This afternoon’s session started out with a slide show of paintings and an introduction by Buzz Spector (chair of the Cornell Art Department) on the six modern artists who were to be the subjects of the event. His brief explanations of the artists, their lives, and their work brought those of us who were non-experts up to speed.

After this introduction, we were treated to an excellent rendition of Bruce Adolphe’s piece “The Tiger’s Ear,” performed by six local musicians (on flute, oboe, violin, viola, cello, and piano). Each of the piece’s six movements dealt with one 20th century artist of the Abstract Impressionist movement: Jackson Pollack; Barnett Newman; Clyfford Still; Mark Rothko; Philip Guston; and Willem de Kooning. The movements were incredibly diverse in their style and tone, and each seemed to be a fitting and interesting rendition of the paintings that had inspired them.

Although I enjoy the arts, I have always had trouble forming a connection with or truly understanding music and art. This program, blending the two media, was a great way to gain insight into both of them. Each movement of “The Tiger’s Ear” was accompanied by a large projection of a painting by the artist who had inspired that movement, and was preceded by a brief explanation by the composer. Adolphe’s words allowed us to understand the creative process that went into the composition, while the projected painting allowed us to contemplate the connection between the composition and the painting that had inspired it as the piece progressed.

Our understanding was further aided by a panel discussion afterward, in which Spector and Adolphe were joined by Christopher Rothko (the son of one of the featured painters). All three men shared their thoughts on the interplay between music and visual art, and answered some questions on the creative process. (They discussed, for instance, whether the performance was diminished by the fact that the paintings were not actually there, but were merely projections; what would be the effect, instead, of having all the paintings gathered together, but just having a recording of the musical performance?!) The performing group’s conductor and several of the instrumentalists also shared their thoughts on bringing the performance together, getting feedback from the piece’s composer, and the challenges of emulating a painting through their music.