Banff Centre under Rundle Mountain. Tom Arban photograph
Columbus Day. There, I said it.
It should stay Columbus Day, to preserve what it memorializes. Like any 9/11 memorial, really. A memorial with roots in atrocity. Keep the anger a little fresh. Happiness can be a Fourth thing.
Maybe Indigenous People’s Day will be a happy thing, but in some other America. This era names it Columbus Day, and should remember every bit of it, in a genetic way. Changing it is like changing a tombstone, trying to update the wording or maybe even the numbers.
This fit of pique being brought to you by America, and its desire to isolate itself. A glorious stay in Canada, on the side of Tunnel Mountain, Sleeping Buffalo, featured inclusion of all kinds—my favorite kinds: language, purpose, companionship.
Image of Raven Chacon, 2023, supplied by the MacArthur Foundation.
I should just skip to my next purpose—the music and artwork of Raven Chacon, who shares in An Indigenous Present at Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art. I will—opens in early October, with a sound installation on Oct. 11.
But first the Criers—A Far Cry, at Jordan Hall Sept. 20, with Shaw, Gomitas, Golijov and Britten on the program. I’m planning to keep up with the Criers rep this season, and make something out of that. This first program—the Criers alternate between the full string ensemble and a chamber version—proved robust but unvaried.
Shaw’s Punctum—a theme-and-variations, with the theme (from Bach) in the middle of the piece—makes an accessible concert opener. Arrangements of the works that Gomitas archived during his life (what a life) also felt like a winning choice. Golijov’s Tenebrae resonates, but sounded like the quartet that it really is—simply puffed up for string ensemble. Britten’s Frank Bridge variations furthered the “these works all come from other works” mood. A good way to begin the season, that’s all.
Cheers.