Modern and Contemporary

Amy Brandon – Lysis
Various Artists
New Focus Recordings FCR414 (newfocusrecordings.com/catalogue/amy-brandon-lysis)

Canadian guitarist/composer Amy Brandon has created a fantastical series of journeys with her latest album Lysis (defined by dictionary.com as “…refer(ring) to the breakdown of a cell caused by damage to its plasma (outer) membrane).” Brandon nails the deconstruction aspect in an almost delicious spectacle of all things human and otherworldly. Cells break down on one level and are reconstructed on another. Brandon deftly manages to create parallel voices that beautifully ignore, while simultaneously hearing, each other, almost as two separate cultures managing to co-exist. 

Opening with the brilliant Microchimersisms for solo flute, we enter a world of roaring lions, whispers and outbursts of exhalations, masterfully delivered by flutist Sara Constant. Threads for string trio follows, a tightly wound exploration of a submarine-like journey. Alternate tunings are featured in Intermountainous where the guitar delivers almost pastoral material, underscored by dark and aerie ambience that intertwines and comes apart. Caduceus for two cellos and electronics is strangely combative while expertly weaving microtones in and out of one voice. The track Tsyir is an almost trance-like swim in partial harmonics, while Affine travels between breathy phrasing of repeated notes and upper pitches of winds and low piano. 

Now we arrive at Simulacra, the album’s JUNO-nominated show-stopper for cello solo and orchestra. This full orchestral score, with its dynamic and driving rhythms, sets up a virtuosic and melodic cello line that soars into stratospheric heights and returns to the depths. Cellist Jeffrey Zeigler pulls out all the stops with a stunning, heroic performance. 

The album closes with the work Lysis for string quartet; a complex exploration of the upper partials of the harmonic series, this piece also mines the symbiotic relationship between the nuances of pitch and colour realised by different bow pressures, while also exploding apart from it. As with the entire album, it’s not necessary to contemplate the mathematics of the writing, just enjoy the results.

Paolo Griffin – Supports & Surfaces
David Zucchi; Duo Holz; David Hackston; electronics
Sawyer Editions SE028 (sawyereditions.bandcamp.com/album/paolo-griffin-supports-surfaces)

Imagine the challenge of having to approach music of Supports & Surfaces being told that all of the sonic quivering, undulating and often hypnotic ellipses of sounds were just “a series of pitch classes, whole numbers of octaves apart.” Try realigning that part of your brain that hears sound and redirecting your inner ear to tune into the pitch class of the frequently caressed, the note(s) C (or D, E, F or G). Lost in stultifying academia yet? 

Fear not. There is much more to this meandering, hypnotically repetitious music. Its evocative gamelan-like sound is redolent of Zen-inflected gongs, whooshing woodwinds, yammering drums and hissing cymbals, the dazzling arco wail of the violin, all heated by the soaring countertenor voice. 

Suddenly you will find yourself free of a proverbial desk in academia, despite perhaps encountering complicated pitch integers in the sonically charming music by Paolo Griffin. 

Bending notes in the light and shadow of Griffin directs David Zucchi to employ alto saxophone and the ululations of atmospheric electronics to explore The Purpose of an Empty Room. You will emerge from the dizzying geometry of this musical space with a sense of enrichment and delight. Next, violinist Aysel Taghi-Zada and percussion colourist Michael Murphy describe the stasis of being Alone, Together. Finally on Madrigal, countertenor David Hackston melds voice and electronics to spellbinding effect.

Gilles Silvestrini – Oboe in Hues
Nermis Mieses
Navona Records nv6638 (navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6638)

Nermis Mieses’ new album, Oboe in Hues, offers a fascinating and bold exploration of the oboe’s capabilities through five challenging solo works by French oboist-composer Gilles Silvestrini. With its focus on rarely-heard compositions, this album stands out as a celebration of both the instrument and its performer.

Silvestrini’s compositions push the oboe to its limits, incorporating techniques that evoke harp and piano sounds, mimic bird calls and explore extreme registers. These elements, coupled with note bends, flutter tonguing and multiphonics, provide a rich and varied sonic palette. Mieses, a Puerto Rican-American oboist known for her artistry and virtuosity, rises to the challenge with a performance that is both technically impressive and emotionally resonant.

The album opens with Les Lusiades, a piece inspired by Luís de Camões’ 1572 poem and intended as an opera for solo oboe. Mieses adeptly contrasts different characters and paints vivid imagery with her clear articulations and warm, mellow tone. Her ability to shift seamlessly between expressive passages and advanced techniques brings the work’s dramatic intent to life.

In Horae Volubiles Silvestrini draws inspiration from Stefano da Verona’s painting La Vierge à la rosaire. Mieses brings this experimental work to vivid life through modern techniques and mournful legato lines. Cinq Études Russes offers a unique homage to five iconic Russian composers: Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Scriabin and Stravinsky. Each étude weaves melodies from these composers into its fabric, providing a rich and varied listening experience. Mieses’ interpretation brings out the distinct character of each piece, showcasing her ability to navigate complex and evocative musical landscapes. Six Études Pittoresques contrasts historical and literary figures and settings, from Genghis Khan’s cruelty against the pastoral Mongolian countryside to Hans Christian Andersen’s tales, and the compositional rivalry between Elgar and Britten. The breadth of these études pushes both the instrument and performer to their limits, and Mieses’ performance is nothing short of masterful.

Finally, Six Études pour hautbois, inspired by Claude Monet’s paintings, is Silvestrini’s most celebrated work among oboists. The impressionistic nature of these études, with their whole tone scales and evocative portrayal of waves, is brought to life with Mieses’ vibrant and technically assured playing.

Ellen Taaffe Zwilich – Symphony No.5
Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Gil Rose
BMOP Sound 1098 (bmop.org/audio-recordings/ellen-taaffe-zwilich-symphony-no-5)

Thank the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, an institution of similar scope to Toronto’s Esprit Orchestra, for the release of this collection of pieces by the accomplished and celebrated American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. As an overture, Upbeat (1998) jumps in with both feet dancing along to Bach’s E Major solo violin partita, turned into a fiddle tune that then disappears under boisterous percussion, raising itself again and again through the work’s brief but rowdy four minutes. 

This leaves one unprepared for the deeply melancholic mood of the next piece. In her notes, Zwilich describes having to rouse herself from mourning the loss of her second husband (having married and been widowed once before) while trying to fulfill a commission for a work for solo flute and orchestra. What finally arose was this Concerto Elegia (2015), beautifully performed here by flutist Sarah Brady. At times I hear a similarity to Shostakovich’s haunting slow movement of his second piano concerto. Zwilich writes “I remember sitting at the dress rehearsal and just crying… I still have a hard time listening to it.”   

Far different is Commedia dell’Arte written for Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg in 2012. Set for string orchestra and percussion (sometimes played by the string players themselves), it depicts three of the stock characters in each of the first three movements, notably the third: Capitano is a blustering blowhard, a phony who might evoke a certain character in the presidential race. Performed here by concertmaster Gabriela Diaz, it’s a delightful romp. 

The final four tracks are a showpiece originally written for the Juilliard orchestra. Naming the work Symphony No.5 (2008) speaks to Zwilich’s philosophy, in which she cherishes the western art music tradition. She also seems to enjoy sheer American band-itry and bombast. Great disc.