I confess to liking all that is novel in music. I like circus songs, Spike Jones, calliopes, zithers, the Clicquot Club Eskimos and ocarinas. But nothing ever, ever prepared me for Dave Brubek’s “Take Five” as performed by the Madison Area Concert Handbells.
Outrageous? And fascinating? And beautiful? You bet.
The handbells concert, which will be repeated this weekend, is 2/3 music and 1/3 performance art. Bells are rung, of course, but also waved, cupped, shaken and warbled. You have to see it – and hear it – to believe it.
It begins with long, narrow tiers of tables laid out as if for a bell banquet. There are little bells, big bells the size of peach baskets, mallets and more. Lots of patriotic songs are featured; the concert’s theme is “Americana Celebration!” It all really starts to cook, though, with “Good Vibrations” and Leroy Anderson’s “Plink, Plank, Plunk!”
The Madison Area Concert Handbells is a 14-year old ensemble. They have six octaves of bells, allowing for a rich depth of sound. The group’s 16 members also frequently change the texture of the sound, or timbre. Sometimes the bells sound like a marimba, and often like the biggest damn celeste you ever heard.
Kids will love it because it's all so unusual. Serious music lovers will enjoy it for the voicing and use of overtone series. The chord progressions thoughout make fascinating use of tonal decay – the dying down of a bell’s last sound played against the next new sound. In wind instruments, this is sometimes created as an effect, and is called a “bell tone.” Here, of course, it comes naturally.
The bells are tuned so perfectly that at times it gets a bit twee, or even electronic. Conductor Mark E. Bloedow makes sure that there’s plenty of accompaniment to contrast against, including pipe organ, piano, drums and a fine violin solo performed by guest artist Mishan Han.
This concert is a highly recommended as a look into a corner of the musical world that is too seldom visited.
The Madison Area Concert Handbells will repeat their “American Celebration” concert at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 7, at Asbury Methodist Church, 6101 University Ave. For information, visit www.madisonhandbells.org.
Comments