BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
We all love a bit of strange music from time to time. Some might argue that the stranger it is, the better. Few, however, will self-confess to being “an above-average hype man for the some of the stranger music out there”.
Classifying music as “strange” is in itself taboo. We talk about music as being experimental, or challenging to the listener. But we’ll rarely say that a composition is downright weird. And why not? Listening beyond our comfort zones — a familiar Mozart symphony; a dreamy Satie piano piece — can expand our interests, tastes, and identities as music lovers. So embrace it all. Embrace the clowns!
Wait — how did we get to clowns?
Coulrophonia is a composition by Thomas Misson (he’s the strange-music advocate) and it is literally about clowns. He made up the name, and he also made up the concert program on which it is about to feature in Hobart.
Taking on the roles of composer, pianist, and curator has placed Thomas in the position to perform a cheeky, offbeat program while discretely using it to present two world premieres, which is actually a very big deal.
We sit down with the composer of Coulrophonia, which he will premiere alongside performances of clarinet sonatas from Don Kay and Paul Hindemith, and Berg’s Vier Stücke.
Thomas, you have a big event coming up called Coulrophonia, named after your work. You have told me, to alleviate my curiosity, that you made up this word and that it means “the sound of clowns”. My first question is: What even?
It was a winding path to this concept! I had a 12-minute commission for piano plus one instrument to be included in a recital. Twelve mins is enough time to explore a concept if it isn’t too grand in scope, though all topics are expansive rabbit holes, obviously!
When Derek Grice indicated his interest in playing with me, I started exploring my pre-existing ideas and sketchpads for future pieces to guide me towards ideas that are compatible with a 12-minute piece exploring the capabilities of the clarinet and piano. The topic became clowns and, noticing the repertoire with it had its clowning tendencies at times, the word ‘coulrophonia’ was born and became the name of the recital. Plus, I love one-word titles!
So what is the sound of clowns? Should we expect to hear a fear-of-clowns horror work; a playful and comedic piece; an existential impression of the person behind the mask?
All of the above! Coulrophonia is in three movements, each reflecting familiar clown character types, those being Harlequin, Pierrot, & Canio respectively.
There is a lot of variety in how the cultural touchstone of ‘clowns’ is perceived, so I wanted to capture that more widely. While they all have their own individual character and narrative, zooming out there are a couple of layers to the sound world of Coulrophonia.
Firstly is using the features of musical genres associated with clowning — for example, polkas, vaudeville, waltzes, circus galops, ragtime, and cabaret.
Secondly is the imitation of individual sounds, timbres, and gestures of clowning like drumrolls, xylophones, laughing, falling over, stunts, clown horns, general tricksiness, unhinged moments of fright and distrust.
You’re the curator of this event, as well as the clown pianist, and I’d love to know a bit about how you chose to pair this music with the other compositions on the program — an important decision when considering there are two world premieres for which you have chosen their first companion pieces.
At the time, much of it was a practical and logical choice but one that produces a balanced program.
Don Kay wrote the Clarinet Sonata for Derek, and has played the Hindemith before. I’d done a bit of work on the Hindemith and Berg, but craved getting more stuck in to those pieces. They all represent different approaches to post-1900 composition, of which they are so very many. It’s been fun switching between the different sound worlds while practising and getting to know them.
What do you like to bring to your own table when you are curating an event in which you are performing? How does your role as pianist impact your curatorial choices?
Anything where I can play the piano part is on the table, but much post-1900 classical music is challenging enough that I don’t need to seek it out! I’m playing music I’d like to get to know myself as a composer and, by extension, it’s music I want to advocate for through talking about it and playing it to an audience.
However, despite bursting at the seams with curation ideas, I’m new to the process of putting on concerts. The more I engage with the process, the more my personal curatorial instincts will emerge. The main thing for me is becoming the best communicator and advocate for music I care about that I can.
With such a colourful and intimate program of music by Kay, Hindemith, Berg, and Misson, what does Misson hope that listeners will feel or ponder as they drift out of the TSO Studio and into the Hobart waterfront post-concert?
There’s plenty of exhilarating music here, so I hope they feel satisfied with the level of musicianship and feel interested in what I put on next. I hope that people feel they know the piano and the clarinet and their capabilities better than they did before, as if they’ve been in a sort of intimate, tell-all Andrew Denton-style interview with both instruments.
Lastly, I think I’m an above-average hype man for the some of the stranger music out there and I love to teach music. I hope that comes through in the way I write my program notes and deliver spoken notes before pieces. I want people to feel welcomed into expanding their horizons and exploring sound worlds they might otherwise be hesitant to approach.
I’m looking forward to hearing what the audience thought about it all!
Coulrophonia takes place at 12.30pm October 30 in the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Studio, featuring Thomas Misson on piano and Derek Grice on clarinet.
Images supplied.
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