The BQE: Sufjan Stevens' Latest Project

 Sufjan Stevens, symphonic folk artist, experimental musician, and adept lyricist and writer, has taken on a new challenge. Stevens has composed and will be performing an epic thirty minute minute conceptual piece based upon the New York's infamous Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.

Because their writers word it much more elegantly than I could ever hope, here's what Asthmatic Kitty Records had to say about the BQE itself and Steven's upcoming performances of the piece:

What is the BQE exactly? It's is an abbreviation for the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, a short but formidable interstate roadway that plows through the  neighborhoods of Brooklyn and Queens, cascading upwards and onwards through historic landmarks and industrial playgrounds with the virtuosic twists and turns of a mammoth rollercoaster.  Oh, but it's not quite the high-speed marvel of, say, Germany's Autobahn, nor does it have the international "prestige" of The New Jersey Turnpike, but the BQE inhabits a modest legacy of its own by intersecting, dissecting, and dismembering New York's  most popular borough, offering awe-inspiring city views and voyeuristic vantage points of factories, condos, bridges, cemeteries, used car lots and, of course, people's living rooms. How does one reconcile an ugly cement expressway with the ever-changing phenomenon of Brooklyn? Like all things American, it is both beauty and beast.

Sufjan's performance of the BQE at BAM will include film accompaniment, a visual travelogue of the expressway and surrounding Brooklyn, shot in 16 mm and Super 8. But what is the musical piece, exactly? Not so easy to say. In an era that unravels musical forms, The BQE suffers an identity crisis. It is inspired by the programmatic symphonies of the Impressionists, but it aspires to the pageantry of Copland and the melodrama of a John Williams movie score. It could be a suite, a fugue, a theme and variation, a repetition of melodies, a canon, to name a few. What we can say is that the piece lasts about 30 minutes and will include a small band, a wind and brass ensemble, string players, and, of course, hula-hoopers. There is no singing. But don't worry: the remainder of the show will include Sufjan navigating through old and new songs. The same small voice, the badgered banjo, the glissandos of the piano, the pump organ, the acoustic guitar, and the inaudible thump of the human heart.

There you have it. The one reason I can think of to live near New York city, is the prevalence of Sufjan Stevens performances in New York, his home city, and the surrounding aria. Until I breakdown to such an end, I will only be able to hope that the performance is in some way recorded so that all of us outside of his home area might be able to experience his elegance, pageantry, and creativity. I think I may just inquire about this with Asthmatic Kitty Records themselves.

For more information on the BQE click the following links:

Wikipedia articles on the BQE and its creator, Robert Moses

Asthmatic Kitty Records articles about the project: 1 2

The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) website and ticketing info