Judd Greenstein / yMusic Together

Judd Greenstein, ymusic

together

Out now on New Amsterdam, “Together” is the new 14-minute single from Judd Greenstein, a composer whose music is “beautifully wrought and consistently appealing” (The New York Times), and yMusic, “six contemporary classical polymaths who playfully overstep the boundaries of musical genres” (The New Yorker). “Together” is Greenstein’s first piece for yMusic since his widely acclaimed work “Clearing, Dawn, Dance” arrived a decade ago.

“ ‘Together’ was originally commissioned as a new chamber work for yMusic, some of my oldest and dearest collaborators,” says Greenstein. “When Covid shut down the world, and yMusic was unable to come together to perform or even rehearse, I rewrote the first movement as a piece that could be performed over video, from wherever the individual members were. The six players don’t need to be in sync, but move together through the movement as a kind of “cloud”—together, but not precisely together. The second and third movements were meant to be performed once the band was able to be in the same space again, and as the piece goes on, more and more ‘togetherness’ takes hold. In February, around the time of this release, yMusic will finally play ‘Together’ for the first time, together, and it’s going to be a really cathartic moment for us all.”
Filmmaker Adam Larsen, working alongside choreographer Sue Schroeder, created the video for “Together.”
”Listening to Judd’s composition, I experimented with a variety of images to see which best supported the music,” says Larsen. “I quickly realized that the human form and gesture provided the feeling and intent I wanted to express, so I invited my friend, choreographer, Sue Schroeder, to collaborate. My vision was to film four to five dancers both inside and outside their homes as they interpreted the ideas of what togetherness and separateness has meant to them during this past year. Sue and I worked on movement concepts and ideas—considering, at times, incredibly calm energies like living portraits and, at other times, more dynamic actions. As we filmed, we shifted from very personal solos to group movement. Through this process—and without touch—the dancers explored the spaces both within and between themselves, eventually finding togetherness.”