LA Phil: Radical Light: A Concert for Steven Stucky

American composer Steven Stucky, who died unexpectedly in February at age 66, never seemed to have placed two notes together that didn't belong right where he put them. His music is just so, carefully crafted, elegant and eloquent, but never distant or formal, never blustering or flashy. The man was too modest to put on airs, and his music speaks with a simplicity and directness that are striking. It sounds like the honest truth.   The Los Angeles Philharmonic presented a tribute to him Wednesday night at Disney Concert Hall called "Radical Light: A Concert for Steven Stucky," and a lovely and engaging thing it was. Esa-Pekka Salonen flew in from New York, where he is conducting "Elektra" at the Metropolitan Opera, to lead the event. The L.A. Phil New Music Group, members of Piano Spheres, the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the Lyris Quartet performed.   Six composers, including Salonen, contributed new pieces for solo piano in memory of Stucky. A short and affectionate documentary film was prepared to open the concert. Tickets were free.   Stucky was not only well-liked but crucial to the development of the L.A. Phil as the most stalwart exponent of music by living composers of any orchestra in the world. From 1988 to 2009 he served as either composer-in-residence or new music adviser to the group, which also presented 29 of his works, including the premiere of his Second Concerto for Orchestra, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005. The concert opened with the composer's "Nell'ombra, nella luce" ("In Shadow, in Light") for string quartet, a gorgeous color piece that explores hues both dark and luminous. The work seems to take the psychology of the listener into consideration; it puts him in a spell and then unwinds clearly and patiently against a background of silence. Much of it is slow and quiet and peaceful, like the sounds of a forest waking up.   Pianist Gloria Cheng then played his "Album Leaves," four brief pieces, all of them jewels. The music flickers and flutters in the light; the chords ring vibrantly, but not loudly. It is Stucky speaking gently, and Cheng played it with a wonderful reverence.   Salonen then led Stucky's "Boston Fancies" for a small mixed ensemble including strings, woodwinds, piano and percussion. This piece juxtaposes fast and slow, grit and magic, sculpted shapes and wafting perfumes. It plays out like a musical essay, so clear is its argument even as it explores its topics from many angles.   After intermission, the L.A. Master Chorale, conducted by Salonen, gave the West Coast premiere of the composer's last piece, "The Music of Light," an a cappella setting of a poem by Indian mystic Kabir (translated into English). This music glows harmonically, the chords progressing in surprising ways, from one beauty to another.   The pieces for piano, all short, all more or less ruminative, were by James Matheson, Anders Hillborg, Mandy Fang, Joseph Phibbs, Magnus Lindberg and Salonen and were played by a succession of pianists from Piano Spheres. Fang's "That raindrops have hastened the falling flowers" made effective use of a toy piano in duet with the grand (Mark Robeson handled it capably). Lindberg's "Fratello" evoked Ravel, a strong influence on Stucky. Salonen's "Iscrizione" started with single notes and gathered into a swirl and trills before dissipating.   Lutoslawski's song cycle "Chantefleurs et chantefables," led incisively by Salonen, sung beguilingly by soprano Hila Plitmann, brought the concert to a close. Stucky was a close friend and colleague of Lutoslawski's (and he literally wrote the book on the composer); these songs, which use the poetry of French surrealist Robert Desnos, were a fitting end, mysterious, dazzling, otherworldly. In this context, they sounded very much like Stucky's music.   The creation of the Steven Stucky Composer Fellowship Endowment Fund was announced after intermission. His name will live on, but so, as this concert reasserted, should his music. Read Less