Modern and Contemporary

05 Capitol QuartetBalance
Capitol Quartet
Blue Griffin Records BGR367 (bluegriffin.com)

As a result of the orchestral works of composers such as Bartók, Prokofiev, Berg – and many others – the saxophone has become a standard instrument of classical pedagogy and taught in many highly regarded conservatories. These classically trained saxophonists naturally began to seek out performance opportunities outside the jazz scene. Thus, the 20th century saw the birth of a new ensemble: the saxophone quartet. Like its predecessor, the string quartet, the saxophone quartet has been a place composers turn to for experimentation and exploration. The Capitol Quartet, is certainly no exception when it comes to celebrating and commissioning new works from today’s leading composers. In their release balance, Capitol has recorded four impressive works, three of which are commissions from the group. Carter Pann’s The Mechanics is a dizzying array of driving rhythms and clever gestures providing a playful and charming opening to the disc. American minimalism meets postmodern lyricism in John Anthony Lennon’s Elysian Bridges. A somber mood permeates Stacy Garrop’s Flight of Icarus, throughout which beautifully contoured chorales evoke the sadness of loss, a mood inspired by the Greek legend of Icarus. This piece is more about Daedalus’ loss of his son than the thrilling flight itself.

Last on the disc is a piece by French composer Alfred Desenclos (1912-1971). As the history of the saxophone quartet continues to grow, there inevitably will be pieces that remain to comprise a body of standard repertoire. Desenclos’ Quatuor will undoubtedly have a place in this canon. Wonderfully orchestrated themes and rich harmonic colours reminiscent of Debussy will surely provoke future quartets to embrace this work as a significant contribution to the genre.

06 Berg Wellesz

Berg; Wellesz
Renée Fleming; Emerson String Quartet
Decca 478 8399

Review

In 1977, composer George Perle examined the annotated printed score of the Lyric Suite that Alban Berg presented to Hannah Fuchs-Robettin. Berg’s adulterous affair with her had provided the Suite’s encoded program. Berg had appended Stefan George’s translation of Baudelaire’s De profundis clamavi to the final movement in her score. Nothing suggests that Berg ever intended this text to be sung, yet it has since been incorporated, musically, into several performances and recordings, notably by Dawn Upshaw (Nonesuch 79696-2) and Marie-Nicole Lemieux (Naive V 5240).

In her own brief contribution to this “alternative” movement, superstar soprano Renée Fleming adds some emotional warmth following the Emerson’s robust traversal of the Lyric Suite’s erotically charged music.

Even more satisfying is their performance of Sonette der Elisabeth Barrett-Browning by Egon Wellesz who, like Berg, was born in 1885 and studied with Schoenberg. Wellesz’s rarely heard, expressive and expressionistic settings of five sonnets in translations by Rainer Maria Rilke, draw plenty of passion and intensity from Fleming and the Emerson.

Closing the CD is Eric Zeisl’s pleasant but unmemorable setting of Komm süsser Tod, enhanced by Fleming’s lush, lustrous voice. Zeisl (1905-1959), a Jew, fled his native Austria in 1938, and wound up composing film scores and concert works in Hollywood.

This CD will appeal to those interested in little-known but rewarding 20th-century repertoire (the Wellesz) and, of course, to Renée Fleming’s justifiably innumerable fans (including me).

07 Meyer

Krzysztof Meyer – Piano Quartet; Piano Quintet
Piotr Salajczyk; Silesian String Quartet
Naxos 8.573357

Review

Polish composer and pianist Krzystof Meyer (b.1943) is new to me but not to my Baker’s Biographical Dictionary (7th ed. [1984], rev. Nicolas Slonimsky), which says his “musical intelligence and acoustical acuity are of the rarest quality.” Based on this CD I concur heartily. The extended, single-movement Piano Quartet (2009) is an unusually formed work. To my ears, imaginative process and compelling content are equally involved. Declamation, dialogue, perpetual motion, stasis and recurrence are prominent yet unpredictable modes of presentation. To be sure there is considerable dissonance, yet the tonal centre and interval structure are clear. Passionate expressiveness of three Silesian String Quartet players complements pianist Salajczyk`s virtuoso performance.

The Piano Quintet (1990-91) is a larger work in the traditional four movements. Its opening establishes a severe but still tonal musical language based on hierarchy of pitches. In the second movement I was especially taken by Meyer’s mastery of the mid- and late-twentieth century vocabulary of sound and texture, even though he does not use extended instrumental techniques. Throughout, the quartet and Salajcyzk never falter in ensemble, tone quality or dynamic control. Triplets in the more lively third movement suggest a vestigial scherzo; as perhaps also do sudden outbursts and high, scratchy strings. I enjoyed also the last movement’s drama and variety of effects – ornamental scrambles around main pitches, high dissonant bells in the piano and closing silences interrupted by retreating pizzicato whispers.

08 RzewskiFrederic Rzewski – The People United Will Never Be Divided; Four Hands
Ursula Oppens; Jerome Lowenthal
Cedille CDR 90000 158

The first time I heard Ursula Oppens perform was in a masterclass of Rosina Lhevinne at the Juilliard School in New York. Ursula and I were both students of the legendary Mme. Lhevinne. Listening to this CD I remember the lovely and rich tonal colours Oppens had in her classical repertoire. I am delighted to find the same lyrical palette in the Rzewski. It is so easy to make some of the Rzewski variations harsh and brittle. This is not the first recording Ursula Oppens has made of this work and this CD is far more reflective and poignant. There is a fluidity that connects the disparate movements. Rzewski gives many instructions to the pianist and each variation comes with informative titles: “with determination, delicate but firm, tenderly, in a militant manner,” and so on. In this performance each different style, whether folkloric, jazzy or lyrical does unite with sensitive and intuitive musicianship.

Technically it is brilliant playing. From pounding chords to effervescent riffs of extreme delicacy Oppens is in control and commands the keyboard. There are numerous recordings of this work but this CD is definitely in a class by itself.

For Rzewski’s piano duo work Four Hands, pianist Jerome Lowenthal, a Juilliard faculty member, joins Oppens. Their touch on the piano is so unified that it sounds like one pianist. It is a quirky piece with lovely moments and this work deserves more performances. However, this duo piano team would be difficult to improve on.

Excellent performances. Highly recommended CD.

01 Leo OrnsteinLeo Ornstein – Piano Quintet; String Quartet No.2
Marc-André Hamelin; Pacifica Quartet
Hyperion CMA68084

Why has there been a revival of music by composer/ pianist Leo Ornstein (1893-2002)? From early groundbreaking piano pieces onward, his was an extraordinary (and extraordinarily long!) musical life. In 1906 his family emigrated from Russia to the United States where he trained as a piano virtuoso, but after an amazing start he gave up concertizing. His father was a cantor and Ornstein’s Russian-Jewish musical heritage came to the fore. In a modernist context it permeates the Piano Quintet (1927), which I think ranks in quality with the Shostakovitch and Bloch quintets for piano and string quartet. The tempestuous opening movement typifies Ornstein’s rhapsodic process of linking varied phrases and sections that suggest frenzied dances, song-like laments, marches and much more. I particularly liked the slow movement, especially a passage with high violin, mysterious piano repeated notes and chords, and uneasy supporting strings. The Quintet reflects Ornstein’s piano virtuosity; Marc-André Hamelin, who has recorded a notable Ornstein solo disc on Hyperion, is ideal, while the outstanding Pacifica Quartet partners him with confidence, colour and clarity.

Ornstein’s String Quartet No.2 (c.1929) is a more orderly affair. Strings are treated more independently than in the Quintet,and the lower instruments are given solos. The Pacifica Quartet emphasizes the work’s lyrical beauty with well-shaped melodic gestures and sensitive playing of accompanying parts, which through Ornstein’s variety of chord spacings, registers and rhythmic patterns become just as interesting as his melodies.

02 Harley SpinSpin – like a ragged flock
James Harley; Ellen Waterman
Independent ADAPPS 15001(jamesharleymusic.com)

Review

Spin is a highly original disc created by composer James Harley and performer Ellen Waterman, combining electroacoustic composition, improvisation and spatialized sound. Harley provides the electroacoustics, processing, sound diffusion and theremin playing, while Waterman performs on an array of flutes and provides vocal elements. To demonstrate their improvisational creative process, they have included two versions of two different pieces. The first two tracks, Birding I and II, intermingle a wide range of bird and flute calls, creating hints of an intimate human-nature dialogue before cascading into more complex dissonant textures.

The second two tracks, Fluting I and II, create a sonic environment that puts the listener within a field of multiple flute voices, particularly evident when listening in the 5.1 surround sound format, a major feature of this recording. Sound diffusion is the art of moving the sound sources amongst multiple speakers. In listening to all six pieces, I observed a different-than-usual approach to diffusion. Rather than sounds dispersed individually in different spatial locations, I experienced a melded aesthetic, much like being in a reverberant space with the combined sound coming from all directions. Creating contrast between different locations in the space was, however, utilized in unique ways – to split up the layers of a dissonant chord, or to highlight glissandi moving between front and back. Spin creates a unique aural experience, providing several touchstones highlighting our relationship with nature. Although primarily a surround-sound DVD without a CD layer, the disc includes stereo files that can be downloaded to a computer or iPod.

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