Gabriel Kahane & Caroline Shaw at Herbst Theatre, November 14, 2024

San Francisco Performances presents Gabriel Kahane & Caroline Shaw
Herbst Theatre
Veterans' Building, San Francisco War Memorial Performing Arts Center, 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102-4522 USA
7:30 PM, Thursday, November 14, 2024

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[7:31 PM] {lights down; pre-recorded announcements; waiting}
[7:32 PM] {applause for entrance of GK & CS}

1. [7:32 PM] Winter Song (Gabriel Kahane) (2008)
   [7:37 PM] {GK thanks}
2. [7:37 PM] And So (Caroline Shaw) (2018)
   [7:42 PM] {greetings from DK; talk from both performers about tonight's effort_ (Caroline Shaw)}
3. [7:46 PM] In manus tuas (Caroline Shaw) (2009)
   [7:52 PM] {GK introduction of the next work}
4. [7:53 PM] Better (Gabriel Kahane)
   [7:57 PM] {GK & CS talk about their friendship}
5. [8:00 PM] To Be American (Gabriel Kahane) (2022)
   [8:03 PM] {GK asks the sound engineer for more of his voice in the monitor wedge; brief pause; lighting change}
   
   Hexagons (Gabriel Kahane & Caroline Shaw)
6. [8:03 PM] I Dreamed a Book (GK)
7. [8:07 PM] A Loaf of Bread (CS)
8. [8:11 PM] {GK spoken interlude: “I used to go often to a public library…”}
9. [8:12 PM] (unidentified tune #1) (GK)
10. [8:14 PM] My Grave Shall Be the Fathomless Air (CS)
11. [8:15 PM] Let Heaven Exist (GK)
12. [8:19 PM] (unidentified tune #2) (CS)
13. [8:19 PM] {CS reading from an unidentified text‚ “i've tried to feel that my blindness is not just a misfortune”}
14. [8:20 PM] {GK reading from what appeared to be Carl Sagan's Contact‚ “As for infinity…”}
15. [8:21 PM] Home
16. [8:26 PM] Cryptograph
    [8:29 PM] {both GK & CS head upstage‚ collect a box‚ bring it downstage‚ dump it out (revealing books)‚ then proceed to read random snippets‚ first alternating‚ then talking over one another‚ while stacking the 'finished' books haphazardly upon their respective reading desks}
17. [8:30 PM] {readings by GK & CS}
18. [8:32 PM] (unidentified tune #3)
19. [8:32 PM] The Blind Librarian
    [8:42 PM] {final applause; bows and two curtain-less calls}
    [8:43 PM] {lights up! done}

• Gabriel Kahane: piano, Teenage Engineering OP-1 synthesizer, vox;
• Caroline Shaw: viola, keyboard, sampler, electronics, vox.

The first part of tonight's show featured five previously unannounced tunes. I thought all of them – two from Caroline and three from Gabriel – came from the performer's back catalogs, but as I couldn't find any web reference to Kahane's Better it seems that one is probably brand new and unpublished. And So began with Caroline playing nearly inaudible zylophone. The exquisite sound of that tune had me learning forward and concentrating hard on hearing her sing. Looking at the history of that work, it appears that I had the opportunity to have seen it performed by the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in 2019, but somehow skipped those shows. Yarg! At least I can track down the subsequent commerically released CD, PBO & Caroline Shaw if I want to listen again.

The main offering on tonight's program turned out to be a musical reflection of Jorge Luis Borges' 1939 short story, the Library of Babel. I'm pretty sure I read that during college… maybe as assigned reading in one of the few literature courses I took? And in a recursive reflection of that infinity, I'm pretty sure that a copy of that book is tucked away somewhere on a shelf in my tiny library.

My initial impression of tonight's performance was that it was an engaging bit of art. Nice to listen to (in a melodic and sonorous way), and quirky enough to leave space for wandering thoughts stimulated by the musical text. I look forward to hearing a studio recording of the Hexagons in the future!

Program Notes or program notes

GK posted an interesting piece about last week's election results – along with a tangential mention of Hexagons – on his Substack blog. Tonight is the third of 13 shows touring this program, and hence the West Coast premiere, for folks inclined to keep track of that sort of thing.

I wish I'd picked up the printed addition to the program notes offered that night – it might have identified the additional sections of Hexagons as performed tonight – but I neglected to avail myself of that opportunity. Self: meet your worst enemy!

Joshua Kosman wrote briefly in appreciation of tonight's show in his blog.

By contrast, Stephen Smoliar posted a curmudgeonly screed. Someone always has to be grump!

Today's photo (just one, no gallery!) comes from ol' squinty. And he didn't even get any people in his shot: just the empty stage after the show. Sad!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2024 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2024 event list! ☸ On to the next event!