Editor's Corner

A recent Naxos release of music by Howard Hanson (8.559700) performed by the Seattle Symphony under the direction of Gerard Schwarz caught my attention because of this American composer’s inadvertent influence on the history of composed music in our own country. It was Hanson, during a conducting engagement in Toronto in 1937, who encouraged John Weinzweig to enrol at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester where he was the director. Unlike the University of Toronto at the time, Eastman had courses in 20th century music and substantial library holdings and it was here that Weinzweig was exposed to two works which would influence him greatly: Stravinsky’s Sacre du printemps and Berg’s Lyric Suite. The rest, as they say, is history as Weinzweig went on to become Canada’s first important modernist composer and to mentor several generations of composition students. This new disc, a re-issue of an earlier Delos recording, provides a grand introduction to the music of Howard Hanson, featuring the expansive Symphony No. 1 “Nordic” – a kind of homage to Hanson’s idol Sibelius – and the dramatic Lament for Beowulf which also employs the Seattle Symphony Chorale. Both works date from the 1920s before the composer had turned 30, yet show a mature command of the medium by a young man who would go on to become one of the most lyrical symphonists of his time. I notice that Naxos has just released the next instalment in Hanson’s complete symphonies - with No.2 “Romantic” - so evidently we can look forward to hearing all seven in the coming months.

Although he seems to have expunged it from his official biography, as a young man Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi spent a season at the helm of the Chamber Players of Toronto in its final year of operations, 1991-1992. He has since gone on to a number of prestigious postings, currently Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris, following a decade in the same capacity at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra culminating with the 2010-2011 season. To commemorate their long and fruitful relationship the CSO has just released Baltic Portraits (CSOM-946) with live performances spanning 2002 through 2011. The disc begins with Fireflower, a short dramatic work by fellow countryman Erkki-Sven Tüür, to celebrate Järvi’s 10th anniversary with the CSO. Designed not so much a fanfare as a ceremonial bouquet - with “blossoms resembling flames” – it is a colourful work representative of the composer’s recent orchestral output (symphonies 4 – 8) with a momentary reference in the rhythm section to Tüür’s early years in a rock band. Finnish symphonist Aulis Sallinen is represented by the Symphony No.8, “Autumnal Fragments” which Järvi premiered in 2004 with the Concertgebouw Orchestra before introducing the work to North America in Cincinnati the following season. The Finnish connection continues with Gambit, a work composed as a 40th birthday present for Magnus Lindberg by someone we know better as a conductor, Esa-Pekka Salonen. Beginning in shimmering ethereal waves the piece erupts into a dynamic extended middle section before eventually returning to its quiet opening mood. Arvo Pärt’s Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten with its familiar tintinnabulations seems to grow organically from the Salonen and then leads dramatically to the final work, the Symphony No.6 of Estonian composer Lepo Sumera, completed just months before his death at age 50 in 2000. Not only one of Estonia’s most significant composers, Sumera also had a wider public influence serving as the Minister of Culture from 1988-1992 during the country’s Singing Revolution. This dramatically compelling symphony, which would in other circumstances have been a mid-career milepost, adds to the legacy of this strong and original voice, but leaves us wondering what Sumera might have accomplished if allowed even a few more years.

A conductor who has not disavowed his time in Toronto, Jukka-Pekka Saraste was director of the TSO from 1994-2001. He currently serves as the Music Director of the Oslo Philharmonic and since 2010 is Chief Conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne. The London Philharmonic Orchestra has just released a disc of live recordings (LPO – 0057) drawn from concerts Saraste conducted in February and October 2008 featuring two of my favourite orchestral works, Sibelius’ Symphony No.5 and Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra. Sibelius is of course one of Saraste’s specialties – he’s recorded the cycle of seven symphonies twice to great acclaim – and Sibelius was, along with Mahler, a mainstay of his repertoire in Toronto. Unlike many composers, with Sibelius we are not given finished themes that are then developed and reworked, but rather fragments which seem to grow organically into the final form of the composition. This live performance with the LPO is outstanding as we hear Saraste building the music block by block until we reach its majestic conclusion and the anticipatory tension of the final six chords. The Lutosławski concerto is a relatively early work which exploits the full resources of the orchestra in a dramatic and dynamic way. I see this as a culmination of the composer’s early development, kind of a doctoral thesis summing up his understanding of the music of the first half of the 20th century. His particular influences were Bartók (whose own Concerto for Orchestra was perhaps the first modern day work in this form) and the folk music of his native Poland. Shortly thereafter, his music began to develop along different lines as he incorporated aleatoric aspects and added extended temporal and harmonic effects. One the earliest works in the new style, premiered at the 1958 Warsaw Autumn Festival, was another homage to Bartók, the Musique funèbre in memory of the Hungarian master. But it is the wonderfully dramatic Concerto for Orchestra we are presented with here and Saraste really brings it to life, emphasizing the bombast of the exuberant passages and the foreboding of the opening of the final movement with its haunting double reed melodies. The thunderous ovation which begins almost before the last note sounds is testament to the London audience’s appreciation.

1957 was a breakthrough year for Thelonious Monk seeing the release of two seminal albums including Monk’s Music, the only studio recording on which John Coltrane performed in a Monk ensemble. Other members of the septet included trumpeter Ray Copeland, Gigi Gryce on alto sax, Monk’s former boss Coleman Hawkins sharing tenor sax duties with Coltrane, Wilber Ware bass and Art Blakey on drums. The original six track Riverside Lp included Monk’s arrangement of the traditional hymn Abide with Me, the distinctive Well, You Needn’t and three more Monk signature pieces – Ruby, My Dear; Off Minor; Crepuscule with Nellie – and the 1942 Kenny Clarke/Thelonious Monk tune which has been touted as “the first classic, modern jazz composition” Epistrophy. In 1991 there was a CD re-issue on the Original Jazz Classics label which included bonus tracks of other takes of Crepuscule and ­Off Minor and several months ago I received a 2011 re-issue of the re-issue, now on the Original Jazz Classics Remasters imprint (OJC-32689-02). This latest incarnation has added another bonus, an extended track entitled Blues for Tomorrow penned by Gigi Gryce, recorded at the end of the first day of the two day session that produced the original disc. Notably absent is Monk himself on this track, evidently fast asleep after the effort of recording Epistrophy. The new release has retained the iconic cover picture of Monk seated in a little red wagon wearing his distinctive hat and sunglasses, and the original liner notes have been shrunk to near illegibility to fit the CD format. Fortunately these notes by Orrin Keepnews are also included in a more readable type inside the booklet along with a four page in depth appreciation by Ashley Kahn. It is features like this which make the continued recycling of the existing catalogue worth while.

Around the same time an intriguing new album arrived – Hat and Beard: The music of Thelonious Monk – which uses for its cover art a clever re-working of the Monk-on-a-wagon portrait, this time with the vehicle fashioned from a guitar and a drum kit. The disc was recorded live at Toronto’s Somewhere There in April 2009 and features guitarist Ken Aldcroft and drummer Dave Clark (Trio Records TRP-013). Although there is no overlap of material here with “Monk’s Music” and for that matter almost none in the instrumentation, the entire album re-interprets the music of the quirky legend in some surprising ways, from a very busy 52nd Street Theme to a very sparse (but ever growing in intensity) Locomotive. A highlight is the Monk/Hawkins co-composition I Mean You. While this album in some ways outdoes the originator’s minimal approach to melody and arrangement, it certainly provides evidence of a thoughtful consideration of the music of this modern master.

Simultaneous with the release of “Hat and Beard” Ken Aldcroft – a very active participant in Toronto’s avant-jazz scene and co-founder of the Association of Improvising Musicians – released Home: Solo Guitar Compositions (Trio Records TRP-5502-012). I approached this disc with some trepidation, assuming that an entire album of solo electric guitar works by a single composer would wear a little thin after a while. Of course an electric guitar can produce an almost infinite variety of sounds with the extensions and manipulations available today. I was therefore doubly surprised to find that Aldcroft held my attention throughout the near hour-long excursion, and that he did so without the obvious use of pedals and other devices so commonly seen at the feet of guitarists. Oh he certainly uses some extended playing techniques, but one gets the impression these are all achieved through dextral facility rather than electronic means. There aren’t any tunes you’ll go away whistling here, but some surprising sonorities in the exploration of the possibilities inherent in the six strings of Aldcroft’s instrument.

We welcome your feedback and invite submissions. CDs and comments should be sent to: The WholeNote, 503 – 720 Bathurst St. Toronto ON M5S 2R4. We also encourage you to visit our website, www.thewholenote.com, where you can find added features including direct links to performers, composers and record labels, “buy buttons” for on-line shopping and additional, expanded and archival reviews.

David Olds

DISCoveries Editor

discoveries@thewholenote.com

By my reckoning, the Canadian Music Centre released more than a dozen CDs on its Centrediscs label last year, with reviews of 13 titles appearing in these pages since July 2010. This is, by any standard, a remarkable achievement in the rarefied medium of contemporary concert music and wonderful news for the composers of this country. Even better news is that the field has broadened with the recent announcement from NAXOS – the largest producer of classical CDs in the world – that they will be releasing six to eight discs of music by Canadian composers annually on their new Canadian Classics series.

The first to appear is Fugitive Colours, featuring music by Jeffrey Ryan performed by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Gryphon Trio under the direction of Bramwell Tovey (8.572765). There is a strong Toronto connection here in spite of the Vancouver by-line. Born in Toronto (and raised in Fergus), Ryan has since 1997(!) served as composer advisor to Music Toronto - his String Quartet No. 4 “Inspirare” was premiered by the Tokyo Quartet at Walter Hall in the opening concert of MT’s 40th season last month - and from 2000-2002 was an affiliate composer of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Now based in Vancouver, Ryan was composer laureate of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in 2008/09 having previously served as its composer-in-residence from 2002-2007.

The three works on this CD are a legacy of his relationship with the VSO. The opener, The Linearity of Light¸ commissioned in the early days of his residency there, was completed in 2003. It is a tone poem that explores reflections and refractions in a dramatic and rhythmically compelling way, at times reminiscent of Stravinsky and Holst, juxtaposed with ethereal moments of extreme delicacy. 2007’s Equilateral: Triple Concerto for Piano Trio and Orchestra was co-commissioned by the VSO and the TSO in celebration of the 15th anniversary of the Gryphon Trio, long-time colleagues of Ryan’s at Music Toronto as ensemble-in-residence. It must have been a daunting task to undertake a work in the shadow of Beethoven’s masterpiece for the same instrumentation – I can’t think of another example off-hand; I’ll probably get letters – but Ryan rises to the challenge admirably. The two outer movements, aptly named Breathless and Serpentine featuring unison rhythms and dense textures, frame the wonderfully lyrical Points of Contact, with its poignant solo passages and microtonal “Doppler” effects. Ryan the colourist is shown to great effect in the title work, the 2006 symphony commissioned by the VSO. Three of the movements make no secret of their inspiration from the world of colour: Intarsia (although I must admit I had to look that one up), Nocturne (Magenta) and Viridian. The remaining (third) movement, Light: Fast suggests the full spectrum while once again reminding us of the rhythmic vitality of Stravinsky. This segues into the finale with a violin solo which sets the tone for an extended and peaceful dénouement.

All in all, this disc makes a strong contribution to the recorded legacy of Canadian music and a fitting opening to the Naxos series. Ryan already had an impressive discography – this is the tenth CD to include his music – but here we are presented with the first to feature his orchestral music exclusively. Congratulations to Jeffrey Ryan, to Naxos and indeed to the Canadian music community – this series promises to be a win, win, win situation.

Concert note: Jeffrey Ryan’s extended vocal cycle The Whitening of the Ox will receive its premiere at the Enwave Theatre on January 29 with baritone Tyler Duncan and the New Music Concerts ensemble.

The rest of my listening this month was devoted to recent releases in my favourite genre, the string quartet. I was intrigued to receive a disc on the Bridge Records label purporting to be by the New Orford String Quartet. Who can this be, I wondered, with the nerve to appropriate the name of Canada’s most respected chamber ensemble? I still harbour some of those thoughts, but having listened to the Schubert and Beethoven quartets included on their inaugural release (Bridge 9363) I am willing to at least grant them credibility. It turns out that the quartet, like its namesake, was formed at the Orford Music Centre in Quebec, in this instance in the summer of 2009. It is comprised of principals and former principals of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Toronto Symphony, violinists Jonathan Crow and Andrew Wan, violist Eric Nowlin and cellist Brian Manker. Unlike the original Orford which for more than 25 years was devoted exclusively to being a quartet, the New Orford dedicates only specific periods each year to working together. There are a number of surprises on this recording: that the Bridge label doesn’t only record the music of living American composers and musicians; that Schubert, Beethoven’s junior by 27 years, finished his 15th string quartet in the same year that Beethoven wrote his own 16th (the two being paired on this recording); and that a “part-time” quartet can play so well together! The disc features unusual and insightful liner notes by cellist Brian Manker and the exceptional sound quality was captured at the Schulich School of Music, McGill.

Founded in 1997, Montreal’s Molinari Quartet has established a solid reputation as a voice for established and emerging composers working in the genre of the string quartet. One of its lasting legacies is the triennial Molinari Quartet International Competition for Composition which in the fist 10 years has received over 600 new quartet scores from 60 countries. The only remaining founding member, first violinist Olga Ranzenhofer, has surrounded herself with a fine crop of new partners – violinist Frédéric Bednarz, violist Frédéric Lambert and cellist Pierre-Alain Bouvrette – for a 2 CD set of string quartets by Alfred Schnittke (ATMA ACD2 2634). The German/Russian composer (1934-1998) was one of the original voices of the new eclecticism and this is well demonstrated in his four quartets spanning the years 1966 to 1983. These important works receive convincing performances here. My only qualm is the ordering of the quartets on the recording. Usually re-arranging works is a result of the time constraints of the medium. That is obviously not the case in this instance (3-1-2 on one disc) so we assume it was an aesthetic choice, perhaps to do with the particularly alluring opening of the third quartet. That quibble aside I find it very easy to recommend this set to both those who are familiar with the material and those who have not yet encountered the quartets of this exceptional composer.

My first exposure to the music of Swiss/Israeli composer Ernest Bloch was a rehearsal I had the privilege of attending in my formative years when Milton Barnes was conducting the Hart House Chamber Orchestra in a performance of Bloch’s Concerto Grosso No. 2. That piece still numbers among my favourites and so it was a great pleasure to receive the Galatea Quartet’s recent recording Landscapes (SONY 88697950242) which features a number of Bloch’s shorter works for string quartet, some of which are reminiscent of the concerto grosso, and an adolescent work which he later disavowed. Bloch published five mature quartets, not included here, and perhaps it was with good reason that he did not acknowledge this student work composed when he was fifteen. But I find it charming. It is not embroiled in the romantic turmoil of the time when it was written (1895) but is rather a clean and refreshing expression of exuberance and youthful optimism. The work is as yet unpublished. I thank the Galatea for bringing it to the world’s attention and look forward to the time when I can have a go at it with my own amateur quartet.

We welcome your feedback and invite submissions. CDs and comments should be sent to: The WholeNote, 503 – 720 Bathurst St. Toronto ON M5S 2R4.

David Olds

DISCoveries Editor

discoveries@thewholenote.com