Modern and Contemporary

The Dawn of the Bicameral Clarinetist - Gary Dranch / Pulse-Tide - Liam Hockley

The Dawn of the Bicameral Clarinetist
Gary Dranch
Navona Records nv6693 (navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6693)

Pulse-Tide
Liam Hockley
Aural Terrains (liamhockley.bandcamp.com/album/pulse-tide)

What have we done with music? We didn’t invent it, but we have certainly messed around with it. Music is a way we have of organizing sound (I owe John Cage a beer); sound is pervasive, even maddeningly so. No wonder humans take stimuli and organize them, visually or sonically, even kinetically, and often all at once.

Such deep thoughts help me cope with my own prejudices, especially my dislikes, when it comes to assessing the discs I have before me. The Dawn of the Bicameral Clarinetist is a survey of works for solo clarinet and electronic media, dating between 1968 and 1979, by composers whose names may be familiar to those who pay attention to this type of art. Comprehensive accompanying notes about performers, composers as well as performance dates, fill out the story. Clarinetist Gary Dranch demonstrates commitment and virtuosity in service of this niche (one decade, all clarinet, plus or minus electronics), or as he puts it, “time capsule.” It’s interesting, even fascinating. My aesthetic sense is rewarded, and my skepticism about the value of such a retrospective is forced to sit in the back and listen.

By preference I gravitate to the traditional form of James Drew’s St. Dennis Variations, the most recent work with the most ancient roots. Dranch is an expressive and able player; these recordings may sound a bit raw but it’s because they were initially recorded live on cassette tape! Talk about ancient.

More up-to-date, and yet less satisfying in terms of recording quality, is Liam Hockley’s Pulse Tide. The B.C.-based Hockley performs spectral works for the hound of the clarinet family, the basset horn. Ana-Maria Avram exploits the wolf-ish tone of this somewhat balky beast in Penumbra. Hockley produces a hypnotic, ASMR-inducing quality from a series of multiphonics, flutter and slap tonguing, key clicks and vibrato-laden micro melodies. The dry recording environment sponges up any reverb, which works in a way and seems artificial at the same time; room-bounce has been sponged up.

Artifice also characterizes the charming Egress, by Thanos Chrysakis. An overlay of five tracks all played by Hockley. What an oddity, a humoresque of argumentative fowl.

Next, Hockley plays un-self-accompanied, i.e. solo, in Aura by Iancu Dumitrescu. I have trouble connecting the title to the series of new-music-y effects. A second listen might have been in order, but life is, after all, short. On content, I think 75% is a good average, and who can account for other tastes than one’s own?

In contrast, Horatiu Radulescu’s Capricorn’s Nostalgic Crickets, is the capper at 25+ minutes. Not content to provide a mere five voices, Hockley here plays seven overlay tracks. I wonder whether a Basset choir (pack?) would be possible in practical terms (few owner-operators, fewer gigs). In this incarnation it’s not easy to discern separate parts, or whether he overlayed the same material seven times, the overlap generating the interest. Imagine a slow repeated kind of organic instrumental respiration. This one is the oldest work by more than two decades. It serves, like Avram’s, to induce a meditative Beta state. The crickets are certainly extra-terrestrial, but benign. Perhaps they’re angels? Give this track time and space, it’s the coolest.

Hush: New Works for Flute and Electronics - Roberta Michel

Hush – New Works for Flute and Electronics
Roberta Michel
New Focus Recordings FCR422 (newfocusrecordings.com/catalogue/roberta-michel-hush)

Roberta Michel’s intrepid musicianship has caught the attention of avant-garde artists and groups such as the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Bang on a Can, the Wet Ink Ensemble and others. On Hush she takes the flute – her chosen instrument – out of the confines of the chamber (or orchestral) context on solo flights following, unfettered, wherever this audacious music beckons.

Ditching what certainly appears to be a reliable technique, she puts paid to predictable finger movement and conventional breath controls to seemingly turn her body’s whole cardio-pulmonary machinery into a system plotted around the efforts and exertions required to make a multi headed monolith of pure sound made from mouthfuls of air.

The whirling ellipses of Jane Rigler’s Red are eminently suited to Michel’s restless creativity, and it surges in a mad rush of blood to the head, and her flute. Victoria Cheah’s edifice, And for you, castles sees Michel mindfully abseiling through its sonic architecture. Jen Baker’s piece, The Great Bridge and a Lion’s Gate is painted in washes of muted and vivid coloured brushstrokes by Michel. Mert Morali’s Quintet sends pungent sonorities through Michel’s bass flute echoing through four speakers. Meanwhile Angélica Negrón’s Hush echoes the silvery quietude of Michel’s father Fred’s plant photographs. Cheah, Morali and Negrón join Michel to perform on their works.

Meanwhile the conventional meaning of the word “hush” apart, metaphorically speaking Michel blows her way through her flutes right past the sound barrier.

Listen to 'Hush: New Works for Flute and Electronics' Now in the Listening Room

Ink Traces - Julia Glenn; Konstantinos Valianatos

Ink Traces
Julia Glenn; Konstantinos Valianatos
Navona Records NV6670 (navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6670)

American violinist Julia Glenn has lived, taught and performed in China, immersing herself in China’s language, music, dance and poetry. Together with Athens-born pianist Konstantinos Valianatos who, like Glenn, has taught at Tianjin Juilliard School, she plays works by composers who embrace both Chinese and Western classical idioms.

Chen Yi’s Romance and Dance (1995-1999) begins with the very Chinese-sounding Romance, the violin’s bent notes wailing plaintively over sporadic pianistic water-droplets. Dance is a wild ride, with frenzied violin flourishes and rapid piano ostinatos. Chen’s Memory for solo violin (2010) movingly mixes Chinese and Western elements, progressing emotionally from apprehensiveness to determination.

The fragmented melodies and rhythmic inertia of the other solo violin pieces – Yao Chen’s Air (2015) and Pan Kai’s Ink Traces of Sigh (2017/2022) sound thoroughly European, as does Gao Weijie’s The Road (1996), though with longer violin melodies and some momentum from the piano.

Much more enjoyable are Sang Tong’s Night Scenery (1947), the violin ruminating above the piano’s irregular walking bass, the lovely melodies of Nostalgia from Ma Sicong’s Inner Mongolia Suite (1937) and, most of all, Chen Gang’s delightful, unmistakably Chinese Drum and Song (1974-1976) in which rollicking jollity frames blissful dreaminess.

Whining Chinese glissandi and martial Western propulsion clash violently in the CD’s longest work, Chen Yihan’s 11-minute EHOHE for baroque violin and electronics (2022), commissioned by Glenn. Happily, the disparate cultures eventually reconcile and the disc ends in peaceful serenity.

Playfair Sonatas - Ethan Iverson

Playfair Sonatas
Ethan Iverson
Urlicht Audiovisual (musicalconcepts.net/recording/ethan-iverson-playfair-sonatas)

Ethan Iverson is a pianist and composer who helped found the American jazz group The Bad Plus in 2000. He has performed jazz with a diverse group of musicians over the years (Lee Konitz, Ron Carter, Ingrid Jensen etc.) and composed for a variety of groups along with writing on music for several magazines. Playfair Sonatas is named after Piers Playfair who agreed to pay Iverson’s studio’s rent for six months in exchange for him composing six sonatas where Playfair would choose the instrumentation.

Along with piano accompaniment, the six instruments are: violin, marimba, clarinet, trombone, alto saxophone and trumpet. All the works are lively and take advantage of each solo instrument’s unique characteristics. For example, Violin Sonata is relatively classical sounding while Alto Saxophone Sonata includes classical, Broadway and jazzy lines. One of the most intriguing aspects is where Iverson dedicates a movement to well known musical figures. For example, Clarinet Sonata II (Music Hall) is dedicated to Carla Bley and it has a sultry and ironic melodicism which matches Bley’s musical personality. Violin Sonata II Blues (for Ornette Coleman) is melodic with brief forays into atonal territory which matches Coleman well.

Playfair Sonatas is an elegant and innovative addition to the world of chamber music.

Envols: Canadian Works for English Horn - Mélanie Harel; Valérie Dallaire

Envols – Canadian Works for English Horn
Mélanie Harel; Valérie Dallaire
Centrediscs CMCCD33523 (cmccanada.org/shop/cmccd-33523)

Mélanie Harel’s Envols presents a captivating exploration of Canadian works for the English horn, showcasing the instrument’s expressive range and lyrical beauty. Recorded during the pandemic, this album is both a personal journey for Harel and a vital contribution to a relatively unexplored repertoire.

The album opens with Ian McDougall’s Nostalgica, where Harel’s rich, mellow tone shines alongside pianist Valérie Dallaire’s sensitive accompaniment. The interplay between the English horn and piano is seamless, setting a reflective mood that invites the listener into Harel’s world.

Christopher Tyler Nickel’s Sonata for English Horn and Piano takes a darker turn, beginning with an eerie melody that evolves through contemplative passages to a spirited finale. Emily Doolittle’s contributions are highlights of the album. Suppose I Was a Marigold is an introspective piece that allows Harel to delve into the instrument’s softer, more contemplative side. In contrast, Social Sounds from Whales at Night brilliantly showcases her skill in mimicking whale calls. Harel’s use of multiphonics and note bending, combined with the ethereal percussion and tape elements, creates a vivid underwater soundscape that is nothing short of mesmerizing.

Brian Cherney’s Epitaph for Solo English Horn provides a powerful showcase of Harel’s technical prowess, exploring a wide emotional range and highlighting the instrument’s upper register. This is followed by selections from Stewart Grant’s Études, where Harel demonstrates her control and agility, revealing the instrument’s capabilities in a variety of musical contexts. Tawnie Olson’s Plainsong and Paul Marshall Douglas’ Luquet further accentuate Harel’s lyrical abilities, blending expansive musical lines with the English horn’s unique timbre.

The album concludes with François-Hugues Leclair’s Le vol de l’épervier, where playful note bends and the sounds of chirping birds create a delightful auditory experience, leaving the listener with a sense of joy and exploration. Overall, Envols is a cohesive and engaging collection that not only highlights Harel’s exceptional talent but also elevates the English horn’s role within contemporary music.

Listen to 'Envols: Canadian Works for English Horn' Now in the Listening Room

Jon Siddall: Little Monster Dreams - Jon Siddall

Jon Siddall – Little Monster Dreams
Jon Siddall
Independent (jonsiddall.com)

BC-based composer, guitarist and music producer Jon Siddall’s career has for decades bravely straddled the not-always-amicable worlds of vernacular and contemporary classical music. I first met Siddall at York University in the mid-1970s when we were both students of composers James Tenney and David Rosenboom, among others. He continued his graduate composition studies in California with Terry Riley and was introduced to gamelan degung performance by Lou Harrison. Returning to Toronto, Siddall was inspired to combine those disparate musical streams and formed Evergreen Club Gamelan in 1983.

While Siddall’s been tapping into his garage band roots in recent years with his countrified Straightup Seven Hills band, in 2020 he also released Belvedere a self-described “slow music” instrumental album. His current EP Little Monster Dreams follows in the latter experimental ambient vein with two substantial instrumentals aesthetically harkening back to his earliest minimalist compositions.

The three-part Little Monster Dreams of Floating was performed by the composer playing heavily processed guitar, bells and other percussion, including gamelan gongs. The title is a tribute to his French bulldog, the “little monster” who was particularly fond of this music. Siddall describes his musical goal as “amplifying stillness by simplifying memory … the gentle meandering of the sounds relieving the need to keep track of time.”

The other work, With the Tides, consists of a dense chord slowly disintegrating over its duration, separated by silences of varying length. In additional to tidal cycles, the work also explores “what the Japanese call ‘ma’: the space in between things.” This sumptuous-sounding, formally terse, track was constructed solely using multi tracked blown bottles.

Perceived form here is elusive, subverted, never quite materialising – a concern which “ultimately becomes unimportant” says the composer since, “we’re just with the sound. Is it music for meditation? Can be.”