Simple Lines of Enquiry a stress reliever

Sitting on a darkened stage while concert pianist Eve Egoyan played Ann Southam’s Simple Lines of Enquiry was like being submerged in a directionless abstract world.

Southam’s 12-movement composition is so different from anything Arden Theatre audiences are accustomed to hearing. In keeping with the Canadian composer’s style, it was atonal and extremely minimalist where long spaces of silence between notes were as important as the notes themselves.

Typically, Egoyan played a cluster of notes numbering anywhere from one to 19. Each cluster was followed by a lingering pause that hung in the air. It gradually faded into silence before Egoyan once more fluidly played the next set of repetitive notes, usually a variation on the past cluster.

One portion of the composition went something like this. Five notes. Pause. Five more notes. Pause. One note. Pause. Five notes. Pause. One note. Pause. Eight notes. Pause. You get the picture.

For some audience members, the effect of this one-hour piano suite was to create a meditative, almost hypnotic melody. For others, it morphed into a frustrating mathematical exercise.

It was obvious Egoyan was very focused on producing the monochromatic 12-tone variations that at times were harmonious, at other times dissonant. Careful not to rush the silent spaces, she displayed extraordinary discipline moving Southam’s composition at a glacial pace.

Simple Lines of Enquiry is a work that eastern Canadian and American reviewers have lauded as a profound musical experience that transcends musical genres.

However, the Saturday night audience, that by and large was comfortable with composers who write big, emotionally charged or technically aggressive music, was unsure how to handle the minimalist language.

Most of the crowd appreciated music that reaches a destination, music that takes the listener from point A to point B. And every time there was a pause, it was as if a new line was restarted without a satisfactory conclusion from the last line. I felt as if I was a prisoner trapped in a never-ending loop of notes.

A large number of the audience gave in to the repetitive, hypnotic quality and used it as an antidote to an overstressed life. They grabbed a quick catnap. Two men in my row fell asleep and one woman in the front row used her husband’s shoulder as a pillow. Across the way, another woman slept so soundly she nearly fell off her chair and a half dozen more shut out the world and closed their eyes.

Judging by the expressions on people’s faces, this abstract concept simply did not connect with the majority. It is not a form of music that Capital Region music aficionados hear very often. Having no point of reference, the quiet journey Egoyan introduced became meaningless.

This doesn’t reflect on the pianist’s skill. But since this performance was part of the intimate On-Stage series where the audience sits only a couple feet from the artist, the evening may have gone more smoothly if Egoyan had provided a verbal introduction with a few more signposts.