Present Music’s East Indian Rite of Spring

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Photo by Ebru Yildiz

Vijay Iyer

Vijay Iyer

On May 29, 1913, Igor Stravinsky knocked the dust off Western classical music with The Rite of Spring. Drawing from the savage rhythms of Russia’s folk tradition, Stravinsky’s music triggered a riot at Paris’ Théâtre des Champs-Elysées.

Spring is observed with rites around the whole world, including the Hindu festival of Holi, a celebration at the heart of Present Music’s next concert, “Rituals, Spells & Charms.” Central to the program is Vijay Iyer’s score to Prashant Bhargava’s Radhe Radhe: Rites of Holi, a documentary on Holi celebrations in Mathura, India.

According to Present Music’s co-artistic director, Eric Segnitz, Bhargava filmed the colorful eight-day festival and edited the footage to the length of The Rite of Spring. “Iyer then took the film and wrote completely original music with Indian overtones. It’s just as wild as the original Rite of Spring, just in a different way.”

The New York Times called Iyer a “multicultural gateway,” a good shorthand way of describing a prolific musician whose mathematically rigorous compositions sit at the edge of jazz. He’s collaborated with jazz avant-gardists Oliver Lake and Henry Threadgill as well as electronic composer Pamela Z, tabla player Zakir Hussain and trip-hop pioneer DJ Spooky. Unlike many pieces of recently commissioned music, heard at their premiere and seldom after, Iyer’s Radhe Rahde: Rites of Holi is performed around the world and has entered the contemporary repertoire.

Present Music will perform Iyer’s score with two pianos, two percussionists, four string players, three woodwinds and a trumpet plus some electronics with co-artistic director David Bloom conducting the ensemble.

The concert will include work by three younger, contemporary American composers, Judd Greenstein, Jlin Patton and Christopher Cerrone. Greenstein’s brassy Jitter Pocket is “concerned with dance forms,” Segnitz says, a bit like disco but with intentionally mutant glitches. The title of Patton’s funky, electronic Little Black Book refers to the musical notebook she keeps with her for ideas. She has collaborated with Bjork, Philip Glass and Kronos Quartet. Cerrone’s “Hoyt-Schemerhorn” is a meditative soundscape named for the Brooklyn subway station where Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video was shot.

Segnitz also promises “immersive Indian events” at “Rituals, Spells & Charms,” including food and beverages during intermission and a pre-concert talk about the festival of Holi by UWM Prof. Prasenjit Guptasarma. Women in traditional Indian attire will apply a Talik on people’s foreheads if they so wish. 7:30 p.m. March 20-21 at Jan Serr Studio, 2155 N. Prospect Ave. For tickets, visit www.presentmusic.org/about