Can there be too much of a good thing? Audience members at the Fear No Music season-opening concert on September 26 made their own decision, and based on what I witnessed the number of listeners ebbed and flowed a bit but many lasted through the marathon reading by FNM in Eliot Hall Chapel on the campus of Reed College. A total of 32 scores by Pacific Northwest composers were presented at the concert, entitled “Looking Around.” 

What was scheduled for four hours stretched to five owing to a few numbers that were apparently longer than anticipated. The lengthy time made me think of the benefit concert of December 22, 1808 for Beethoven that lasted four hours. 

For the FNM marathon, the 32 pieces were divided into four sets punctuated by breaks for refreshment. Members of FNM who went the distance in this unusual event were violinists Emily Cole and Keiko Araki, violist Kenji Bunch, cellist Nancy Ives, clarinetist James Shields, and pianists Monica Ohuchi and Jeff Payne. They started things off with Elaina Stuppler’s Vertex for string quartet at a little after 5:30 pm. Thirty-one pieces later, the reading closed at 10:30 with Kent Darnielle’s City Adventures for string quartet.

The concert was the result of FNM’s request for works from Pacific Northwest composers. Some composers were very young and involved in FNM’s Young Composers Project. Others were members of Cascadia Composers and there were a few with no affiliation. From the 66 pieces that were submitted 32 were chosen for the marathon reading.

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The first set offered mostly slow, lovely numbers. Michael Johanson’s The Musical Woods offered interesting exchanges of melodic lines, dramatic pauses and a beautiful, relaxed ending. Jeff Payne elicited a variety of colors from the keyboard to create a dreamy atmosphere for Lisa Ann Marsh’s White Coral for solo piano. The “Waltz” from Addison Kearbey’s String Quartet No. 1 had a lilting melody – quite excellent for an Eighth Grader who has been in FNM’s Young Composer Project for the past two years. 

Other pieces in the first group consisted of the second movement from Ajit Phadke’s String Quartet in F, TJ Thompson’s Smile Lines, the third movement from Thomas Proctor’s Mourning Dove, and Elaina Stuppler’s Vertex.

The second set began with Theresa Koon’s I Come from Water, which was played by Payne, Araki, Ives, and Bunch as percussionist. The piece at the outset was darkly moody, and it settled into a gentle reverie, which was loudly awakened by Bunch whacking a drum. Salvado Wallin’s Patterns in the Bark – performed by Ohuchi, Araki, Cole, Ives, Bunch, and Shields – travelled into the upper reaches of the clarinet before descending and fading out at the end. Payne conducted the twilight-zone-like music of Maxwell Evans-McGlothin’s The Hunting Murder II, which included the “Dies Irae” theme. Evans-McGlothin is a senior at Cleveland High School and a participant in the Young Composers Project.

The second set also included Betty Booher’s Memorial for the Victims of War, I’lana Cotton’s Beauty…beckons, Lucie Zalesakova’s Prowl, Rossá Crean’s Hiraeth, and Liz Nedela’s Night Clouds.

For the third set, we heard Li Tao’s Qin Xiao Yi (Friendship of Qin and Xiao) in which Payne’s fingers prowled on the keyboard while Shields created high-pitched wails. Bill Whitley’s Agnisvara alternated between big Romantic melodic lines – led by the cello – and snappy, rhythmic episodes that were punctuated by sforzandos. While Jan Mittelstaedt’s The Confluence of Rivers and Emotions seemed to evoke sounds of the 1960s.

Rounding out the third series of pieces was Skye Neal’s Elegy for Lost Time, McCabe Grove’s Dreamscape, the second movement of Cody Wright’s Pieces for Amelie, James Lee’s Prime Instincts, and William Ashworth’s Divertimento.

The fourth set of pieces kicked off with Dianne Davies’ Mirror Image and Muddy Waters for solo piano. It had demonstrative and propulsive themes that Payne played with gusto. Betty Wishart’s Ballade reminded me of Schumann but slightly off kilter with some ragtime thrown in. Gary Lloyd Nolan’s Pipe Dream, composed in a highly Romantic style, was very satisfying.

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That final group of tunes also featured Michael Drayton’s Quartetto No.1 in G Major, Brian Magill’s Forest Fire/Sorrow and Regrowth, Paul Henerlau’s Tango 8:7, Lance Brown’s The Sky Moved Quickly, and Kent Darnielle’s City Adventures.

The musicians looked fairly tired at the end of the marathon. They had done yeoman’s work on each piece. It was unfortunate that the vast majority of the music was slow. A few presto allegros would have helped to create a better mix. Some folks have talked about an Oregon School of Composition, but if that means that everything is largo, then we are in trouble.