Many Many Women @ Bohemian National Hall
Bohemian National Hall
Wednesday, April 22 at 7pm
321 East 73. Street
Petr Kotik – String Quartet No. 1, Erinnerungen an Jan (2007-2010)
Petr Kotik – Many Many Women (1975-78)
On the text by Gertrude Stein
In conjunction with the new CD release of Many Many Women
on Sub Rosa label (Brussels, Belgium) – 2022 live studio performance in Ostrava
Edited to 148 minutes on a 2-CD set.
This performance will last approximately 2 hours.
Petr Kotik and S.E.M. Ensemble (with guests) performing "Many Many Women" at New Opera Days Ostrava Festival (NODO), 2022.
S.E.M. Ensemble
Petr Kotik, Director
Zen Wu, Soprano
Rocky Duval, Alto
Padraic Costello, Countertenor
Nathan Fletcher, Tenor
James Gregory, Baritone
Nicholas Hay, Bass
Petr Kotik, Roberta Michel, Flutes
Sam Jones, Cha Changhyun, Trumpets
William Lang, Jennifer Baker, Trombones
Raina Arnett, Violin I
Holly Workman, Violin II
Noémie Chemali, Viola
Kelcey Howell, Violoncello
Many Many Women uses an entire text of the same name by Gertrude Stein, a novella published in Paris in 1910 as part of the book G.M.P. – Gertrude, Matisse, Picasso. The book was published again in 1972 by Dick Higgins in his Something Else Press.
The duration of the complete Many Many Women is 6 hours, although the composition allows a performance of selected parts, resulting in a shorter duration. Writing about duration, Gertrude Stein herself states: “A masterpiece does not really have a beginning or ending. It just starts and ends.” Since the late 1970s, the S.E.M. Ensemble performed numerous times the complete, 6-hour performance of Many Many Women, advising the audience to take a break, to leave and possibly return later. Throughout the years, there has been a noticeable increase of in the number of listeners staying from the start to end.
A conversation (an excerpt) between Petr Kotik and Philip Glass, following the Ostrava Days 2013 Festival where (the 5-hour) Music in 12 Parts by Philip Glass and (the 6-hour) Many Many Women were performed:
Petr Kotik: Composing Many Many Women, I didn’t spend a minute thinking about the duration or the scale of the piece. The confidence of going forward with such a giant project – and I am sure about that – was influenced by Bob Wilson's productions at BAM and before that by long-duration performances by Cage and others. You never know what really makes you to do something, what subconsciously influences the way you think.
Philip Glass: Same with me. You can be also inspired by other works of course, and it may not be music. I can look at a sculptor's work or the work of a writer and find it inspiring because of its level of commitment and clarity. For me, commitment and clarity and stamina are very important. The physical side of sitting and working. The clarity, focus and commitment.
Selected comments about Many Many Women:
At the Whitney Museum on May 15 [1979] Petr Kotik was no longer one who was needing to be waiting. He was one who was only needing to be sitting down and making wonderful music out of this feeling he was still feeling [performing Many Many Women]. The six fine singers were singing, the six fine instrumentalists were playing, the listeners were coming and going, and everyone was seeming to be caring. … and finally knowing all about it, and finally knowing just how to make wonderful music out of this thing.
– Tom Johnson (1979)
Many Many Women is in the Cageian tradition of music that takes shape in composition and performance to some extent free from the obsessive control of composer’s personal taste. It’s unusual, though, it has the linear, contrapuntal texture...
– Gregory Sandow (1980)
From its magisterial opening of "Any one is one having been that one," Kotik's Stein is continually austere and yet engaging… Many Many Women is, like Stein's text of the same name, a masterpiece that I've appreciated many times since.
– Richard Kostelanetz (1989)
Many Many Women – a classic of 1970s underground music… a musical monument, vast in scale, rich in polyphony, resonant in cultural associations… Kotik’s music is so vastly original that very few people "get it."
– Kyle Gann (2001)
Many Many Women is an invitation to step outside of time. Listening [to and an excerpt] can be a mind-altering experience, although staying for the whole [six hours] duration is easier – and more rewarding than one might think.
– Kurt Gottschalk (2022)
Many Many Women is a singular, personal statement, unlike anything else in what we call “concert music.”… Kotik’s work breaks entirely from the prevailing trends in new music… it was already revolutionary when it was created between 1975 and 1978, sounding unlike anything else in its time (or today).
– Bernhard Lang (2026)
