Two sets of hands dance across white and black keys. They play two distinct parts on two different instruments – an electronic keyboard and a traditional piano. Taking the melody, the piano plays a quick and bouncy tune while slower, foundational chords periodically emit from the synthesizer. The parts meld together into a duet, sometimes dissonant, but always resolving in the end.
This image comes from Nico Muhly’s Off the Grid, a recently premiered composition for synthesizer and piano, written and performed in the wake of the pandemic. The composition is part of the Guggenheim’s Works & Process series, which has lately been comprised of short, artistic works commissioned by the Guggenheim.
Off the Grid beautifully illustrates two individual, contrasting parts coming together to create one unique piece. Taken separately, each piece, though expertly performed, sounds incomplete and for the most part, rather unremarkable: chords alone do not make a song, and even a snappy melody sounds empty without the base of chords. But together, the two individual parts blossom into a full-sounding piece, the parts supporting and enhancing one another.
In this reviewer’s opinion, the two parts nicely reflect upon the dynamic between the two performing musicians themselves, Nico Muhly and Adam Tendler. As Nico Muhly points out in his artist statement, “…this wretched quarantine allowed me to write not only for him but for both of us at once. Off the Grid is a duet for the two of us…” Although they are separated by a physical distance, they have come together to create something new – a work of musical art that they might not have had the opportunity to make without the circumstances of the pandemic.
If you are a lover of the arts and want to experience a new genre of music, Off the Grid is the performance for you. From its first notes to its final dramatic chord, Off the Grid provides a much-needed spark of light to artists and audience alike.
