Christos Hatzis – Flute Concertos
Patrick Gallois; Thessaloniki State Symphony; Alexandre Myra
Naxos 8.573091

Released by Naxos on its Canadian Classics series, this CD offers the recorded premieres of two flute concertos by Christos Hatzis, one of Canada’s best-known living composers, as played by the celebrated French flutist Patrick Gallois and the Thessaloniki State Symphony. The first, Departures, is a memorial piece written in 2011, a time of personal loss for Hatzis and the year of Japan’s devastating tsunami and nuclear disasters. Hatzis is known for his use of multiple and eclectic influences, and here there are whiffs of Japanese melody, blues patterns, French impressionism and much more. In the first movement, the flute flutters deftly between traditional and extended sound worlds, with seamlessly woven interplay between soloist and orchestra. The orchestral playing in the third movement brings robust rhythms incisively to life.

Overscript, written in 1993 and revised in 2012, is described in the notes as a commentary on Bach’s Concerto in G Minor BWV 1056/1 for flute, strings and basso continuo. Bachophiles will know the root piece better either as the concerto for harpsichord in F minor or as the G minor violin concerto. Here we have a very different kind of piece, a kind of palimpset in which Hatzis superimposes his own music over Bach’s in fragmented format, making for some intriguing comparisons which the listener is invited to make. Under Alexandre Meyrat’s first-rate direction, the orchestra plays in lively and expressive fashion throughout, and Gallois is his usual elegant, musically effervescent and technically brilliant self.

American Art
Amy Porter; Christopher Harding
Equilibrium EQ 114 (equilibri.com)

This CD’s title, American Art, is a good fit for the hour or so of music it presents. The three long compositions on it, Eldin Burton’s Sonatina, Robert Beaser’s Variations, Christopher Caliendo’s Flute Sonata No.3 and the one short piece, Michael Daugherty’s Crystal, are all creations of highly accomplished composers, and have an unmistakably American sound. They could not have been written anywhere else. As a matter of interest, they are also all tonal; not in a way that is slavishly imitative of the great ones of the past, but in a way that brings to life a broad palette of human experience, singing, dancing, weeping and rejoicing its way into the souls of performers and listeners alike, in a uniquely contemporary way.

Above all, the performances are a flawless collaboration between flutist Amy Porter’s confident and authoritative artistry and Christopher Harding’s superb work on the piano. He caresses the keys, bringing fluidity and lyricism that you don’t always hear from pianists; and Porter, with her incomparable technique, incisive articulation and varied dynamics, is a match for everything the composers throw at her.

The duo’s sparkling teamwork as well as the virtuosity of both players is particularly evident in the short final movement of Caliendo’s Sonata, “Bronco Buster.” In the second movement of Beaser’s Variations Porter’s effortless and gradual movement from primordial stillness to breathtaking excitement and intensity is a good example of her artistry.

This recording opens a window on the possibilities of contemporary music and a side of life south of the border that you will never hear about on the news!

Frederic Rzewski – The People United Will Never Be Divided
Corey Hamm
Redshift Records TK431 (redshiftmusic.org)

Frederic Rzewski – Piano Music: Fantasia; Second Hand; De Profundis
Robert Satterlee
Naxos 8.559760

It has been my pleasure to review these fine CDs by two excellent pianists in music by one of my favourite composers, Frederic Rzewski. The People United Will Never Be Defeated is a masterpiece worthy of other major sets of variations such as the Goldberg Variations, Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations and Brahms’ Handel Variations. The work opens with a theme from Sergio Ortega’s Chilean resistance song El Pueblo Unido Jamás Será Vencido! Similar to the Goldbergs, Rzewski structured his work by grouping it as a theme plus three sets of six variations, a break, and another three sets of six variations plus a reprise of the theme, which makes six sets of six variations. However, pianist Corey Hamm performs the work as a whole instead of sectioning the music into short pieces. This creates an intense, dramatic journey and compels the listener to follow the creation of this masterpiece from the opening theme to the closing return. Hamm has a crisp, articulate touch and blazes through the virtuosic music with technical brilliance. There is a lot to admire in this performance. His sensitivity to nuance and expressive details gives the work a variety of tonal colours that is needed in a major work of an hour in length that is performed without a break. This was a mesmerizing and thoughtful performance.

Robert Satterlee is the pianist in the second CD by Rzewski. This is a collection of three works, Fantasia (1989-99) Second Hand, or Alone at Last (Six Novelettes for piano, left hand) (2005) and De Profundis, for Speaking Pianist (1992). In the composer’s own words for his second version of Fantasia “I…changed the music to obscure the tune, putting in lots of wrong notes and kind of stomping on and smudging everything.” I love composers with a sense of humor and I love this piece, which was played with elan and style by the pianist. Somehow, the wrong notes and smudging sounded just right. The works for left hand alone are a set of six virtuoso etudes written for Robert Satterlee. Rzewski writes: “I had never seriously explored its subterranean universe…I found that my left hand was capable of executing all kinds of complex maneouvers… it is in fact able to execute the most spectacular acrobatics.” I echo these sentiments in my comments about the performance. You would never imagine that only the left hand was playing. It speaks volumes to the technique of the pianist’s left hand. It is an amazing performance and the music was a revelation. These pieces should be a requirement in all music schools. De Profundis, according to Rzewski, is a “melodramatic oratorio,” with a text by Oscar Wilde from a long essay written to his lover Lord Alfred Douglas during Wilde’s imprisonment in Reading Gaol. The pianist has to recite, sing, hum, whistle, hit the body and the piano, and play a Harpo horn, all while playing exquisite music expressively. Bravo to the pianist for this heart-wrenching performance, filled with sensitive playing and an operatic and dramatic fervor. It truly was an incredible feat.

Glenn Kotche – Adventureland
Glenn Kotche; Kronos Quartet; eighth blackbird; Gamelan Galak Tika
Cantaloupe CA21098

No doubt about it, Adventureland is a product of a curious and singular musical mind. Glenn Kotche, most widely known as the drummer of the Chicago alternative rock band Wilco, is as well a percussionist and a very active composer of well-received postmodernist concert works. While on this album he wears his well-worn composer hat, his approach as a drummer and percussionist to composition and sonic textures permeates much of his Adventureland suite.

Kotche was commissioned in 2006 by the Kronos Quartet to compose the seven-section string quartet plus percussion score Anomaly. Seven additional movements were added for this album. One of the most juicy-savoury elements in this musical gumbo is experiencing the constantly shifting instrumental textures. For example Chicago’s eighth blackbird ensemble, Kronos Quartet and electronics are featured in the dreamlike Triple Fantasy. Interwoven throughout the suite are the five movements of The Haunted, scored for “two pianos vs. percussion,” which pit non- and semi-pitched percussion sounds against the pianos’ range of single and clustered tones.

A standout both in timbre and performance are the Balinese gamelan sounds performed by Boston’s skilled 18-musician Gamelan Galak Tika, directed by Evan Ziporyn in “The Traveling Turtle” movement.

In places, Kotche’s music may remind you of Steve Reich’s motivically constrained additive strategies. By way of contrast however, it also possesses more frequent and abrupt changes in melody, harmony and metre, as well as more flow, form, texture and mood than does the minimalist master’s. Kotche aptly summed up his musical rollercoaster ride: “I called this Adventureland because besides being something that’s fun, it’s also kind of weird and mysterious, and at the same time scary and intimidating.”

Stravinsky – Oedipus Rex; Apollon Musagète
Soloists; Monteverdi Choir; London Symphony Orchestra; John Eliot Gardiner
LSO Live LSO0751

John Eliot Gardiner celebrated his 70th birthday a year ago last month, and over the course of his 50- year career, he has rightfully established himself as an internationally renowned conductor and pedagogue. Although regarded primarily as an interpreter of music from the Baroque and Classical periods, Gardiner’s talents have also extended to include such composers as Beethoven, Berlioz, Mendelssohn and Massenet. Nevertheless, it’s not often he has approached 20th century repertoire, so this new CD featuring Stravinsky’s Apollon Musagète and Oedipus Rex recorded live at his birthday concert in April 2013 with the London Symphony Orchestra is something of a rarity.

The ballet Apollon Musagète for string orchestra was completed in January 1928, the result of a commission from the Library of Congress. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that Gardiner would be drawn to music written by the Russian composer during his neo-classical period. So just how does the founder of the Monteverdi Choir deal with Stravinsky? In a word, admirably! Here, the listener immediately senses what great care Gardiner has taken with this performance, with no detail left untouched. The LSO strings are warmly resonant with the ensemble achieving a fine of sense of balance in the ten contrasting movements.

Oedipus Rex, completed a year earlier, is a tougher nut to crack. Part opera, part oratorio, the work was based on Sophocles with a libretto by Jean Cocteau and then translated into Latin. Its mixture of musical styles can make it a challenge to bring off convincingly, but here, Gardiner and the LSO - along with the Monteverdi Choir and soloists that include Jennifer Johnston, Stuart Skelton and Gordon Saks – achieve a wonderful sense of drama at times infused with wry humour.

Refusing to be typecast, Gardiner first gained acclaim through his performances of early music, but now succeeds at the other end of the spectrum, proving to be as adept at Stravinsky as he is with Monteverdi or Mozart.

American Grace – Piano Music from Steven Mackey and John Adams
Orli Shaham; Jon Kimura Parker; Los Angeles Philharmonic; David Robertson
Canary Classics CC11

Orli Shaham and Jon Kimura Parker brilliantly perform Hallelujah Junction, for two pianos, written in1996 by John Adams. The piece derives its title from a truck stop on Highway 49 on the California/Nevada border. It is an extremely complex piece rhythmically and harmonically. The pianists play off of one another in chunky, alternating chords and jazzy syncopations. There is a moment of impressionistic repose until the intense and ferocious boogie–woogie concludes the piece. Steven Mackey’s Stumble to Grace is a piano concerto written for Shaham in 2011 and commissioned by the Los Angeles, St. Louis and New Jersey Orchestras. Although the concerto is in one movement, it is divided into five stages, which are inspired by those that a young child goes through in developing into maturity. Mackey is a guitarist who had been thoroughly immersed in rock music until later in life. He is now a Professor at Princeton University. I was absolutely enthralled with this piece and the imaginative and unique orchestration. The interaction and play with the piano resulted in fascinating tonal colors. Both the orchestra and the pianist were superb in bringing this unusual concerto to life. China Gates by Adams, a mesmerizing and hypnotic minimal piece, was played by Shaham with sensitivity, articulation and crystalline touch.

My only suggestion in regards to this excellent CD would be to change the order of the works. I would leave out the Sneaky March by Mackey, which at a little over one minute seemed superfluous, place China Gates second and end with the remarkable concerto.

Compositeurs de la CASA DE VELÁZQUEZ: Samuel Andreyev; Kenji Sakaï
Various Artists
Académie de France à Madrid (casadevelazquez.org)

Samuel Andreyev – The Tubular West
Samuel Andreyev
Torpor Vigil Records TVR-CD006 (torporvigil.com)

We rarely hear about Canadian composers living abroad; the young Samuel Andreyev (b.1981) hails from Kincardine, Ontario but has made Paris his home since 2003. Andreyev’s music is complex, meticulously scored, and intriguingly quirky – his ensembles often include musette (a piccolo oboe) or a Casio SK-1 (a now-defunct electronic keyboard).

Andreyev is clever in establishing stasis, then disturbing it constantly: both intermittently and unexpectedly. The colours of his orchestration – imagine an ensemble of piccolo, musette, piccolo clarinet and tin cans together in Vérifications – never offend. The complexity of his textures seems organic, almost improvisatory, yet over multiple listens, I hear the careful planning and evolution of sounds – a chimerism of form.

The concertante work for piano, À propos du concert de la semaine dernière, systematically separates left and right hand, and accompanies each in a hauntingly Schnittke-esque bipolarity.

Andreyev’s music is sometimes raw – even profane – but reveals its intention profoundly. Fortunately, Canadian ensembles are taking more notice of this composer (already published by A. Leduc); the Edmonton New Music Festival featured his music this season, and Esprit Orchestra has commissioned an orchestral work (planned for 2014/15).

I would be remiss not to mention Andreyev’s venture into pop music: the composer has a full-length release on the Torpor Vigil label. Andreyev – on The Tubular West – is “geeky” (in the most positive sense): a kind of early Beck meets Sondre Lerche, but the detail of the arrangements clearly pegs him as a “real composer.” Andreyev is also a published poet.

Chiyoko Szlavnics – Gradients of Detail
Ensemble musikFabrik; Peter Rundel; Dirk Rothbrust; Asasello Quartett
World Edition CD #0022 (world-edition.com)

Armed with great insight and awareness of 20th century classical music history, in her first CD, Gradients of Detail, Berlin-based Toronto composer Chiyoko Szlavnics explores musical ideas that while leaning toward abstraction possess a finely nuanced sensitivity to the nature and reception of sound.

One of her primary memes is the use of “pure,” senza vibrato, sustained tones, and yet there is plenty of motion in the music too. Some tones rise in pitch while others fall in slow glissandi. At other moments they overlap and interfere, creating sonic moiré patterns, or are occasionally interspersed with a timbrally thick staccato, the sonic equivalent of a fuzzy thick point on paper. Szlavnics assays these common raw materials with the three variably scored works performed on this CD.

The musical result is a constantly shifting, subtly beating soundscape reminding me stylistically of various composers: a less bellicose early Penderecki, Xenakis (another composer inspired by the possibility of dialogue between graphic representation and music) and perhaps certain works by Feldman. In particular the influence of James Tenney, Szlavnics’ Toronto composition teacher, appears to hover in the background. It’s revealed in elements of instrumentation (sine-wave generators), tuning (i.e. just intonation), quirky texture (multiple crossing glissandi) and an extreme sensitivity to instrumental tone colour and its structural and even melodic exploitation.

Black graphic lines and moiré patterns dominate Szlavnics’ graphic art, liberally displayed on the CD cover and in the booklet; the symbiosis between her graphic and musical oeuvre is the primary theme explored in the thought-provoking essay “Drawing Music” by Eugen Blume.

I’ve chosen to sketch in the broad outlines of the music on the CD but I wanted in closing to mention the outstanding Szlavnics ensemble piece (a)long lines: we’ll draw our own lines. The haunting work seamlessly dovetails electronically- and acoustically-produced timbres into a sound world that’s all her own, performed with virtuoso precision and emotional warmth by the Cologne-based Ensemble musikFabrik. Listening to the album several times – please turn the volume up to enjoy the full sonic palette – has been an exciting personal journey. Along the way, a delightful surprise: the thrill of discovering a masterful compositional voice.

Through the Looking Glass
Alpha
Dacapo 8.226579

This sonic offering presents several pieces by four of Denmark’s most celebrated living composers, as re-visioned by Alpha, a trio playing recorders, saxophones and percussion. The CD opens in sparkling fashion with two short pieces by Poul Ruders. Alpha’s version of his rhythmically energetic Star Prelude makes clever use of high recorders and pitched percussion, and the fun continues with the same composer’s Love Fugue in which saxophone plays a more central role. Later on in the program, Bolette Roed gives a great rendition of his funky Carnival, originally scored for alto flute. Hans Abrahamsen’s Flowersongs, originally composed for three flutes, gets a broader stroke of colour from Alpha’s musical paintbrush, and Per Nørgård’s Heydey’s Night is sweet and humorous. Saxophonist Peter Navarro-Alonso’s arrangements of Nørgård’s Isternia and Bent Sørensen’s Looking on Darkness provide some welcome contemplative turns to this generally chipper program.

There is much to admire in Alpha’s elegant playing, both as individuals and as an ensemble. With a fairly minimalist slant this program might not be to everyone’s taste, but it proves that things are vibrantly alive and well in contemporary Danish music. Unfortunately though, while the booklet notes describe Alpha in glowing terms, there’s no information whatsoever about the original composers or the pieces reworked here. I didn’t particularly mind googling them, but considering that these composers not only created the original material but also gave their blessing to this project, this omission seems quite regrettable.

It’s been close to 25 years since the founding of the unique Montreal-based label empreintes DIGITALes (empreintesDIGITALes.com) in 1989 by Jean-François Denisand Claude Schryer. Solo-directed since 1991 by Denis, the label has produced 130 discs representing 107 composers and specializes in contemporary electroacoustic music, acousmatic and musique concrète. Although these genres of music are not the common fare for most of the concert events listed by The WholeNote, it is important to realize that the technical innovations and ways of thinking that have been pioneered by the practitioners of this music have had a wide influence on a vast array of musical forms and styles as well as media-based art forms.

One of the most distinguishing features of electroacoustic music in general is that it is composed primarily within a studio environment and is designed to be listened to through loud speakers. And although the ingredients of melody, rhythm and harmony can be an aspect of electroacoustic music, its primary focus is on the sound itself, which can originate from recordings made in a particular acoustic environment, or generated and processed through purely electronic or digital technologies. Sometimes the original sound source is recognizable – such as recordings of ocean waves or the inside of a piano, and in other situations, the sounds have been studio processed beyond recognition of their original context.

Back in 1990, empreintesDIGITALes offered its own vision of the wide array of possibilities within the electroacoustic genre. It published the groundbreaking Électro Clips CD which featured three-minute miniatures by 25 different composers, each one representing a unique approach to working in a studio environment.

More recently, the label has released four new albums by four unique composers: Martin Bédard (Montreal), Pierre Alexandre Tremblay (Montreal/UK), Andrew Lewis (UK) and David Berezan (Calgary/UK). Although the pieces are of longer duration than the three-minute clips, each disc presents four unique approaches and aesthetic visions.

Each of Bédard’s five acousmatic compositions on his Topographies CD (empreintesDIGITALes IMED 13121) creates a sonic picture of specific acoustic environments, ranging from recordings made in restored jail cells to the soundworld of trains. He also weaves in tributes to what he calls “phonoculture” – lyrics from a Rush song or the audio heritage of a specific community. He is captivated by specific behaviours, whether those be of a night watchman or of metal under stress, and his compositions are expressions of his curiosity.

The five compositions on Tremblay’s 2-disc set entitled La Marée (IMED 13123/124) are excellent examples of the interaction between live performers and a form of live processing of the solo instrumentalist. I found his piece La tombeau des fondeurs particularly engaging with its rhythmic and timbral pulsations that create a seductive sonorous quality suggestive of the casting of a metal or bronze bell or gong. All his pieces are meditations on life, a balancing of contradictions.

The music of Lewis on his CD Au-delà (IMED 13125) is a great example of pure acousmatic music in which the original sound sources are heavily processed and the original context is predominantly unrecognizable. However, Lewis’ skill at weaving sounds together creates strong impressionistic and imaginary soundscapes. His track Cân, the Welsh word for song, takes the Welsh musical heritage beyond the traditional sounds of harps and male choirs. Short interjections of these traditional sounds are juxtaposed with more abstract sonic textures.

And finally, the music on Berezan’s Allusions Sonores (IMED 13122) offers the listener a window into the places he has visited. Seeing himself as a composer who collects and “uncovers” sounds as part of his creative process, each of the five pieces reflects places he has personally visited or interacted with. Ranging from the sounds of a Balinese thumb piano to recordings made in Alberta’s badlands to the chirping sounds of temple and palace floors in Japan, listening to Berezan’s music is similar to listening to the ocean. Each piece has a very distinctive wave-like motion with the constant ebb and flow of the sound textures rising up and then falling away.

These four discs are a testament to the ongoing commitment this independent label has for a very unique and distinct genre of music. It is known and respected internationally and considered the go-to place for the keen listener and connoisseur of electroacoustic music in all its varied forms. 

Resolve – Hindemith masterworks for clarinet
Richard Stoltzman; Various artists
Navona Records NV5934

One has to thank Richard Stoltzman, dean of the clarinet in North America, for this latest addition to a long list of recordings, in this instance a celebration of Paul Hindemith’s clarinet music. Missing only the Quartet (1938), this disc features the Concerto (1947), the Sonata (1939) and the Quintet with strings (1923, revised in 1954). The last is the most curious of the lot, at times starkly modern and strange, reflecting the composer’s early experiments with form and tonality, at others oddly restrained. No clue if this is on account of the later revisions. Recorded two and a half decades ago, it’s certainly fun to hear a younger Richard Stoltzman strut about with the E-flat (piccolo) instrument in the middle movement.

It can be lonely work sticking up for Hindemith among colleagues who champion the work of more adventurous composers. I love his music, its assured quality, its exploration of the instruments’ possibilities, and okay yes, his adherence to a form of TONALITY! His writing for strings in the quintet is masterful, recalling somewhat the character of his ballet: The Four Temperaments. Tashi, the chamber group co-founded by Stoltzman and Peter Serkin, plays with mad commitment. This is the earliest recording of the set, dating from 1988. He recorded the Concerto with the Slovak Radio Orchestra in 2003.

Now in his early 70s, Mr. Stoltzman seems not ready to pack up his horn. The sonata was recorded just last year, with Yehudi Wyner on piano. If Stoltzman has lost some of his beautiful tonal focus over time, his ability to form la phrase juste has not diminished.

This disc bears a dedication to the late great Keith Wilson, his (and my) one-time professor at Yale. It’s a fitting tribute to both men.

A Concert for New York
Edmonton Symphony Orchestra; William Eddins
ESO Live 2012-05-1 (edmontonsymphony.com)

This two-disc live recording (from the Windspear Centre) of the program from the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s Carnegie Hall debut concert is an impressive package. It demonstrates the ESO’s remarkable growth and features works by its three composers-in-residence to date, John Estacio, Allan Gilliland and Robert Rival, along with a rarely heard symphony by Bohuslav Martinů. I recommend Estacio’s Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano (1997) with first-rate soloists Juliette Kang, Denise Djokic and Angela Cheng. In brief, this might be described as neo-romanticism with mystical tendencies. Wonderful music.

In his Symphony No.1 (1942) Bohuslav Martinů melds elements of modernism, jazz, and Czech folk melody into his distinctive neoclassical style. The large orchestra and prominent piano part add resonance, helping avoid the spiky dryness of some neoclassical works. Strange ascending chromatic passages seem to steam up from a chemist’s vat, and there are premonitions of minimalism! William Eddins keeps everything balanced in an exciting performance.

Robert Rival’s tender, slightly Ravelian Lullaby (2012) uses changing metres, rather than the triple time of cradle-rocking, to evoke walking and rocking his first child. Dreaming of the Masters III (2010) continues Allan Gilliland’s concerto series referencing older jazz styles. With Jens Lindeman as soloist on trumpet and flugelhorn, potential for virtuosity is realized and all involved have a great time. Ditto in the concert encore -- the “Mambo” from Bernstein’s West Side Story – where the ESO percussion add a “Wow!” factor.

(Note: On my copy the recording’s volume needed to be cranked up considerably to reach normal listening levels.)

Glistening Pianos – Music by Alice Ping Yee Ho
Duo Piano 2X10
Centrediscs CMCCD 19714

There is a plethora of exquisite aural delights in this new release featuring the music of Hong Kong-born Canadian composer Alice Ping Yee Ho.

As to be expected from the Canadian Music Centre Centrediscs label, the usual high production qualities, first class performance, musicianship and strong compositions create a great listening experience. The five very distinct and contrasting pieces offer a superb cross section of styles, tonal sensibilities and musical forays, making Glistening Pianos the perfect calling card for the composer. Each work features the core piano duo 2X10 – pianists Midori Koga and Lydia Wong are powerhouse technicians who both easily jump through demanding technical and musical hoops. Their expertise glistens, sparkles and glitters when they sound like one piano in the more tonal opening title track while their keyboard conversations in An Eastern Apparition reveal two distinct yin and yang musical beings. The closing track Heart to Heart features a calmer ethereal mood reminiscent of 19th century romantic piano repertoire. Flutist Susan Hoeppner joins the duo in the emotive Chain of Being. There is just too much fun taking place in War!, a funky LOUD frolic, inspired by Ho’s daughter Bo Wen Chan’s spoken lyrics, featuring percussionist Adam Campbell, electronics.

Only the omission of composition dates beside the titles keeps the listener from fully appreciating the development of Ho’s firm grasp of writing for piano, from florid fast ascending and descending lines to rhythmic marching backdrops and glistening piano timbres.

Kitchen Party
Derek Charke; Mark Adam
Centrediscs CMCCD 19814

The idea behind this CD is simple: give a theme to seven East Coast composers and ask them to write something four to ten minutes long for flute and percussion and premiere the outcomes at a traditional Nova Scotia kitchen party for 70 guests. The flute-percussion duo comprises “extended techniques” specialist flutist Derek Charke and “veteran of virtually every percussion genre,” Mark Adam, now both music professors at Acadia University in Wolfville. The composers may all be from Nova Scotia but their music is from all over the map (in a good way!).

Redundancy is out and originality is in; everyone has something different and interesting to say.

There is, as one would hope, lots of extended flute technique – whistles, harmonics, multiphonics, pops and buzzes, as in some of the variations in Charke’s contribution, ‘Reel’ Variations on a Jig and Jim O’Leary’s Music for Amplified Bass Flute and Drum Set.

There is also lots of very contemporary melodic writing as in John Plant’s Capriccio, in which the forward momentum of the marimba’s arpeggiated ostinato is matched by the flute’s equally dynamic melody line, and even a toe-tapping jig in Charke’s piece. And then there are the fascinating rhythms, as in Anthony Genge’s Third Duo, Jeff Hennessy’s Balor’s Flute and Robert Bauer’s Café Antiqua. Yes, there is even some Japanese-inspired music in Charke’s improvisation, recorded live at the kitchen party.

So you don’t think you like contemporary music? Think again!

Britten to America: Music for Radio and Theatre
Hallé; Sir Mark Elder; Andrew Kennedy; Jean Rigby; Mary Carewe; Ex Cathedra; Jeffrey Skidmore
NMC NMC D190

This disc could be called “an entertainment,” being a collection of short compositions disbursed with spoken passages. Some are satirical or humorous or quite serious but none is long enough to ebb the listener’s interest. Britten collaborated with his good friends (at the time) W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood. The most productive and closest collaboration between Auden and Britten was between 1936 and about 1941 and by 1947 they rarely even spoke. Subsequently Britten had a succession of librettists and Auden went on to write the libretto for Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress. The Britten-Auden collaboration produced, among other works, the operetta Paul Bunyan (1941, revised 1971) and the two main items on this recording; The Ascent of F6 in 1936 and On the Frontier (1938).

The Ascent of F6, written by Auden and Isherwood is set around the climbing of F6, a mountain in Sudoland, a British colony of indeterminate location and the anti-hero Michael Ransom, a Renaissance man, who wants to climb the mountain because it is there. Essentially it is a didactic drama on social responsibility. The authors were enthusiastic about Britten and his little pieces, some robust, some irreverent and brash but all arresting, including a blues number! On the Frontier was a metaphorical play concerned with the rise of Fascism in the 30s. An American in England recreates some of the Edward R. Murrow broadcasts from the early 1940s with narrator Samuel West.

These stylized 2013 performances emulate the 1930s in this delightful and unusual recording revealing the young composer’s diversity of styles. The vocal octet Ex Cathedra is heard in the potpourri of styles from chant to brash ensemble numbers, all in state-of-the-art sound.