Benjamin Chakoian Jones' Great Spaces (Concert Review)
Occupying The Great Space
What does it mean to be spatially aware? Sure, one might be aware of their immediate surroundings, but what of the space we all inhabit? Composer Benjamin Chakoian Jones grapples with this question in his composition The Great Space. Originally commissioned in 2019 for the Parthenon’s Naos Room, the piece is a “simple thesis on spatial exploration.” This thesis is explored through a string quartet in six movements accompanied by an original contemporary dance by Becca Hoback. Each movement is a step taken while approaching an exalted monument and an individual reflection on that specific part of the journey. The Great Space returned to the Parthenon this past weekend for a celebration of the debut of the studio recording.
This first movement, Seen From a Distance, opens with a piercing solo violin before moving in a more minimalist passage with the rest of the quartet. The cello and viola enter and communicate with large breaks between short phrases. Together they capture the mysticism and curiosity of seeing a grand monument far off in the distance. The music often felt like it was breathing in this movement with the consistent pausing between phrases. This combined with the entrance of the dance, creeping in from the side and slowly basking in the grandeur of the space ahead. It was a spectacle you truly felt as if you were approaching something greater and the music pulled you in closer and closer as it progressed towards the next movement.
The second movement, Approaching, starts mellowly as if you’re questioning whether or not you should actually move forward in your journey. At the end of this passage there is a pause greater than any heard before and the first time we are introduced to the fifth instrument of the quartet, the room. A room covered in hard surfaces and no sound proofing featuring a five second reverb is sure to play a critical part in any performance. Jones embraces this setting and often lets his forte passages resonate throughout the room. It seemed that this pause was the deciding moment in whether or not our journey would continue. The next section is a contrasting triple meter capturing how our steps are speeding up as we grow eager to enter the great space ahead. The dance also portrayed this as she went beyond the typical stage and moved up and down the aisle between the seats. This physically drew the performance closer to the audience and created what I thought was a more intimate performance overall.
Following our quick approach the third movement, Steps Ascending, takes the music in a new direction that is unique to this piece. The beginning and most of the movement is pizzicato, meaning rather than bowing their strings, they pluck them. Many of the passages in this movement are ascending quickly giving the image that we are climbing the stairs with the music and dance. During this movement the dance remained in the aisle continuing to bring the audience along the journey with the performers. I really liked the change of pace in the movement, I think shifting to the softer pizzicato sound was a great effect especially for the part of the journey we are in.
The fourth movement, Upon The Doors, I found evocative of the first movement, especially in the beginning passages. The music takes up the swelling and breathing that was present in the first movement but with an added trill over some of the breaks. This trill, though quiet and short lived, spoke to me. I thought it was a great representation of the emotion in the first half of the movement. Excitement, eagerness, even fear and anxiety as we slowly approach the doors. The second half of the movement encapsulates the fear and anxiety even further.
Staggered dissonances not only add an edge to the fear and anxiety but also literally sounds like a large, ancient door creaking open. I loved this imagery, I thought it was much clearer than a lot of the previous imagery especially when knowing the context. The dance moved away from the aisle during this movement and returned to a traditional stage setting. To me, this showed that we are still a part of the journey but now we are spectating something, a great event unfolding in front of us.
Once the doors are open we enter and are Within the Great Space, and thus is the title of the fifth movement. It begins with a warm timbre and an alternating ostinato figure. To me this felt like we were basking in the grandeur of the space we are now within. Taking everything in and understanding how we are now occupying the very space around us. There is a pause and then the music resumes with a faster pulsating line in the upper voices and an underlying melody. This movement reminds me of Hans Zimmer’s work in Interstellar, specifically the piece Cornfield Chase. The dance incorporated the alternating patterns in the music as Becca’s body breathed with the bowing of the instruments, growing and shrinking with the dynamics. The movement ends suddenly preparing us for the final movement, Reflection.
As with the previous movements, imagery seems to play a large role in Reflection. Perhaps the imagery is not as obvious in this movement but it still evokes a feeling of reflection and a drive to understand further what the space around us really is. Keeping with the themes of previous movement the music breathes once more. This time rather than shorter pulsing breaths it’s long, drawn out, lung filling respirations. The second half of the movement felt like a shift from true minimalism to an adaptation of neoclassicism. Now everything is tonally centered with some specific cadences, but the pauses are mixed in with this shift in style. The movement carries this style until the very end where it quietly fades into the space around us.
Overall, I found the music, dance and complete performance fascinating. Like many other composers before him, Jones used themes to evoke ideas and emotions in the audience. The twist Jones provided was that a lot of the themes were completely without music. The large pauses and gaps found in every movement act as a theme within themselves, and with context can evoke different emotions. When following quieter sections, the music does not resonate as much as it would with louder sections giving us at least two different ideas within the same musical motif. Accompanied by an eerily silent pause can invoke a somber state of reflection while the loud, long resonations can invoke a sense of being awestruck by the very space you are in.
This combined with the “breathing” in the instruments makes the music come alive and feel like its own being. Every step of the way the thesis of spatial exploration remained present. Throughout the piece I was questioning how the music, dance and audience occupy the space and how do we all corroborate into the entire performance. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to witness this art in the space it was made for. I think it heightened the piece, but I am interested in how it will translate to other venues along this brief tour. Overall a fantastic night at the Parthenon, bravo.
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My name is Brennan Wagner, I am currently a Music Industry student at Middle Tennessee State University and planning on pursuing Musicology in graduate school. I am from Nashville and have been playing saxophone for almost 10 years and love attending local concerts of all genres.
