Philip Corner – La Bella Infinita (2001)

Philip Corner’s “La Bella Infinita“ (2001), performed by Loren Chasse (percussion, objects), Matt Hannafin (percussion), Branic Howard (guitar), and Caspar Sonnet (dobro), accompanying a dance by Danielle Ross on night 4 of EXTRADITION PLAYS CORNER, February 11, 2023, at Performance Works NW, Portland, OR, USA. “Conceived as an accompaniment to steady focus,” this piece was first performed to complement “a slow circular dance by Phoebe Neville” (the composer’s wife) but could also accompany “the projection of a simple light spot, white, or a more resplendent image, which would move slowly. Or an image from nature seen close . . . water or wind, leaf or a tree, or vistas: plains mountains seas (sections from some Stan Brakhage films).” A performance consists of mildly resonant sounds suspended in a much more prevalent silence, with small variations in the character of individual sounds.” EXTRADITION PLAYS CORNER was a five-concert celebration of the work of composer Philip Corner (b. 1933) presented by the Extradition Ensemble in Portland, Oregon, January 21 through February 18, 2023. Audio of this and more than 60 other works by Corner are included in EXTRADITION PLAYS CORNER: THE ALBUM, available on Bandcamp in late April 2023. Based in Portland, Oregon, Extradition is an ensemble working at the intersection of composition and improvisation, deliberation and chance, clarity and silence. Videography by Seth Nehill Still photo by Glenn Sogge