Composers who were isolated behind the Iron Curtain had to develop their own unique ways of pushing musical boundaries. Bassist and founding member of the Bang on a Can All-Stars Robert Black anchors a program of chamber music by experimental Soviet composers Galina Ustvolskaya, Arthur Lourie, and Sofia Gubaidulaina. A highlight of the program is a rare performance of Ustvolskaya’s relentless Composition No. 2 for piano, eight double basses, and one giant cube of wood.
This performance corresponds to the Museum’s exhibition Power of Pictures: Early Soviet Photos, Early Soviet Film.