Sound Poetics

What does Jewish Cabaret sound like? This is a different animal to the 'klezmer' phenomenon which exists around feasts and dancing. The cabaret songs in this programme have something of a relationship with certain types of 'salon' music from the early years of the 20th century, but frequently comment on life in exile, poking satirical fun at authority and the woes of society. As further reference, they can in some ways be set against more familiar but similar sounding works such as Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera. The New Budapest Orpheum Society is an ensemble-in-residence at the University of Chicago. A mixed group of vocalists (Julia Bentley, mezzo-soprano and Stewart Figa, baritone) and instrumentalists (Iordanka Kisslova, violin; Stewart Miller, string bass; Hank Tausend, percussion; and Ilya Levinson, piano).

In these collections, music is used to convey the diverse characteristics of tea and flowers to listeners. The composers blend the different features of Chinese instruments such as the paixiao, gaohu, guzheng and pipa with sound of nature to create a vivid representation of new age music.