A monument from the 1970s - a durable classic, vast in scale, rich in polyphony, resonant in cultural associations, Many Many Women is Kotik's early masterpiece.
- Kyle Gann, 1999
Petr Kotik's music, is consistently strong and distinctive (and he likes to make it long). And, I think Many Many Women is a 20th century masterpiece.
- Christian Wolff, 2022
On June 3rd, at 6pm, S.E.M. Ensemble will present Petr Kotik's Many Many Women. This will be the first of many performances of the work this year, in Europe and the US.
Many Many Women (1975-78) uses text from Gertrude Stein’s novellas of the same name. The composition is for six vocalists, two flutes, two trumpets, and two trombones, and spans six-hours of uninterrupted performance.
Many Many Women consists of 173 sections across 378 pages of score. Although traditionally notated, the simultaneous performance of various sections are determined by the performers, who intuitively improvise their entrances, creating a musical flow of unpredictable configurations. The music can be described as a non-dramatic "situation" without a clear beginning or ending.
Petr Kotik began composing for voice in 1971, as the result of his close collaboration with the composer and singer Julius Eastman (a founding member of S.E.M. Ensemble). Kotik was already using the writings of Gertrude Stein for the first composition he wrote for Eastman. Many Many Women is the culmination of Kotik's series of Stein-related compositions. The duration of the complete piece is the result of Kotik's use of the whole text of the novella.
The audiences can either remain for the entire duration, or enter and exit at will. There will be a comfortable foyer available for socialization and refreshments. This concert is a collaboration with Life World in Gowanus, Brooklyn.
S.E.M. Ensemble is performing Many Many Women at 6pm on June 3rd at Life World (Gowanus, Brooklyn). The specific address is given upon purchase of a ticket. The performance is approx. 6 hours. The audience is free to leave and return at any time. Tickets - $15, advance.
Tickets available here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeENjTlx6etMCFRVhEs9SaAdTqSanW0xw11YD7szHnb9r8ymQ/viewform or on Life World's website at https://cometolifeworld.cargo.site/
Please email us at pksem@SemEnsemble.org of you have any difficulties RSVP-ing
About the Composer:
Although, as a composer, Petr Kotik is regarded as self-taught, he undertook rigorous musical training both in Prague and at the Akademie für Musik in Vienna. In Prague, he took private lessons with the Czech composer Jan Rychlík. Rychlík has been a source of inspiration and admiration for Kotik throughout his life (similar to Philip Glass's admiration for Nadia Boulanger). Rychlík's work and ideas were far ahead of his time. In the late 1950s, he began to work with phase music based on African drumming, similar to Steve Reich's compositions more than a decade later. Rychlík's early beginnings as a jazz player as well as his scholarly research into music practice led him to understand and appreciate the significance of improvisation, almost half a century before it became part of the avant-garde. It is possible that the unconventional openness of Rychlík, together with the writings of Cage, which Kotik discovered at the age of eighteen, may have influenced the composer's way of thinking at his very early stage.
About SEM:
SEM is dedicated to the performance and advancement of new music, with a focus on current compositions. Since its inception in 1970, SEM has collaborated with composers who have also often performed with the group. They have included Earle Brown, John Cage, Alvin Lucier, Morton Fedman, Alvin Singleton, Leroy Jenkins, Pauline Oliveros, Elliott Sharp, Jackson Mac Low, Roscoe Mitchell, Phill Niblock, David Tudor and Christian Wolff, among others.
About Life World:
Located in the heart of the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, Life World is an ephemeral cannery-adjacent event space for performance, cinema, and more. Life World was founded in 2020 and is artist-led.
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