wulliman in 2003.

The show starts at 9:00 p.m., but arrive at 8:00 p.m. for the pre-party. Pony up the measly $5; word has it there might even be some drink coupons available.

The Spot, 4437 N. Broadway, (773) 728-8934, Saturday, April 18 at 9:00 p.m., $5