…tell the old story for our modern times. Find the beginning.
-Homer, The Odyssey (Emily Wilson translation)
When I first got the email notice of this concert, I was, to say the least, intrigued. A two piano concert at Littlefield Concert Hall on the campus of Mills College featuring two composer/performers who figured prominently in that Temple of new music and in my personal listening life. Alas, I live some 350 miles from that location. But further intrigue came from the featured artists: Sarah Cahill and Joseph Kubera, two of the finest working new music pianists anywhere and both worked with the evening’s composers. This was just too compelling and I decided that I would regret missing this if I failed to go hear it.
So it was, I planned my little odyssey, leaving at about 9AM from Santa Barbara on a nice lightly trafficked trip, more a pilgrimage than an odyssey. A pilgrimage, frequently defined as a personal spiritual journey ostensibly in search of insight or enlightenment is how I’ve come to identify my listener’s adventure to the secular temple of Mills College featuring music of former Mills faculty Robert Ashley (1930-2014) and Robert Sheff (1945-2020), better known by his stage name, “Blue Gene Tyrrany”.
Robert Ashley (copyright unknown)
“Bob and Blue” (copyright by Other Minds)
The two featured composers had a strong connection to the Bay Area, mostly via their work at Mills College. This intelligent but modest production left little room to print program notes so the performers spoke of the music at various points during the concert and the excellent liner notes were made available by a QR code in the program book.
Sarah Cahill, pianist, radio host, producer, tireless advocate for new music (photo copyright by Other Minds)
Joseph Kubera, pianist, member of the SEM ensemble, Downtown Music, and countless collaborations promoting new music with many fine recordings to his name. (Photo copyright by Other Minds)
Our two performers are no strangers to each other or the composers on the program, having collaborated on numerous performances and recordings. The well rehearsed duo turned in riveting performances of this largely unknown repertoire which made a strong case that it be better known. Their playing and choice of repertoire compelled this listener’s attention such that I forgot to take all but a few performance shots. See those program notes for further biographical info on these two fine musical celebrants.
Entrance to Littlefield Concert Hall (copyright by author)
Mills College has long been a temple, a Mecca for new music in the Bay Area of California. Its roster of faculty and students comprises some of the finest post 1945 composers and performers. Darius Milhaud (1892-1974) and Luciano Berio (1925-2003) and students as diverse as Terry Riley (1935- ), Steve Reich (1936- ), and Dave Brubeck (1920-2012) to name but a few. Many artistic spirits musical and otherwise, exert their presence here. It’s a perfect destination for a pilgrimage.
A bust of frequent Mills visitor Lou Silver Harrison (1917-2003) in the lobby, a persistent benevolent spirit. (photo copright by author)
The concert was organized by Charles Amirkhanian and his Other Minds organization, another guiding light in the San Francisco/Oakland new music scene. Pianists Sarah Cahill and Joseph Kubera were to be the celebrants in the concert ritual paying homage to “Bob and Blue” as well as to the oracular Mills College.
Scene from the lobby (photo copyright by author)
Let me tell you about this concert hall. It is the work of legendary California architect Julia Morgan (1872-1957) who famously also worked on Hearst Castle. This is one of her several architectural gems on campus. Her spirit was also witness to this celebration by virtue of her fine architecture.
Stage at Littlefield Hall showing the ornate, colorful detailed designs (photo copyright by the author)
Look at that ceiling and those chandeliers (photo copyright by the author)
Two pianos, a new Steinway stage left and a slightly worn Baldwin stage right were placed such that the pianists seated at their respective keyboards could see each other. The Steinway with its lid open to reflect the sound to the audience and that well worn Baldwin with no lid at all (for reasons to be revealed later). The sonics of the hall and tuning of those pianos were excellent.
Unseen Worlds’ wonderful survey of Blue’s ensemble works.
The concert opened with Blue Gene Tyrrany’s peaen to old Route 66 in his “Decertified Highway of Dreams” (1999) for two pianos. It was clear from this first selection, that our performers were well rehearsed and in sync despite rhythmic complexities inherent in this quite beautiful work. It is cinematic and sweetly nostalgic, a fine example of “Blue”’s genius. The performance was riveting and worthy as the first performance ritual of the evening.
This was followed by a real rarity, a performance of Robert Ashley’s Piano Sonata (1959, 1979, 1985). In fact, it appears to have been the first complete performance of the two piano version of this impressive serially structured piece. Previous recordings are available, one with the composer performing the first movement at the ONCE Festival from 1966, the other by Blue Gene Tyrrany on his album, “Just for the Record”. This writer also found some useful analysis by musicologist Kyle Gann on his website. Gann worked with Ashley and later published a fine survey of Ashley’s music that is well worth your time. The result was a convincing, almost romantic sounding performance of this foundational work in Ashley’s oeuvre.
This was followed by a solo rendition by Joe Kubera of Tyrrany’s “The Drifter” (1994), which was written for Mr. Kubera. He spoke briefly about the structure of this work (which he also recorded on his recent “Horizons” album). This piece has a meandering quality created by the intricate evolving structure. Kubera’s performance was hypnotic and a fine tribute.
The second half began with Ms. Cahill solo at that stage left Steinway playing first Tyranny’s “Nocturne With and Without Memory” (1989), one of his better known works. Then she played his “Spirit” (1996/2002), a piece that is a sort of homage to the experimental composer/performer Henry Cowell (1897-1965). It was rather unusual in that it involved harmonics over which the pianist plays. The title is an homage to Cowell’s famous piano piece, “The Banshee”, a malevolent spirit in Irish mythology. Both were vintage Blue Gene pieces.
Two pianists, one piano.
Then Kubera returned, taking a seat at the blemished Baldwin with Cahill standing at that same piano, at a 90 degree angle to Kubera. Here, in these two obscure Ashley pieces, Viva’s Boy (1991), and “Details” (2b, 1962), Cahill played like a chef at a chef’s table, playing the strings inside the piano while Kubera manned the keyboard. These true rarities getting perhaps their first performance, were certainly a highlight of the concert.
It was Blue Gene Tyrrany’s spirit that was the final ritual celebration on this magical night with both pianists at their respective pianos to give a heartfelt reading of his, “A Letter From Home” (2002). This brought this learned, well rehearsed, beautifully collaborative evening’s ritual to a satisfying close.
The modest, self selected audience, applauded warmly and gave an extended, much deserved ovation and seemed as enthralled as this listener whose musico-spiritual pilgrimage found an ecstatic height. I drove home that same night, blessedly lifted, if only briefly, from the chaos of the world by this wonderful artistic ritual. They will now take this great program to New York.
Chandos is one of my favorite classical labels with an intelligent selection of repertoire. The Neave Trio consisting of violinist Anna Williams, cellist Mikhail Veselov, and pianist Eri Nakamura is clearly a fit for Chandos. This trio’s releases have been consistently interesting and creative. This most recent release is a perfect example.
The recording includes three works by three composers (and a brilliant arranger) for piano trio. The first is by the venerable Brahmsian Charles-Camille Saint-Saens, his second Piano Trio Op. 92 (1892). I am not familiar with the chamber music portion of this prolific, virtuoso pianist/composer’s oeuvre but I’ve yet to have heard anything by him that failed to impress. Indeed, this 5 movement trio is a gloriously engaging fin de siècle salon music. Cast in 5 movements, it is a handsome piece of chamber music that deserves more hearings. And The Neave Trio clearly make a case for that in a lively execution of this virtuosic music.
The next work is a fine example of the curiosity and vision of these artists. These two movements for piano trio entitled “Soir-Matin” Op. 76 (1907) are by a composer wholly unknown, even to your eclectically curious reviewer. Mélanie Hélène“Mel” Bonis(1858-1937) is a new name to this listener and likely to most listeners. The lack of recognition of female composers is slowly being remedied by artists such as these who have here found a composer whose reputation deserves at least a little boost. I mean, she was a student of Cesar Franck and her music was lauded by no less than Saint-Saens. She was also a classmate of Debussy at the Paris Conservatoire. And this leads us to…
As if these first two entries alone weren’t enough to recommend this fine release, behold the ear opening arrangement (yes, for piano trio) of the masterful La Mer (1905) by Claude Debussy. The arrangement is by one Sally Beamish from 2013.
As a listener, I have frequently been amazed by the power of the long tradition of “arrangements” of music generally better known in a different form. Some use reduced forces to allow music to be performed more affordably (chamber ensemble vs. orchestra). Take Maurice Ravel’s brilliant orchestration of Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition”, or the two piano arrangement of Igor Stravinsky’s seminal “Rite of Spring” ballet (1913) as examples. Comparatively few people even know that Pictures at an Exhibition was originally a solo piano piece. But both versions each have their charms, and each communicate the musical message differently. And though audiences are doubtless more familiar with the colorful orchestral original, The Rite of Spring, reduced to the work of four busy hands on two keyboards is a more portable experience. Especially before the flourishing of the recording industry, it made this music accessible to more listeners at less cost (2 musicians instead of a whole orchestra).
In both cases, the one vastly and gloriously expanding the evoked pictures described in sound, the other compacting a big orchestral tapestry into a more intimate “salon” experience. Each carries its own message and provides its own insights.
And it is here in the last three tracks of this fine album that we hear the ultimate glory, the real reason you want to add this disc to your collection. I have not heard any but the original orchestration (requiring an orchestra of some 60 musicians) of this French impressionist masterpiece. I could not imagine how one could squeeze these fully orchestrated harmonies and have that make sense to a listener using but three instruments. But the Neaves (if I may mint a friendly collective noun), with this arrangement by Beamish, provided this listener with a revelatory experience comparable to Joshua Rifkin’s brilliant arrangement of Joni Mitchell’s “Clouds” sung by the equally brilliant Judy Collins. Or, even more eclectic, the Anton Webern orchestration of the J.S. Bach Ricercar from his Musical Offering. The point here is that great performances of great arrangements have the effect of opening your ears and mind.
So let the “The Neaves” open your ears and mind with this delightfully unusual and very effective recording.
An overflow crowd packed the lovely auditorium at Berkeley’s David Brower Center this past January 19th. Octogenarians (and younger folks as well) populated both stage and audience in a show of appreciation for a man whose work as music director of KPFA (1969- 1992) and subsequently as an arts promoter and curator of new music in California’s Bay Area continues to enhance the artistic reputation of the Bay Area.
A rare and exciting aspect of this evening were the rare opportunities to hear Charles’ music, including representative sound poetry classics and a recent major opus capped off by a world premiere of a new work.
The hands of the artist. Photo by Allan J. Cronin
The genuine affection, appreciation, and respect was palpable as the honored guest demonstrated his skill at hosting when a couple of technical glitches slowed (but did not stop) the amiable birthday celebration. The audience waited calmly and quietly.
Both the guest of honor and the host (Liam Herb) used a well honed, self effacing humor used most skillfully to entertain the sympathetic audience while the technical difficulties were surmounted in real time.
Panel discussion featuring (left to right) Susan Stone, Anthony Gnazzo, Paul Dresher, Charles Amirkhanian, Sarah Cahill, and Liam Herb (Photo by Allan J. Cronin, Creative Commons license)
Herb, a composer and performer, introduced himself in the midst of the technical resolutions, graciously announcing that, as producer, he accepts responsibility for the glitches. Charles maintained his familiar master of ceremonies crowd pleasing good humor as Herb worked goodnauturedly (if that’s a word) with the rest of the crew to resolve the issues and get on with the show.
The formal opening remarks were given by Other Minds’ associate director, Blaine Todd. And the evening began in force.
Blaine Todd (photo by Allan J. Cronin, Creative Commons license)
The program glided past the initial hiccup to present a film about our guest of honor. The bevy of fans and bona fide new music professionals sat with rapt attention as the film, featuring the familiar faces of several “Bang on a Can” artists.
The late great Robert Black interviewed by Amirkhanian in the streaming premiere of Audible Autopsy. (Photo of film appearance by Allan J. Cronin)
Excerpts from the 2015 Other Minds 20 documentary featured Julia Wolfe, David Lang, and Peter Gordon (now, it seems elder statesmen (and women) in their own right.
Production manager Liam Herb then served as moderator for a conversation or live interview (with Amirkhanian) for the next segment. This was followed by some videos with music by the guest of honor:
Real Time/T.V. Time Video with Amirkhanian’s “Muchrooms”
The film, presented in its entirety was accompanied by “Muchrooms”, from the CD recording of that standalone work.
Next was Amirkhanian’s and Carol Law’s classic collaboration: History of Collage (1981). This is a major work and a great collaboration with his partner in life and arts. I’m pleased to add my own shot from the performance at the Other Minds 23 experience, my favorite OM festival(so far).
History of Collage (1981) photo by Allan J. Cronin taken at the Other Minds 23 wonderful live performance of this work (Photo by Allan J. Cronin is Creative Commons license 2015)
We also heard and saw Audience (1978) with photography by Law and music/poetry by Amirkhanian followed by Chairs with photography by James Petrillo and music/poetry by Amirkhanian (excerpts from Seat Belt, Seat Belt (1973).
There followed a panel discussion led by Carol Law with Betsy Davids discussing David’s’ work and her connections via her work as a book artist. These two embody the experimental visual arts that characterize the skills of these fellow artists both onstage and off tonight. In fact, interactive collaboration and both respect and friendship were everywhere to be seen in this warm and pleasantly nostalgic evening.
Carol Law speaking with Betsy Davids (Photo by Allan J. Cronin, Creative Commons license)
This was followed by a recording of a major opus, Ratchet Attach It (2021) recently played at one of the (still ongoing) Other Minds Festival. This work is a major opus by Mr. Amirkhanian, one I’m pleased to say I heard live at the Chinese Theater in San Francisco a few years ago. Scored for a huge percussion ensemble, with audio recordings, and a conductor who moves between the podium and a space among the performers playing with the ensemble. It is perhaps one of his most integrated and evolved compositions. Stunning to hear it live. Glad to hear the (always too short) excerpts.
In fact Mr. Amirkhanian, a fixture in the arts of the Bay Area, continues to influence musical taste and present new and interesting music as he has for well over 50 years. His work as Executive Director of Other Minds includes the fabulous OM Records as well as the annual Other Minds Festival and a continual flow of carefully curated concert events by luminaries (or soon to be luminaries) throughout the Bay Area and beyond. There is also the huge archive of thousands of hours of interviews and concerts that are available in streaming audio and video via the Other Minds website.
Many of the artists featured in the Other Minds concert series continue to work, innovate, and expand musical concepts. An Other Minds commission, Henry Brant’s Organ Concerto, Ice Field, earned him a Pulitzer Prize. Many have gone on to greater achievements in their respective careers. Of course not every composer started their musical careers at Other Minds concerts. Many mid or late career musicians have joyfully been represented over the years. Its one of those festivals that innovative musicians seek to participate.
Such achievements reflect on Amirkhanian’s leadership and curatorial acumen, but more importantly his relationships with his fellow artists. Charles has earned a reputation for his support and his collaborative nature. Arguably, everyone in the house (and the overflow in the lobby) all have a degree of connection to Charles and his guests. It is why we’re all here tonight.
Charles Amirkhanian and Joseph Bohigian performing with Liam Herb’s electronics (Photo by Allan J. Cronin, Creative Commons license)
Following a brief intermission we were treated to a world premiere of a new work by our guest of honor, Noose Ratchet (2025) for two percussionists and electronics. Amirkhanian performing and/or promoting his own music is a relatively rare event and this alone was certainly worth the trip.
The work is arguably a trio for two percussionists playing ratchets, a curious instrument whose sound, if not entirely ubiquitous, is familiar. And the two play interactively with the electronics (the third member of the trio). Extended techniques and other duties get assigned (when in doubt it’s responsibility of the percussion section, right)?
There followed a lively and friendly panel discussion amongst frequent and past collaborators Susan Stone, Anthony Gnazzo, Paul Dresher, Sarah Cahill, and Liam Herb. This truly felt like a gathering of friends.
By whom? This is latest release in this fascinating series that seeks to record music that has been neglected. Music in Exile shares a kinship with Decca’s “Entartete Musik” (Degenerate Music) series, among others. That series focused on music and composers judged inferior by the leaders of the Third Reich. Their suppression of music paralleled their suppression of visual art which suppressed works purported to be “degenerate” and presumably toxic to their political goals. That meant, in the case of music, essentially two categories. The largest is the suppression of Jewish composers (regardless of style and/or content) and also musical modernism that the regime did not understand. Similar suppression occurred under Stalin in Russia.
But Music in Exile casts a wider net. One does not need a totalitarian regime to cause suppression. Economic and performance opportunities are mediated by many factors and music gets neglected for many reasons, some far less onerous than directed political oppression. This music which was composed for general performance has no overt political agenda, rather it is the victim of political and economic agendas.
That, in a nutshell, is the essence of the choices of repertoire that ARC (Artists of the Royal Conservatory) director, Simon Wynberg makes to create this fascinating and historically significant recording project. Of course neither suppression nor neglect confer values by themselves. I mean, the thrill of finding a major masterpiece is certainly the driving force but, even if these recordings ultimately only fill the gaps in the list of historical recordings, the opportunity for listeners to hear them is the point here. That said, I am appending a list of this ensemble’s discography (kindly supplied by promotional staff) thus far:
ARC ENSEMBLE DISCOGRAPHY
On the Threshold of Hope, Mieczyslaw Weinberg Chamber Music (2006) with Richard Margison, tenor RCA Red Seal (Sony) 82876-87769 2 (GRAMMY and JUNO nominations, 2007) Right through the Bone: Julius Röntgen Chamber Music (2007) RCA Red Seal (Sony) 88697-158372 (GRAMMY nomination, 2008) Two Roads to Exile: Walter Braunfels String Quintet, Adolf Busch String Sextet (2010) RCA Red Seal (Sony) 88697-64490 2
Music in Exile: Chamber Works by Paul Ben-Haim (2013) Chandos 10769 Music in Exile: Chamber Works by Jerzy Fitelberg (2015) Chandos 10877 (GRAMMY nomination, 2016) Music in Exile: Chamber Works by Szymon Laks (2017) Chandos 10983 (JUNO nomination, 2018) Music in Exile: Chamber Works by Walter Kaufmann (2020) Chandos 202170 (OPUS Klassik nomination, 2020) Music in Exile: Chamber Works by Dmitri Klebanov (2021) Chandos 20231 (JUNO nomination, 2022) Music in Exile: Chamber Works by Alberto Hemsi (2022) Chandos 20243 (JUNO nomination, 2023) Music in Exile: Chamber Works by Robert Muller-Hartmann (November, 2023) Chandos Records All titles produced by David Frost and engineered by Carl Talbot
Now comes the latest release, all premiere recordings, of chamber music by “Frederick [Friedrich] Block [Bloch]” (1899-1945). This series is a real “feather in the cap” of the wonderful Chandos label whose curatorial choices are always intelligent and wide ranging.
This latest release is another triumph, another unveiling of some truly fine music which, thanks to the passion of researcher/producer Simon Wynberg and the fine musicians of the Toronto Conservatory, are now available in definitive performances lovingly documented in high quality recordings. Even if these works never again have performances or recordings (something this writer doubts), they will have a life heretofore denied them in the lasting medium of recorded sound. In addition to the music, Wynberg pens some profoundly useful program notes that help provide flavor and context to this all but forgotten composer. Wynberg notes that, while Block’s archive was acquired by the New York Public Library and carefully preserved, this recording represents the first serious effort to explore his ultimate legacy. All works are world premiere recordings.
Four works, all but one written in the interwar years (1918-1939), an era in which American composer Aaron Copland suggested that there remain many works which deserve attention. How right he was.
The disc opens with the substantial four movement Piano Trio No. 2 Op. 26 (1930). Frederick Block was not a modernist or innovator but that is not a bad thing. Block was a fan of Gustav Mahler’s music and, as such, a proponent of a similarly post romantic ethic. Here we have a highly entertaining work which is challenging to performers but wonderfully entertaining to audiences.
The first movement signals a post Brahmsian style with highly virtuosic writing and a slightly extended harmonic language just enough to let the listener know that the 19th century has indeed passed.
It is followed by a playful, brief scherzo-like movement followed by a lovely, sometimes mournful adagio and a truly fun last movement deriving inspiration from tango music but still firmly ensconced in classical traditions going back to the classical era of Mozart and Haydn.
It left this listener longing to hear Maestro Block’s first essay in this form (and sparked curiosity about his other unheard music). Perhaps a future release will expand the exploration and documentation of this forgotten master still further.
Next up is String Quartet Op. 23 (1929-30) cast in the classical four movements. Again the harmonic language is just noticeably post romantic (and quite beautiful). It is easy to imagine this work included in a satisfying evening of chamber music. It is melodic and requires significant performance skills but poses little challenge to the engaged listener.
The Suite for Clarinet and Piano Op.73 (1944), written at the height of the Second World War, consists of 5 brief movements (the longest clocks in at just over 3 minutes and the entire suite at just shy of 8 minutes). It is as lively and engaging as imaginable, suggesting no echoes of the still ongoing world war. It is sort of a delightful palate cleanser for the closing work on the disc.
And the closing work is in a form born in the romantic era with Schubert’s “Trout Quintet” (1819) being the shining emblematic work in that genre. Other well known examples include the quintet by Robert Schumann (1842) and that of Johannes Brahms (1864). Now I don’t mean to suggest that Block’s entry in the genre will give these classics serious competition but this 1929 entry would do well in a pairing with one or all of the aforementioned classics.
Block’s Piano Quintet is cast in three movements and is a beautiful example of some of the best post romantic pieces for this chamber grouping. As with the previous works on this recording, this one delights the ear with rich melodic and harmonic gestures that would likely please a chamber music audience.
This disc makes a strong case for further curatorial efforts by Mr. Wynberg and the fine musicians of the Royal Conservatory in Toronto. This is a wonderful release which adds some substantial pieces to the chamber music repertory. It is also, in its way, a strong advocacy of musical art as well as a condemnation of those people and forces which cause the oppression of artistic expression.
In addition to Simon Wynberg’s scholarly curatorial efforts, thanks are due to the following musicians of the Royal Canadian Conservatory: Erica Raum and Marie Bérard, violins; Steven Dann, viola; Tomas Wiebe, cello; Joaquin Valdepeñas, clarinet; and Kevin Ahfat, piano.
If you’re a chamber music fan and/or a supporter of the arts, you owe it to yourself to check this one out. You won’t be disappointed.
İlhan Kemaleddin Mimaroğlu (1926-2012) photo credit unknown, fair use
Portrait of Ahmet M. Ertegun and Nesuhi Ertegun, Turkish Embassy (record room), Washington, D.C., 193- (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It would be difficult to underestimate the impact of Turkish immigrant brothers Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun on the American music industry in the last half of the 20th century with their promotion and production of jazz and rhythm and blues artists. Their lesser known colleague, Ilhan Mimaroglu labored under a slightly different esthetic. In addition to having been involved with the production of many artists’ work on the Atlantic label (including Charles Mingus, Freddie Hubbard, et al) his study of the developing techniques of electronic and tape-based music helped him develop a unique voice as a composer where he worked with electronics, tape, acoustic instruments, musique concrete, and combinations of these media. He was equally skilled in the art of music production and recording and he utilized this knowledge to produce an impressive body of work which deserves to be better known. He also curated the sub label Finnadar to release his own music and that of other artists with similar vision like Anthony Braxton, Frederic Rzewski, Morton Feldman and others.
Mimaroglu wrote a number of works reflecting his political views during the same turbulent years during which Atlantic records shaped the popular soundtrack of the sixties era. Using his knowledge of studio technology in combination with emerging developments in electronic music synthesis he created many purely electronic studies, musique concrete, at least 4 string quartets, solo piano pieces, and more that has yet to be fully catalogued.
First let me clarify the term ‘Agitprop’. This is a hybrid word or ‘portmanteau’ for the terms ‘agitation’ and ‘propaganda’. The word appears to have first been coined and used in conjunction with the Russian Bolshevik revolution and it’s political tactics. The idea was to create a form of propaganda that would not only inform but also encourage action.
This unusual piece, a concatenation of an electronic score, the Freddie Hubbard Quintet, organ, and strings is perhaps his greatest example of Mimaroglu’s brand of political music. It is by no means his only agitprop/ political piece but it may be his finest and one of the best works of this thorny, frequently controversial genre.
The title is a combination of the name of the town (Son My), the location of the My Lai massacre, and the ironic words, “Sing me a song of Songmy”. The collage and non-linear format of the piece actually contains a dizzying mix of concurrent horrors including the Sharon Tate murders and others whose subjects await a comprehensive analysis by a historian and/or a musicologist. The work includes poetry by Fazil Husnu Daglarca, news clippings, etc. Luciano Berio did something similar in his similarly political masterpiece, Sinfonia (1968). That work is rife with musical and textural references subsequently enumerated by the late American composer/musicologist, Alan Stout.
This is also one of the most expensive productions of a mix of evolving musical genres with a strongly controversial and ugly subject. It can stand in comparison to Picasso’s Guernica for its power to provoke. Add the thorny early electronics with the free jazz of Hubbard and the jazz/blues inflected writing, and you have a powerful indictment of war crimes but hardly a best seller. And it is only with the healing of time and the fading of the sting of those memories that this work has begun to be appreciated more fully.
Terry Riley with a t-shirt displaying the entire score of “In C” (photo from Facebook, copyright unknown)
November 4th, 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of the premiere of Terry Riley’s seminal masterpiece, “In C”. After having completed a variety of respectable compositional efforts, Terry Riley (1935- ) was jolted by the Muse to write this defining work that charted a path very different from that of the western classical mold of the composer’s formal education. It premiered in the very unconventional venue of a house in San Francisco, not in an auditorium designed for concerts. And it’s one of those pieces that now marks the transition from almost purely experimental writing to a style later dubbed “minimalism” (though many composers whose music is subsumed under this title eschew it in varying degrees). And whether you call it minimalism, trance music, drone, etc., the style would come to dominate a huge portion of concert works and recordings.
The score consists of 53 short musical phrases with no specified instrumentation and with no conductor’s score, just parts with a seemingly simple set of instructions. One page is what one might expect of a sketch of a larger work to be, not a complete score but, that’s it, One page with the instruction for the musician to repeat each cell or phrase ad libitum and then move on to the next. It was ostensibly the suggestion of composer/performer Steve Reich to have a pianist play eighth note repetitions of the top two highest octaves on the keyboard. In addition to this “click track” like strategy, the playing of those high “C”s also serves to anchor the tonality much as continuo does in that quasi improvisational baroque practice.
There is simply no finer account and analysis of this music than that of Robert Carl’s “In C”. Robert Carl (1954- ) is a teacher, composer, performer, and musicologist. I do not presume to have as extensive an analysis as he does but I’m interested here in providing a celebratory perspective from where I sit (and have been seated).
This music (as does all art) stands in a context with concurrent and recent events surrounding its conception and performance. Temporally it stands along with other notable compositions from 1964: Witold Lutoslawski- String Quartet, John Coltrane (admittedly one of Riley’s influences)- the albums, “Bessie’s Blues” and “Lonnie’s Lament”, Igor Stravinsky- Elegy for JFK and Variations in Memoriam Aldous Huxley (both men died on November 23rd, 1963), Roger Sessions- Symphony No. 5 and his opera, “Montezuma”, Milton Babbitt- Philomel, Karlheinz Stockhausen- Mixtur, Ben Johnston- Sonata for Microtonal Piano, Luciano Berio- Folksongs (written and premiered at Mills College, the later home of the Tape Music Center where Berio was teaching then), Olivier Messiaen- Et Expecto Ressurectionem Mortuorum, Iannis Xenakis- Eonta, and La Monte Young- (the first iteration of his masterpiece), The Well Tuned Piano.
My little list here is just a sampling of the western classical and jazz works that graced the natal year of “In C”. Admittedly, it is a cornucopia of some more experimental, some less so music that lie in this historical orbit. But, among the works in this list, it is the work of John Coltrane and La Monte Young that shares musical DNA with Riley’s aesthetic in this music. The other works contemporary mentioned represent a sort of “Garden of Forking Paths“ to a panoply of styles very different from the work at hand.
At a time when the style of American pop music had just recently met The Beatles, this work was a sort of coalescence of experiments done by La Monte Young, Steve Reich, and others. “In C” seems to have come out fully formed in its way. It was seemingly influenced by pop, jazz, and blues (whose use of repetition is endemic). 60 years later it is performed frequently and there exists at least 40 or so recordings of the work.
When I began writing this article I realized that Robert Carl’s book on this work fully covers the history and provides a definitive analysis to which I cannot contribute anything additionally useful. I then considered eliciting commentary from musicians and listeners about this music but found little interest because that has been well covered by several previous anniversary essays. So I decided to share a discography and photos of some the recordings I could find that have given me further insights into this touchstone work.
This discography is not comprehensive but my intent here is to celebrate this anniversary with the cover artwork that adorns the ever increasing documenting of this landmark of western art music. I will present what I believe is a representative selection of some 40+ versions.
Your humble author was 8 at the time of this work’s premiere. And my first hearing of ‘In C’ was in 1976 when my local radio station, the great WFMT in Chicago, aired a program curated by Raymond Wilding-White, a composer and professor of music at De Paul University. His task was to present representative works of American music, one for each day of the nation’s bicentennial year. ‘in C’ was one of them.
Since then I have heard many interpretations of this work. The original performance was at 321 Divisadero Street in San Francisco, California on November 4th, 1964. The original performers were: Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Jon Gibson, Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster, Morton Subotnick, Warner Jepson, Tony Martin, William Maginnis, and Ramon Sender (who celebrated his 90th birthday this past week). This venue was the second and last home of the San Francisco Tape Music Center before it relocated and was renamed The Mills College Center for Contemporary Music in 1966 in Oakland.
Here, with brief commentaries, are my favorites. There are at least 38 versions according to the Wikipedia article. Here are my personal favorites in chronological order of release date:
The original Columbia Records release (1968)
If you only have one recording this is probably the one you want. Recorded in 1968, this brought the work effectively to a wide audience via international distribution. The instrumentation (some overdubbed) includes: saxophone, oboe, bassoon, trumpet, clarinet, flute, viola, trombone, vibraphone, marimbaphone.
Riley with the Chinese Film Orchestra (1989)
This important recording was made in China around the time of the Tiananmen Square uprising and the tapes were in effect smuggled out of the country in the aftermath of that incident. It stands as a fascinating document of eastern musicians encountering and interpreting this masterpiece.
The 25th anniversary release on New Albion (1990)
Don’t you just love anniversaries? By the time of this release (1989), this work had been disseminated into wide geographic regions and cultures. This version includes many of the musicians who premiered the work and this “traditional” reading is a loving homage to Riley’s work.
The Bang on a Can release (1998)
The Bang on a Can All Stars are among the finest ambassadors of new music. They have earned the right to put their stamp on any new work they choose and subsequently bring it anew to another generation of listeners.
Prog Rock does homage to Terry Riley (2001)
If you want to hear the wide range of musicians who have chosen to pay homage to this work this is a fine place to start.
The Africa Express release (2015)
Another fine example of the way this work can sound from a Central African perspective. This performance from Mali is absolutely electrifying.
Another fine culturally tinged version (2017)
This album is a personal favorite from the Brooklyn based collective featuring instruments from Hindustani traditions and others alongside western instruments. You can read my enthusiastic review here.
There are probably at least 50 recordings of this work. Some are private, maybe even bootleg versions. Clearly this work continues to become more and more essential and influential piece of music. It is not unlike a musical version of the Iconic monolith from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. The anomalous structure was of alien origin and was purported to accelerate the evolution of species who encounter it.
Riley’s work is most .definitely of terrestrial origin (well, San Francisco anyway) but, clearly this work continues to intrigue musicians worldwide and has arguably influenced the development of music itself.
A landmark set of recordings of Schoenberg’s chamber music for strings
The Juilliard Quartet, founded in 1946 by composer William Schuman (1910-1992) is a highly respected and justly lauded ensemble. This fine CD set includes two complete cycles of Arnold Schoenberg’s String Quartets. It also includes the composer’s too little known String Trio of 1945 and a ravishing string sextet version of Verklärte Nacht. This 7 CD set documents a bit of recording history as well, offering the original mono recordings of his numbered string quartets alongside the Grammy winning (Steven Epstein, producer) 1978 stereo recording (which also included an early unnumbered string quartet in D major).
I grew up expanding my musical horizons with that 1978 release, offered here for the first time on CD format. But the present box set was my first hearing of the 1951 mono recordings of the numbered quartets.
I would venture a guess that most listeners, even those drawn to the sorts of modernism that characterizes my blog reviews, probably own no more than one set of the Schoenberg String Quartets. They just don’t seem to get the same love that other modernists like Bartok, Ravel, Debussy, and maybe even Elliott Carter get from fans of new music. (All of these composers, by the way, have had their quartets recorded by the Julliard Quartet). But hearing two readings across just over a thirty year span by two different generations of this iconic ensemble does much to suggest that Arnold deserves at least another reckoning and perhaps an elevation of his reputation as a brilliant musical mind. It is also a fine testament to the enduring creative interpretive skills in the various generations who have been The Julliard String Quartet.
For that reason alone (the inclusion of those 1951 recordings), discerning listeners will want to own this wonderful set. The production is itself a work of homage and respect with some lovely nostalgia inducing reproductions of the original cover art. And the photographic image of a vinyl record that adorns several CD helps set that tone, one which virtually screams “COLLECTOR’S ITEM”.
I fell in love when I opened the box
The Juilliards have helped identify and characterize the whole of string quartet literature much as the Guarneri Quartet, the Arditti, Kronos, etc. have. Having a work performed and recorded by any of these (to name but a few performers) virtually assures the accepted work a place in the actively performed canon of concert works. It is a stamp of authenticity.
The Quartets span most of the creative span of the composer’s career. That early D Major Quartet (1897), First Quartet (1905), and the Second Quartet (1908) were written before his 12 tone method had been fully developed. We hear the 12 tone method in the Third and Fourth Quartets and the Trio.
That Second Quartet is apparently the first time a soprano had been used as an adjunct to the ensemble. Uta Graf sings in the 1951 recording and Benita Valente in the 1975 cycle. The text (curiously not included in the otherwise delightful and intelligent notes) are by poet Stefan George (1868-1933). I include them here in English for interested listeners:
Rapture I feel air from another planet. The faces that once turned to me in friendship Pale in the darkness before me.
And trees and paths that I once loved fade away So that I scarcely recognize them, and you bright Beloved shadow—summoner of my anguish—
Are now extinguished completely in deeper flames In order, after the frenzy of warring confusion, To reappear in a pious display of awe.
I lose myself in tones, circling, weaving, With unfathomable thanks and unnamable praise; Bereft of desire, I surrender myself to the great breath.
A tempestuous wind overwhelms me In the ecstasy of consecration where the fervent cries Of women praying in the dust implore:
Then I see a filmy mist rising In a sun-filled, open expanse That includes only the farthest mountain retreats.
The land looks white and smooth like whey. I climb over enormous ravines. I feel like I am swimming above the furthest cloud
In a sea of crystal radiance— I am only a spark of the holy fire I am only a whisper of the holy voice.
Litany Deep is the sadness that gloomily comes over me, Again I step, Lord, in your house.
Long was the journey, my limbs are weary, The shrines are empty, only anguish is full.
My thirsty tongue desires wine. The battle was hard, my arm is stiff.
Grudge peace to my staggering steps, for my hungry gums break your bread!
Weak is my breath, calling the dream, my hands are hollow, my mouth fevers.
Lend your coolness, douse the fires, rub out hope, send the light!
Still active flames are glowing inside my heart; in my deepest insides a cry awakens.
Kill the longing, close the wound! Take love away from me, and give me your happiness!
Schoenberg said he had been inspired by the poetry to compose these angular, expressionistic melodies. The poetry, like the music reflects tenor of the times.
In addition to the quartet cycles, this set is intelligently filled out by the inclusion of the string sextet version of the 1899 Verklärte Nacht. Here the Julliards (consisting of Robert Mann and Joel Smirnoff, violins; Samuel Rhodes, viola; Joel Krosnick, cello) are augmented by two exceptionally worthy soloists, Yo Yo Ma on cello and Walter Trampler on viola. It is followed on the disc with a powerful reading of the masterful String Trio from 1946. It is an illustration of the historical development of the composer over that 44 year period. I listened casually the first time but more carefully in subsequent hearings as the disc moved from the last track division of Verklärte Nacht to the first of the Trio finding this to be a lucid illustration of the composer’s seemingly natural development from post Wagnerian harmonies of fin de siecle Transfigured Night to those of the now fully developed 12 tone compositional method so beautifully integrated in the post war String Trio (played here by Robert Mann, Samuel Rhodes, and Joel Krosnick).
I used the term “post war” in my previous paragraph as a convenient segue to the last piece in this collection. The Trio is offered in a 1965-6 recording (stereo) played by Robert Mann, Rafael Hillyer, and Claus Adam. It is followed by the anti fascist “Ode to Napoleon Bonaparte” from 1942, a setting of a text by Lord Byron. Here the Julliards are joined by Glenn Gould on piano and speaker John Horton. It is one of Schoenberg’s politically tinged works. It has much in common with A Survivor from Warsaw (1947) and Schoenberg can only really be understood in the context of his turbulent times.
Perhaps there’s a parallel to our turbulent present. Maybe Schoenberg can be better understood if his listeners have experienced a certain amount of existential angst. We certainly have a lot of that. But, ultimately, this box set is a cause for joy and even optimism. It is a loving document of compositional, performance, and recording excellence.
After agonizing about writing a “best of” blog and publishing it before January 1, I decided to take a pause and enjoy the holidays. So here I look back on my 2023 in the rear view mirror but with memories still pretty fresh.
Regular readers of this blog likely already know of my oft shared opinion of the superfluous nature of “best of” lists and of my acquiescence in producing such on an annual basis. I certainly don’t think of this as a meaningless exercise and I think the process has grown on me. It is a chance to achieve a perspective which would be missed by simply plowing on ahead with the usual flow of reviews and articles. But drawing down that 12 month perspective is an opportunity to evaluate those months, to see where we’ve been and to hopefully get a smidgen of insight into where I/we are likely headed.
My Facebook friends will recognize the representative meme at the head of this article which is one of the more cloying aspects of “AI”, whatever that is. So indulge me for a moment to look at this seemingly new intrusion into the reality we thought we knew. So, what is “AI” and what will it do to us? Ultimately I’m not the one to answer that question but I’d like to throw some ideas to add to the speculation.
First, the choices a composer makes, like the choices of a painter, a writer, etc. are the stuff of the mystery of creation itself. Why “A major”, or why that tuning, or scale, or rhythm, or orchestration, etc? So along comes the notion of removing, or at least distancing, the artist from their creative product. That notion started not with famed proponent John Cage but rather with Johannes Chrysostymous Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in his K. 516f musical dice game. Voila! Algorithmic composition (actually fairly common practice in the classical era). An early manifestation of “AI”? Perhaps.
Lejaren Hiller (1924-1994) was the first composer to employ electronic data processing in a musical work in his Fourth String Quartet subtitled “Iliac Suite” in 1957. There followed similar experiments with various iterations of electronic creations at music centers worldwide including The University of Illinois at Champaign, Columbia-Princeton, Stanford, The University of California Berkeley and San Diego, The San Francisco Tape Music Center (later subsumed into the Mills College Center for Contemporary Music, IRCAM in Paris, Israel Electronic Music Studio, and counterparts in the Nordic countries, Germany, Belgium, etc. Proto “AI”?
While historically interesting I raise this issue to say that, as far as I can tell, “AI” has not made this writer’s greatest hits list but it is interesting and maybe even useful. With that, my concern for the subject officially goes to the back burner for a later time.
2023 has been a year of great personal changes for the writer of this blog. A job change, a geographical relocation, and many things unrelated to this blog characterized a busy year for New Music Buff. So here in a sort of holiday tradition I present my “Best of 2023” from my little listener’s corner of the world. For the sake of simplicity I present a more or less chronological exposition of my sonic adventures. (N.B. Not one portion of this article made use of “AI”).
I begin with not with my 20 most read posts, a practice that characterized previous iterations of this annual exercise. Instead I am providing my top 20 favorite releases that were reviewed in 2023. Please note a couple of caveats. First, I receive a lot of review requests, more than I can even listen to, much less give a reasonably intelligent review. Albums that I’ve not reviewed should not be assumed to be bad or insignificant and my reviews are personal observations. I really only review albums that interest me anyway. Second, this article is only one reviewer’s opinion and not intended to be definitive or to supersede anyone else’s opinions. Third, this is not the end of my attention to music that was released in 2023. Some releases require more time to give a fair listen and a respectful review. There are more to come in 2024.
First a few stats: 2023 saw the publication of some 45 blog posts on New Music Buff, earning me 9693 views for the year. I rarely get comments on my posts (though I welcome and invite comments both positive and negative). Not bad, I think, for the overall less appreciated musical styles that fuel my desire to write about.
Now, in chronological order (of publication) are my personal favorites as a listener:
Neuma 158
Binaural Beats in the Tudor Rainforeststarted my new year with a bang. Reviewing this disc required me to take a closer look at the astounding work of David Tudor and his unique contributions to new music. This important release is a recording of a work which, by its own concept cannot receive a “definitive” performance. But this recording comes mighty close, involving “binaural” recording utilizing a mobile set of binaural microphones which are worn by the recordist. In addition this recording involved a collaboration with Pauline Oliveros and a group called, “Composers Inside Electronics”. The recording was done during Oliveros’ tenure at UCSD. Rainforest IV is so called because it is the fourth iteration of the instructions that form the original concepts of Tudor’s composition, “Rainforest”. It is an immersive sonic experience heard on headphones but actually not bad even heard on stereo speakers. A rich and wonderful release.
Starkland S-236
From a 1960s electroacoustic to a budding 21st Century composer Kotoka Suzuki released on the reliably interesting and even visionary Starkland label. Next Gen Electroacoustic: Kotoka Suzukiwill introduce the listener to this rising star who doubtless will produce more of her compelling compositions.
Sony 194399434826
Igor Levit is a fine concert pianist whose albums are effectively redefining the way we, as listeners, perceive the western classical oeuvre. Igor Levit: Defining Tristandoes for the various musical pieces inspired by the Tristan legend what Levit did for the concept of the great keyboard variations in which he selected Beethoven’s “Diabelli Variations” and Frederic Rzewski’s “El Pueblo Unido Variations” to join his recording of the Bach “Goldberg Variations” in a 3 disc package placing these three large sets of variations as emblematic of the genre in three different centuries (18th, 19th, and 20th). Levit, by his recorded output, is providing a valuable perspective which may influence repertory choices for years to come.
Levit’s traversal of the Tristan legend here ranges from the second recording of Hans Werner Henze’s too seldom heard “Tristan Preludes” back to works by Wagner (of course) and Liszt. He even slips in his wonderful solo piano transcription of the Adagio of Mahler’s unfinished 10th Symphony into the mix. This is a very compelling Tristan anthology by a deservedly still rising star.
Cantaloupe
This Cantaloupe release by Bang on a Can composer and master clarinetist Evan Ziporyn is both masterful and great fun. Evan Ziporyn: Bang on a Popconsists of transcriptions of “pop” songs for multiple clarinets all played by Ziporyn via his very effective multi-track recordings. The album is very personal and pretty much cliche free with these engaging and insightful transcriptions. It is an homage to the songwriters as well as a showcase for Ziporyn both as composer and as performer.
Microfest MF 23
The Young Person’s Guide to Ben Johnston is an ideal way to introduce listeners to the wonderful world of the late Ben Johnston’s music. Johnston, a student and colleague of Harry Partch shows his compositional skills utilizing non-traditional western tunings in these representative works. Johnston here does for some quasi pop tunes what Evan Ziporyn did with his clarinetist perspective for the tunes on Pop Matters. But Johnston’s pretty, accessible work belies fascinating complexities that don’t actually sound complex to the listener. This disc contains Johnston’s last completed work, “Ashokan Farewell” (which Johnston took to be a public domain folk tune but is in fact a piece written by Jay Ungar). It is paired with the 4th String Quartet (a set of ingenious variations on “Amazing Grace”) from 1982 and the 9th String Quartet of 1997. Profound, lovely to listen to, and a great homage.
DVD OM 4001
This DVD is a major addition to the discography of Charles Amirkhanian’s sound poetry as fine sampling of one aspect of Carol Law’s (Amirkhanian’s life partner) complementary visual art. These collaborations are also important contributions to the visual and performative aspect of these collaborative works. Amirkhanian has been a fine curator and promoter of the work of others but he has rather seldom stepped into the spotlight himself. This quirky genre got some fabulous exposure at the 7 day Other Minds 23 festival in 2018 in which Amirkhanian’s work was presented in the (surprisingly varied) context of sound poetry of the amazing international collection of artists who were hosted at those events. This DVD should be in the collection of anyone interested in new music sound poetry and performance art. It is both entertaining and mind bending featuring a juxtaposition of images and sound reviewed in greater detail in the post “Dyadic Dreams”. But words cannot do justice to these works. You really have to see them.
Cedille CDR 90000 210
Readers of this blog know my fondness for the Chicago based label Cedille and their promotion of Chicago based musicians. This disc stands out in this group’s embrace of non-traditional composers alongside more traditional works. The inclusion of works by DJ composer Jlin and the academy based genre defying duo Flutronics alongside composers like Danny Elfman and Philip Glass demonstrate the wide ranging repertoire of Third Coast Percussion. Much more information can be found in Perspectives: Spectacular World Premiere Recordings from Third Coast Percussionon my blog. This one reimagines the percussion ensemble.
Neuma 176
This disc is a good example of why listeners and collectors should pay attention to the Neuma record label. Philip Blackburn, who had been the very successful curator of Innova records, took over the defunct Neuma label which was founded with the intention of promoting largely electroacoustic music though not exclusively.
Agnese Toniutti‘s New Music Visionis actually a review of two discs by this rising star, a dedicated new music pianist that needs to be on your radar. The other Neuma disc contains Toniutti’s traversal of John Cage’s reluctant masterpiece, “Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano”.
The disc pictured here is Toniutti’s vision beyond the Cage work. This one focuses on mostly living composers Lucia Dlugoszewski, Tan Dun, Philip Corner, and Toniutti’s herself. Basically, if Toniutti plays it, you should probably at least give a listen.
2023 saw the completion of Bay Area pianist Sarah Cahill’s epic survey of piano music by female composers. Cahill is another (predominantly) new music focused pianist about whom I would also assert that, if she plays it, you should probably give at least one listen.
The End of the Beginning: Sarah Cahill’s “The Future is Female” Trilogy Completedwill tell you all you need to know about this trilogy which encompasses about 300 years of music history and sheds light on some fascinating and substantial music written by women. Most of the works on this trilogy of albums are, in fact, world premieres but, fear not, even the pieces which are not premieres are likely not in your collection. This is a brilliant selection of music that effectively throws down the gauntlet to challenge other artists to explore this repertory. This trilogy is a true landmark and a joy to the ears.
This third volume in the wonderful Catalyst Quartet’s survey of another unjustly neglected group of composers focuses on the music of three black Americans of the twentieth century. Catalyzing Blackness, Volume Three: The Catalyst Quartet plays 20th Century music by Black Americans was nominated (but didn’t win) for a Grammy Award and, happily, I’m told that more volumes are in preparation. Again, this music is a pleasant revelation that does for black composers what Sarah Cahill has done for women composers (N.B. The first volume by the Catalyst Quartet focused on the black female composer Florence Price). And here’s hoping that Coleridge Taylor Perkinson, George Walker and William Grant Still will become household names in the concert hall.
Microfest MF 21
Son of Partch, Carrying on a Traditionis a really wonderful disc which, though I reviewed it in exceedingly positive terms, provoked a strongly negative reaction from the artist. The reaction apparently also provoked enough interest to have made this review one of my most read of 2023.
But, aside from the unfortunate negative reaction, I still maintain that this is a fine release worthy of attention from anyone who likes new music, microtonality, and the music of Harry Partch. Cris Forster is a composer, theoretician, and instrument builder clearly descended from the Partch tradition. His work deserves attention and this disc is a very satisfying experience.
Islandia IMR 011
Steven Schick is a master percussionist and conductor. This release is the first volume of his personal choices of solo percussion repertoire. Solo Percussion Manifesto Volume I: Steven Schick’s “A Hard Rain” is a manifesto of sorts and does for solo percussion music what Sarah Cahill has done for women composers and the Catalyst Quartet is doing for black composers. There are not many recordings of solo percussion music and Maestro Schick essentially presents his favorite works in definitive performances on a label produced by Bang on a Can cellist Maya Beiser. The second volume is in my review queue and, if this first volume is any indication, it will be a landmark survey.
Cedille
Rising Star Seth Parker Woods’ “Difficult Grace” is a Classic in the Making. Here’sanother Grammy nominee that did not win but, this second album by this fine American new music cellist is a winner in my book (er, blog). This is actually the audio of what was developed as a staged performance but the music speaks for itself. Keep an eye/ear out for this rising star who, even now, is storming the new music cello scene in invigorating ways.
Neuma 128
A Reason to Listen: Roger Reynolds’ Latest, “For a Reason”,new recordings on Neuma Records. Here we see Neuma following its original electroacoustic mission with this remarkable set in celebration of Roger Reynolds’s 90th year. This is a lavish 2 CD box set with a beautiful booklet and lucid liner notes. It is a worthy production which showcases recent works by this prolific and important American composer.
Readers of this blog likely are aware of my interest in music that is suppressed and/or neglected so this disc grabbed my attention immediately. Israel does a great job of funding the arts and this can be seen in the proliferation of truly fine performers nurtured by that funding. Less well known are the composers who have flourished in the art healthy politics of this country. Some 50 years of history are represented here. This is but a sampling, albeit finely curated, of several generations of composers displaying a plurality of styles with substantial results. This entertaining disc will whet the appetites of intelligent and curious listeners and, hopefully, bring about more recognition of the world class composers who deserve an audience.
Though this was ostensibly Randall Goosby ’s show, the music making was a wonderfully integrated duo with pianist Zhu Wang, These two fine young musicians shared the virtuosic duties that the music in this concert demands. Both are clearly hard working and dedicated artists. Both have technical and interpretive prowess. And they clearly embody a mutual respect for each other.
Pianist Zhu Wang
The music on the program served to demonstrate the duo’s creative selection of music:
Coleridge-Taylor: Suite for Violin and Piano, op. 3 Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, op. 100 (“Thun”) Still: Suite for Violin and Piano Price:Two Fantasies Strauss: Violin Sonata in E-flat Major, op. 18
Curiously, due to this reviewer’s lack of familiarity with the violin and piano repertoire and having written some recent reviews of black composers’ music, the only familiar pieces were two of the three pieces by black composers. Now, overall, this is a marvelously chosen set of pieces that reflect the eclecticism and technical skill of both of these musicians.
The classic Paul Freeman conducted set of music by black composers.
The Brahms was perhaps the most familiar to audiences but the other works were equally substantive and worthy of being heard. It is these rather visionary choices that characterizes this duo as fresh and innovative. In addition their obvious knowledge of the music along with their enthusiasm and affection for it conspired to make for a delightful evening and even nudged this reviewer to try to become more familiar with the violin and piano repertory in general.
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) was a black British composer who has of late had a much needed revival of his music. He was named in honor of the celebrated British poet Samuel Taylor-Coleridge (1772-1834). During his rather brief lifetime, Samuel had been hailed as “the British Mahler but, after his death, his music lay largely fallow until revived by the late, great American black conductor, Paul Freeman (1935-2015). His revelatory series for Columbia records (now Sony) opened listeners’ ears to a fascinating selection of music by black composers internationally.
The Coleridge-Taylor opus 3 Suite for violin and piano (1893) is an early work cast in the high romantic late 19th century style of broad melodies and virtuosic demands. It served as the introduction to an intoxicating evening of (partly) seldom performed works alongside some fairly established works in the repertoire.
The Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) second violin sonata (of three) was written in 1879 and was named “Thun” after the Swiss city where he composed it. The three movements follow the classical fast, slow, fast structure common to this genre.
It is a product of high romanticism and it remains a staple of the repertoire. It, as with most of this composer’s music, is technically challenging for both instrumentalists. It was a fine vehicle to confirm the incredible technical skills of these young artists.
William Grant Still (1895-1978) was one of the finest composers of the early to mid twentieth century. Like Coleridge-Taylor and Florence Price (1887-1953), his music was lauded during his lifetime but was neglected until fairly recently in the aforementioned Black Composers set. These musical choices revealed another aspect of this delightful pair of musicians, that of being essentially musical archeologists uncovering forgotten gems much as Lord Carnarvan’s work availed the world to the marvelous Egyptian art of King Tut’s tomb.
Still’s Suite for Violin and Piano was inspired by three sculptures–Richmond Barthé’s African Dancer, Sargent Johnson’s Mother and Child, and Augusta Savage’s Gamin. Written in 1943, it synthesizes elements of blues, pop, and classical music to create musical description of this ethnically inflected visual art.
Richmond Barthé’s African Dancer
Sargent Claude Johnson’s Mother and Child (ca. 1932)
Augusta Savage’s Gamin
The three movements comprise essentially tone poems based on the visual artwork. It was after the second piece, depicting the Mother and Child sculpture that the spell cast by the duo’s that revealed the “Thrall” of this blog’s title.
Goosby embodies a calm and casual confidence and he let the audience know early on that it is OK to applaud after a single movement if you are so inclined. He has a warmth that put the audience at ease, embracing us in a most genial manner. There is, of course, nothing wrong with musicians who might seem more aloof but Goosby’s warmth was both generous and welcome. However, it became clear that this audience, after hearing that gorgeous second movement so beautifully played, paused in a seemingly hypnotic response to the impassioned performance that captured the beauty of the music. It felt as though we had become collectively and deeply engaged. That is the meaning of “thrall” and that was a beautiful experience that spoke of connections between composer, performers, and audience that represent the pinnacle of the art of chamber music performance. All three movements were wonderfully executed but that moment and the collective reaction was a truly moving experience.
Following a brief intermission we got to hear both of Florence Price’s two Fantasies for Violin and Piano (1933, 1940). Though I’ve become familiar with much of Price’s work (her three surviving symphonies and Goosby’s own reading of her two violin concerti have been released in the last couple of years) I had not heard these fantasies before.
Though written only seven years apart, the works embody distinctively different qualities. Both are certainly “capricious”, embodying a variety of moods, but the second is a bit longer and seemed to reflect the composer’s maturing style. Both works were enjoyable and seemed to please the audience.
This led us to the final work on the program, the Violin and Piano Sonata (1888) by Richard Strauss (1864-1949). Best known for his big orchestral tone poems and his grand operas, this was an early work which has found an audience due to its lyrical and friendly character.
It is cast in three movements, and it was at the end of the slow movement that we again saw/heard a sort of “agreed upon” silence in which the audience seemed to have shared a deep impact from that lovely movement played so passionately. No one applauded as a reverent silence came upon us.
The much busier third movement again presented the virtuosity and broad melodies of high romanticism. And there was applause and, much deserved standing ovations. It was a joy to have heard these talented and hard working musicians in an ecstatic night of chamber music.
Santa Barbara conductor Nir Kabaretti (photo copyright David Bazemore)
It was the day before Passover and all through the lovely acoustics of the Granada Theater, nostalgia was afoot. It came in the form of a Mozart Overture, a Mahler Symphony, and some new music for clarinet, the klezmer clarinet of David Krakauer. (N.B. Klezmer is a style of playing common to the Ashkenazi Jewish communities of Eastern Europe and Russia).
Maestro Kabaretti’s thoughtfully crafted program featured the integration on non-western vernacular (folk) musics into the western classical idiom. The incorporation of an age’s popular music into the newly written concert music of that era is a time honored tradition in music history.
Today’s concert would feature Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s imitation of the exotic music (to Viennese audiences) of Turkish Janissary music in the overture to his opera, “The Abduction from the Seraglio”. The plot consists of a story that involves a Turkish Pasha who has kidnapped the lover of the leading man. (Spoiler: He rescues her).
There was a personal nostalgia in that the first opera recording I bought was the budget LP of the Josef Krips conducted performance of that opera. The overture quotes some of the music of the opera and sets the exotic locale with the imitation of Turkish music.
The relative exoticism of Turkish music was imitated by Mozart in his 5th Violin Concerto, subtitled “Turkish”, as well. Listeners may recall the imitation of Turkish martial music in the finale of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony (just after the cherub stands before God). Mozart’s inclusion of piccolo, triangle, big drum, and cymbals (rarely seen in classical era orchestras) typify the European imitation of this ethnic music.
Mozart’s overture works well as a standalone piece and Kabaretti’s Santa Barbarans stimulated at least this listener’s sense of nostalgia in a beautifully crafted reading of this music. From the familiar opening notes this overture this listener was transported to nostalgic reverie and simultaneously enthralled by the energetic reading of the work. It was a delightful balance of both nostalgia and an opportunity to somehow hear this work anew.
Clarinetist David Krakauer (c)Linus Lintner Fotografie
What followed that delightful overture brought featured performer David Krakauer to the stage for a performance of a new (2018) concerto for klezmer clarinet. But before that, we were treated to what Krakauer described as “an arrangement” of a classic klezmer wedding tune. The affably chatty Krakauer is apparently possessed of a genuine humility here because this was virtually a mini concerto for clarinet and string orchestra whose style had some resemblance to the Mahler Symphony programmed post intermission.
Krakauer is a seriously accomplished musician, composer, musicologist, and teacher. His technical and interpretive skills are of Olympian dimension and his ability to relate to fellow musicians and the audience were a joy to behold. Readers of this blog might recall an earlier review of yet another klezmer concerto also championed by Krakauer. You can read that blog entry here.
The youngest music by the youngest composer on the program was next. Wlad Marhulets (1986- ) is a Polish born and educated composer. His name had been unfamiliar to me but a quick look at his website and a few listens on YouTube revealed this man to be a marvelously skilled and creative composer. Put this man’s name on your listener’s radar.
Doubtless our soloist had some input on the performance of this concerto but Marhulets appears to have an in depth understanding of klezmer performance along with a solid grounding in western classical music and a marvelously nuanced skill at orchestration. This is a substantial concerto and a great addition to the repertory.
Like the Mahler Symphony which would follow in the second half of the concert, Mr. Marhulets demonstrated a range of compositional skills. He can evoke humor, terror, nostalgia, joy. He handles a large orchestra augmented by an electric bass guitar and a drum kit. And he has a subtle but effective sense of orchestral color. The soloist, who has a lot to do, winds in and out of passages that pit his clarinet variously against the full orchestra and in duet pairings, sometimes fleetingly, that suggest images of pub, dance hall, and street concerts. All of these the natural milieu of Klezmer music.
The concerto began loudly, raucously, and assertively. The soloist navigated the complex rhythms and subtle balances of texture as only a master musician can do. Kabaretti and his fine orchestra were clearly up to the significant challenges of this music and clearly enjoyed their labors.
The loud, declarative, opening gave way to a lovely and lyrical slow movement followed by a long and engaging cadenza, sometimes punctuated briefly at times by the orchestra. It then led into a really fun (though hardly trite) finale.
Following a richly deserved standing ovation, Krakauer and the orchestra gifted the audience with an encore. Echoes of klezmer in the many moods evoked by this afternoon’s music making left this listener reflecting on the chaos in our world here, in this beautiful hall, in this beautiful city, on the eve of Passover. I fancy that there is a gentle activism here, one in which the sharing of the beauty of a culture’s esteemed artists (composers and performers) acts as a proud display of some of the best that that culture has to offer. The quality of the music and the music making can’t fix the world’s problems but they can give us hope and joy. Great art elevates the soul. At least that’s what this reviewer felt.
The intermission was needed to replenish listeners’ emotional reserves for the second half. No doubt the musicians needed to recharge as well.
The Mahler First Symphony (1888) triggers more personal nostalgia for two reasons. One, my first Mahler purchase was the Bruno Walter reading of this and the ninth symphony. Second, I will forever associate that first movement depicting dawn in its opening. Astute listeners may recognize television and film composer Alexander Courage’s appropriation of this music in his now iconic theme for the original Star Trek series (which debuted in 1964 when your humble reviewer was 9 years old). I would encounter Mahler some years later.
It is difficult over 100 years after the symphony’s premiere to understand how radical this music seemed to players and listeners. Its Budapest premiere has been described as a disaster mediated by uncooperative musicians in the orchestra and an unsympathetic audience. After his death in 1911, Mahler’s compositional star rose to new heights when the late, great Leonard Bernstein championed his work during his long and fruitful career, even reintroducing Mahler’s music to the Vienna of its beginnings. This is the Vienna where Maestro Kabaretti was trained. And he gets this music deeply.
To be fair, this piece presents many challenges for players and conductors but, when it is well done, it thrills audiences. Maestro Kabaretti and his Santa Barbarans delivered as fine a performance of this symphony that this reviewer has heard. It was positively thrilling and, unlike the musicians who played in the disastrous premiere, the Santa Barbara Symphony clearly enjoyed their hard work and respected their leader.
This was a thrilling and invigorating concert experience. The hometown orchestra put in a world class performance and our esteemed soloist was matched in his expertise by their skills. The nearly full house was most obviously pleased as was this reviewer.
It is the duty of performers to infuse their performance with their nuances of interpretive skills until they (and, hopefully, composer and audience) are satisfied that they are doing justice to the music. When the music at hand challenges established norms and expectations that task becomes quite large. One need only look at the plethora of performances of Terry Riley’s seminal “In C” to realize that the nature and structure of this piece invites, by design as it were, experimentation with instrumentation and experimentation with the music itself which consists of 51 short notated cells.
This is the whole score
The original release in 1968 has been followed by at least 40 recordings reflecting choices made related to tempo, instrumentation, etc. In an earlier review of the “In C” version by Brooklyn Raga Massive, I addressed the inherently heretical nature of this music in light of the etymology of the term “heresy” (derived from “hairesis”, the Greek word for decision or choice). And this music demands intelligent choices.
This 1964 composition has been definitively analyzed in Robert Carl’s fine volume, “Terry Riley’s in C” so interested readers should seek out this book for definitive analytical detail. My main point here is that the musics elicits the making of choices much more so than the traditional western classical notated score. And the present release says nearly as much about the performer/producer, as it does about the composer. It is Maya Beiser’s expertise on her instrument, certainly. It is her experience performing at the center of the new music performance scene to have a definitive grasp of the pluralities that are the nature of new music. And, finally, it is her daring to make choices that threaten to make her not merely a performer but virtually a co-composer. All that with managing to flatter the composer and engage adventurous listeners. She did something similar in her Philip Glass album. She even did it with her recording of the Bach cello suites. Now that’s heresy at its best.
There can never be a definitive recording of this work. That is a huge part of this music’s charms as well as its importance as a challenge to the very nature of western classical music. The music itself is heretical.
Not all listeners may appreciate this significantly new, innovative, and very personal performance but the composer shared an appreciative blurb on the album’s back cover and the reviews this writer has seen have been unanimously positive.
Beiser’s use of harmonics and, indeed, quite a few of her instrument’s extended capabilities (pizzicati, harmonics, etc) all conspire to her revisioning of this music. On top of that she even uses her own voice and employs two percussionists to round out her orchestration of the work.
The percussion accentuates the ritual nature of the music. The harmonics and multiphonics place this version in the spectral realm of new music and even suggested to this listener the Phil Spector “wall of sound”, another hallmark of some ritual musics.
It is an album that invites repeated hearings to grasp the subtleties and insights of this interpretation. Beiser here, even at her most transgressive, is not seeking to supplant other interpretations, rather she simply shows the power of this landmark work to inspire another generation of talented performers (and enlightened listeners, for that matter) to experience the enduring cultural significance of this masterpiece. Brava, Maya! And sincere thanks, Terry.
There is an aptness that accompanies the publication of my first blog of the new year. Much as we aspire to review our past year and resolve improvements for the next, this book effectively plays a similar role.
Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) was born into tumultuous times. His life intersected with political change, social changes, two world wars, and huge changes in the way music would be written and heard. His life and the above mentioned changes in the world are the subjects of Harvey Sachs’ relatively brief review of Schoenberg’s life and career. But the relative brevity does not sacrifice the apparent aim of presenting this composer’s work in the context of the times thereby providing the reader/listener with a perspective that aids an understanding of the man, his music, and his (arguably still evolving) place in history.
“You can see it isn’t easy to get on with me. But don’t lose heart because of that.”- Arnold Schoenberg
At 272 pages this book wisely focuses on the composer’s published work and the drama of its performance along with critical and audience responses. This is not a comprehensive review of all things Schoenberg. While Sachs makes references to the composer’s earlier works, he focuses primarily on the published music and the responses of musicians, critics, and audiences. More importantly he focuses on the massive socio-political changes that paralleled the music thereby providing a useful context for future listeners and performers to better understand Schoenberg and his place in musical history.
Sachs places less emphasis on the composer’s paintings and even his writings. What the author achieves is a very readable and understandable essay that listeners (your humble reviewer included) can use to take another look/listen and to come to a new reckoning of Schoenberg and his place in the world. To, as the subtitle suggests, better understand, “Why he matters.”
I must admit that I did not understand and appreciate the music of Arnold Schoenberg immediately, and even when I ventured to read this volume, I found that my familiarity with this composer was limited primarily to “Transfigured Night”, “Pierrot Lunaire”, the “Second String Quartet”, Moses und Aron” (the Solti recording), Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto, the String Trio, and a fleeting listen or two to the piano music.
The joy of this book was in its chronological exposition of all of the composer’s major works and their historical and political contexts. As a result I found myself listening for the first time (or at least the first in many years) to the two chamber symphonies, the other string quartets, etc. It was an opportunity to reset my perceptions/misperceptions and acquire a better understanding and appreciation of his oeuvre.
As Sachs concludes:
“There are cycles in the arts. Perhaps we have reached the end of one great, centuries long cycle of individualistic European Art Music and its global offshoots. We cannot know. But, in the unlikely case that the subspecies Homo Sapiens Sapiens doesn’t destroy itself in the meantime, there is good reason to expect that sooner or later a new cycle will begin. And, for now, we have an enormous treasure of outstanding creations that continue to speak to anyone who is willing to listen to them.”
For the humble listener, a musician’s technical and interpretive performance skills are one of the most compelling reasons to buy a concert ticket or a recording of said musician. But your humble reviewer has another, perhaps equally important reason for investing time and money in the work of a musician. And that skill is what I like to call “musical radar”. It is the (sometimes uncanny) ability of such gifted musicians to intelligently choose repertoire.
Conductor Kellen Gray demonstrates a keen sense of what music sounds good and also has the weight of substance. Following in the footsteps of incisive conductors like Leopold Stokowski (1882-1977), Dean Dixon (1915-1976), and Paul Freeman (1936-2015) Gray is clearly a champion for contemporary music and is now into the second volume of what this listener hopes will be many more releases of substantive music by black composers whose work has lain fallow for reasons unrelated to quality.
The first volume included early to mid twentieth century masterworks like William Levi Dawson’s 1934 “Negro Folksong Symphony”, William Grant Still’s First Symphony “Afro American” (1930), and George Walker’s “Lyric for Strings” (1946, orch 1990). These are certainly great and foundational works that deserve a place in concert programs but these works have had at least some exposure via recordings. Nonetheless they are fine foundation on which to build this series. Gray demonstrates a depth of understanding for these works and his skills as a conductor were displayed well here. But that was just the first volley in an exciting survey in progress.
In this second volume we see more deeply the acumen of this conductor’s musical radar. These are new commercial recordings of orchestral works by mid to late 20th century black composers, works of obvious substance that remain unjustly neglected. It is this “not the usual suspects” angle that finds this enterprising conductor demonstrating his personal perspective and respect for music history. And they are revelatory. Hearing these definitive performances will leave listeners wanting more as we get to hear some very exciting music that deserves at least a reckoning if not a place in the repertoire.
The four victims of the Birmingham Church bombing.
The disc begins with Margaret Bonds’ “Montgomery Variations” (1964), a classical set of variations, in this case on a gospel tune, “I want Jesus to walk with me”. But this work was “lost” and was only rediscovered in 2017. Its neglect was likely due both to the work being by a black woman, and the fact that it is a response to the 1963 Birmingham church bombing, a hate crime that killed four little girls. So, here it is, Bonds’ only surviving purely orchestral work getting a truly fine hearing. And what a great piece it is.
Margaret Bonds (1913-1972)
The work is structured in distinct sections with titles (Decision, Prayer Meeting, March, Dawn in Dixie, One Sunday in the South, Lament, Benediction). Each title is reflected in the musical mood of each section. It is an overt and powerful denunciation of a horrific hate crime. It is harrowing at times, somber and reverent at others, but Bonds’ composition is also effective in the metaphorical quality of the music itself. It is also very nearly a concerto for orchestra in its broad symphonic dimensions and clever orchestration most deftly handled in this recording.
The genre of “variations” is common throughout musical practice but only took on the guise of monolithic large orchestral works in the late 19th century. Well known examples include, Elgar’s “Enigma Variations”, Britten’s “Variations and Fugue on a theme of Henry Purcell”, Brahms’ “Haydn Variations”, etc. It’s hard to say if this work will find a place in the concert hall alongside those proven classics but Maestro Gray and the talented musicians of his Royal Scottish National Orchestra really make a strong case to do just that.
Ulysses Kay (1917-1995)
Next we are introduced to Ulysses Kay’s “Concerto for Orchestra” (1948). This work, first performed by the similarly incisive conductor, Leopold Stokowski has been sorely in need of a new recording and Maestro Gray serves up a taught and insightful performance that, like all the works on this release, stand as a challenge to performers, broadcasters, and listeners to not let this music fade into obscurity. The “Concerto for Orchestra” genre was first heard in a 1925 Hindemith work with that title and the work best known in the genre is without doubt Bartok’s 1943 “Concerto for Orchestra”. Where Kay’s work will stand in relation to other concerti for orchestra remains to be seen/heard (as with the Bonds work) but at least it now has a chance to be heard in all its glory.
It is one of Kay’s major works and it is of grand symphonic scale. This neoclassical work was written in 1948 and is cast in three movements. The work is eminently listenable but it puts challenges to the orchestra which this orchestra handles quite well.
Coleridge Taylor Perkinson (1932-2004)
The disc concludes with a rather brief work by a composer with whom even adventurous listeners (including myself) have limited familiarity. Coleridge Taylor-Perkinson. It is the only work here that comes from the 21st century. This 2001 Concert Overture subtitled, “Worship” reflects Perkinson’s exposure to black church music which he utilizes in this tone poem written for a sizable orchestra.
Gayle Murchison’s fine liner notes help guide the listener by providing context and by understandable descriptions of the compositional processes. This is an exciting release that builds nicely on the first volume and leaves this listener excitedly anticipating Kellen Gray’s next installment.
When Bassist Robert Black (1956-2023) succumbed to colon cancer this past June, the music world lost one of its finest advocates, performers, and teachers. This posthumous release of composer John Luther Adams’ (1953- ) works for solo and multiple bassists receive definitively beautiful renditions here in this satisfying release in which Maestro Black plays all parts (two works are for solo double bass and one work is for 5 double basses). It strikes this listener as a fitting eulogy for Robert Black and his fine performance legacy.
Robert Alan Black (1956-2023)
First, let me say that the Cold Blue label has defined its own take on post minimalist experimentation, it’s one of those labels that I recommend you just buy anything they choose to release. So this chamber music by John Luther Adams fits most comfortably within the little niche that Cold Blue defines (sort of). In fact this is Adams’ 9th CD on this label. And Robert Black is perhaps the ideal musician to plumb the sonic depths of this “other John Adams”. This listener can’t imagine these works having been done better. These performances are definitive, an example of interpretation with which all subsequent performers will have to contend.
The opening work, “Those High Places” (2007) is a work in three movements, originally for solo violin, played here for the first time on a double bass. Black pretty much reimagines Adams’ piece for his instrument. This is not mere transcription. This version is virtually a new work in the soloist’s sensitive and insightful hands.
Those three movements serve, as do the last three tracks on this album, as bookends, nicely framing the centerpiece, “Darkness and Scattered Light” (2023). Unlike those bookends, this work is in one large movement and is scored for 5 double basses. This multitrack recording is an essential and very effectively produced effort that does as much justice to the composer’s intent as does the effort of the performer.
The last three tracks are, in their compositional processes, intimately linked to that first three tracks. Both rely on special tunings to produce the intended effects.
This release is also a fine example of the artistic style that characterizes the look that accompanies the sounds within. The photography, the overall design, visually pleasing, creating a metaphor for the sound of the recording, and paying respectful homage to composer and performer. This just fires on all cylinders for me. This is Cold Blue at their best.
This is, by my count, the fifth Starkland release of Guy Klucevsek’s work. Klucevsek has happily been one of Starkland’s favorite artists. Though he officially retired from performing in 2018, he continues to compose, collaborate, and record.
“Hope Dies Last” consists of several new compositions from this (hardly retired) man. And if you don’t know his work, this is a fine place to start. Klucevsek is a unique composer/performer who has defined his brand as one of the finest accordion players in new and experimental music. Through years of composing, performing, and collaborating, Klucevsek has taken the accordion to places it never dreamed of going and still manages to do honor to the history and significance of his chosen instrument.
NB: This reviewer is biased, having had a long admiration for this artist. The “vernacular” idioms of the accordion had been very familiar to me from my childhood on with my exposure to rituals of some of my Eastern European ancestors (polka bands, Lawrence Welk, Myron Florence, etc). Because of Klucevsek I will never hear the accordion in the same way ever again.
Having, ostensibly, “retired” (at least from performing), we find his creative juices still flowing in these recent compositions. This album is largely representative of his more lyrical writing as heard in releases like, “Citrus, My Love” but Klucevsek is seldom far from parody (in an honorific sense) and both humor and pathos infuse this music in ways that sneak up on the listener. This recording stems in part from music written by Klucevsek and performed by many of his friends, but not always on accordion, on a concert in celebration of his 75th birthday.
We hear, on this album, compositional genius distilled from the composer’s broad knowledge and understanding of music in general, and of his ability to incorporate classical and vernacular idioms into his personal style. The valuable liner notes by the composer reveal how his work belies the complexity which underlies his very approachable style. There is a depth in these works that lies, tantalizingly, just below the surface.
One of the most rewarding aspects of this album is hearing all these fine collaborators play Klucevsek’s music. The dedication and enthusiasm of these performances are a fitting celebration of this unique artist who brings his 19th century folk instrument (and its milieu) very successfully into the 21st century. Participating artists include: Jenny Lin, pianos; Todd Reynolds, violins; Jeff Gauthier, violin; Margaret Parkins, cello and whistling; Will Holshouser, accordion; Alan Bern, accordion; Nathan Koci, accordion; Bachtopus Accordion Ensemble (Robert Duncan, Peter Flint, Mayumi Miyaoka, and Jeanne Velonis); Jerome Kitzke, heavy breather and toy piano schlepper; and, of course, Guy Klucevsek, accordion and piano. Starkland founder Tom Steenland’s steady producer’s hand is a guiding spirit here as well.
The last six tracks, “Industrious Angels” (2010) were written on commission by Laurie McCants for her dramatic presentation of the same name, a work inspired by the poems of Emily Dickinson. Collaborations such as this, with non-musician artists, are well represented in Klucevsek’s career. These are the oldest compositions here.
The first 13 tracks, with the exception of the 2022 transcription (of the 1988 original classic), “Flying Vegetables of the Apocalypse”, were all composed from 2015 to 2021. And they serve to characterize Klucevsek’s wide ranging musical interests whose further elucidation in the aforementioned liner notes provide valuable insights into his compositional processes. Really fascinating on that technical level as well as in the resulting sound of the compositions. This album just works well on so many levels.
In many ways, this release, with so much recently composed music, feels like an apotheosis, an artist’s very satisfying and nostalgic perspective looking back on a very successful career (I’m thinking like Wild Strawberries, maybe, but happier). It is a contemporary journey that will likely send listeners to hear more of this man’s work. And so they should.
More Klucevsek at Starkland Starkland has previously released five other Klucevsek CDs:
Transylvanian Softwear with works by William Duckworth, Fred Frith, Klucevsek, and John Zorn. Awarded a “Recording of Special Merit” by Stereo Review.
Free Range Accordion with works by Burt Bacharach, Lars Hollmer, Aaron Jay Kernis, Jerome Kitzke, Klucevsek, Stephen Montague, Somei Satoh, and Lois V Vierk. “A rebel with an accordion… Klucevsek combines poker-faced wit and imagination with command of his instrument, forcing you to re-think the accordion’s limitations” (Downbeat).
Polka From The Fringe A double-CD re-release presenting the most comprehensive edition of this major project conceived and shepherded by Klucevsek. Works by Mary Ellen Childs, Anthony Coleman, Dick Connette, William Duckworth, Carl Finch (of Brave Combo), Fred Frith, David Garland, Peter Garland, Phillip Johnston, Aaron Jay Kernis, John King, Mary Jane Leach, Bobby Previte, Elliott Sharp, Carl Stone, Lois V Vierk, William Obrecht, and more. “A long-overdue reissue” (John Schaefer, WNYC New Sounds). “A two-CD collection of new polkas he got from a wide range of classical new music, jazz and indie pop composers. It’s a riot, and an addictive one at that” (Los Angeles Times).
Teetering on the Verge of Normalcy with works exclusively by Klucevsek. With violinist Todd Reynolds, soprano Kamala Sankaram, and pianist Alan Bern. “This heartfelt album has an especially elegiac quality” (Sarah Cahill).
Citrus, My Love offers two substantial works composed for dance, Citrus, My Love (1990) and Passage North (1990), separated by another piece Patience and Thyme (1991). A “strikingly beautiful” CD (AllMusic Review) that is “generously imbued with melodic charm and grace” (The Wire).
There is most certainly an arbitrary factor in the determination of fame and of historical significance. Choose any figure at any historical moment and you can find other lesser known or forgotten figures who stood near, worked with, or were recognized in their time but whose presence has faded from history. Of course there are less arbitrary factors such as socioeconomic and political factors but, the ARC Ensemble’s mission is to fill some of the gaps (or gaping holes) in the historical record in their amazing “Music in Exile” series.
This most recent volume focuses on one Robert Müller-Hartmann (1884-1950). Even his brief Wikipedia page is apparently only available in German. This German-Jewish composer took refuge in England in 1933 where he became well known to artists of the day there like pianist Artur Schnabel and composer Ralph Vaughn Williams.
The process of exile is not a kind one. The list of refugee composers, from Europe alone, is a lengthy one with a few names that have been sustained to some degree in the historical record (like Arnold Schoenberg, Erich Korngold, Bertholdt Goldschmidt, Roberto Gerhard, and Ernst Toch) but, with the exception of Schoenberg, these artists are hardly household names. Even though many works by this parenthetical group have been recorded, they remain, in this writer’s opinion, far less known than they deserve.
ARC to the rescue. This latest installment is by a musician whose name and history were not known to this writer until now. After fleeing the terrors of fascist regimes, this talented composer/performer/teacher became integrated to musical life in England and even assisted Ralph Vaughn Williams in his compositional efforts. But Robert Müller-Hartmann’s music, though performed and respected at one time, has fallen into obscurity. These recordings, as this series does so well, provide a window into his creative music. And this release is a valuable historical document which justly recognizes an important voice and character whose work need not be absent any more.
Five works (or groups of works) are featured here:
1. String Quartet No. 2
2. Three Intermezzi and a Scherzo for piano
3. Two pieces for cello and piano
4. Sonata for Violin and Piano
5. Sonata for two Violins
It is difficult to say if any of these works will ultimately find a place in the common performing repertoire but at least we as listeners and other musicians have a chance to hear this music and decide. These unabashedly romantic works are both substantial and a challenge for the musicians that bring this art to life. So listen, decide, like or don’t like, but be grateful that it can be heard.
Those who want to learn more can download performance notes from when these pieces were presented in concert here.
The primary importance of this new release is, of course, the presentation of these two major works but it also an exposition of the diversity (or do you prefer, “heterogeneity”?) that can become obscured by well intended terms like, “Latino” and “Hispanic”, or even conductor Gustavo Dudamel’s “Pan American”. All are well intended but racial, nationalist, and other categories are insufficient on their own in recognizing the rich diversity inherent in their cultures. Here we go, just in time for Latin History Month.
The concise liner notes tell us that even the album’s title, “Fandango” has multiple meanings depending on cultural contexts. The fact is that no single style or genre can be said to be representative of the marvelous diversity that exists within their intended scope which attempts to represent practically the whole of the western hemisphere as is the case with this release. So, while Fandango is certainly about the musical works presented, it also touches on the issue of diversity by the choice of two major works separated chronologically by some 80 years and representing composers from Argentina on the one hand, and Mexico on the other. Two different cultures that share a language in both words and , to some extent, music.
The centerpiece of this album is, of courses, the concerto that Maestra Akiko-Meyers commissioned from Mexican composer Arturo Márquez Navarro (1950- ). I’m sad to say that I am only now learning of this composer but delighted in his mastery of the orchestra and the grand romantic gestures of a past era along with an acute and personal appreciation of the folk idioms of his culture. At first I was skeptical of a “mariachi” inspired concerto because such attempts, even the most sincere, don’t always seem to work. Well, that is certainly not the case here. This is a strong contender for regular inclusion in the current canon of widely performed violin concertos. This one is a masterpiece which poses challenges to the soloist (which give her a chance to show her virtuosity) and surround it with rich, subtly, ultimately beautiful orchestral textures that support the soloist but which demand much of the orchestra and its conductor as well.
The concerto (written in 2020) is in the traditional three movements. The first, entitled “Folia Tropical” (tropical leaves) embraces the spirit of late romantic concerti like those of Bruch and Brahms. It is an extended movement that introduces and develops many moods and themes. It is a big symphonic movement worthy of a symphony and it gives the soloist much to do and upon which to demonstrate her musical and interpretive skills all the while with a very busy orchestra accompanying her.
The second movement, “Plegaria” (prayer) is a hugely substantive chaconne, the baroque contrapuntal variation form with a repeating bass line and thematic variations over the harmonic structures supported by those notes.. At least that is my listener’s understanding. But what is not necessary to “understand” technically is the emotional impact of this movement. This is an amazing use of the form. The soloist moves into different roles, sometimes very much upstage, sometimes an adjunct to the orchestra, sometimes not there at all. There is a slow, meditative beauty in this movement which is also characteristic of the romantic idiom in which this is written.
The third movement, “Fandanguito” (little Fandango) is a somewhat lighter and very energetic finale one might expect in a movement following the previous deeply emotional ones. And the composer does not disappoint. He writes a joyous, energetic finale which nonetheless stands up as substantially as its predecessors.
The composer Arturo Marquez with Maestro Dudamel and Anne Akiko-Meyers leaving the stage after a successful performance.
The joy, to this listener, is to hear a master composer in collaboration with a fine soloist both technically and interpretively. The composer has integrated his experiences and study of his own cultural folk musics and infuses the spirit of the music into his grand romantic idiom. That is, the concerto does not, for the most part use direct quotation from folk sources but uses structural elements in his composition. Maestra Akiko Meyers discharges her soloist duties with both startling facility and a deep understanding of the music and the composer’s intent.
Gustavo Dudamel is a joyfully rising star who brings his cultural proclivities and his own lens on western orchestral music. He is an exciting and incisive conductor. I don’t know the extent of Dudamel’s study of Latin folk musics but he really gets this work and brings out the composer’s subtleties in this gorgeous and exciting concerto.
The “B side” as they used to be called is no mere filler, it is the entirety of the Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983) ballet, “Estancia” Op. 8 (1941). Here, 15 separate movements are used in a five scene scenario. The work, usually heard in its four movement suite format and, even more frequently, just the spectacular finale, the Malambo.
In addition to its large orchestra, the ballet calls for a singer/speaker soloist who acts as both narrator and as soloist with orchestra. In this performance the challenge is admirably met by baritone GUSTAVO CASTILLO, another shining light cultivated by El Sistema. He performs well in both his baritone vocal duties and his narrator task in which he speaks Spanish in an elegant and, I’d say, almost Shakespearean grasp of the beauty of the language. The man understands drama as well as music.
This ballet is clearly a masterpiece. It reminds this listener of Prokofiev if he was born in Argentina. Nothing derivative here though. This is an intensely entertaining work, as substantial as Romeo and Juliet, similarly constructed in relatively brief musical segments designed to accompany a dance whose scenario is the story of the “gaucho” or cowboy that lived and worked hard lives, lives that were romanticized into a poem by Argentinian poet José Hernández (1834-1886). (click on the word “poem” for a link to an English translation of the poem).
All that to say that this is a truly enjoyable and important release. A valuable addition to the discography of Latin classical music.
Dudamel and his LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl.
Just had to post this for all my readers and friends but especially those living near or able to get to Rome. Curran’s wife, Dr. Susan Levenstein, graciously sent this announcement to me. She is an American physician (and webmaster).Her very entertaining memoir, “Dottoresa” is her accounting of moving her practice to Italy.
Alvin Curran, (1938- ) is the co-founder of the seminal live electric music performance group, “Musica Elletronica Viva” along with his late colleagues Frederic Rzewski (1938-2021) and Richard Teitelbaum (1939-2020). The group formed in 1966 and later included kindred spirits including George Lewis and Garrett List among others. The group did its final tour in 2016.
Click on Curran’s name to look at his fascinating and well organized website which gives a fairly comprehensive accounting of the incredible range of musical styles and a very large bevy of collaborators.
Curran discussing some of his work with interviewer Charles Amirkhanian in Berkeley in 2016 (photo by Allan J. Cronin)
Curran, who taught at the venerable Mills College in Oakland, California is an always welcome visitor in the Bay Area. While he has made his home in Italy for many years now, he is truly an artistic citizen of the world. The warm and affable composer exudes an infectious enthusiasm which doubtless is why he has so many collaborators. His aesthetic which he documented in an article called, “The New Common Practice” in 1994 documents his all inclusive style, one that is very difficult to convey. His works include music for piano, chamber ensembles, orchestra, and even things most folk never thought of as musical.
He is a giant in late twentieth and early twenty first century music and this retrospective is most welcome.
“HEAR ALVIN HERE”
ALVIN CURRAN
…a retrospective
part of the #CHAMBERMUSIC series
The show consists in a listening room where a new sound work plays continuously—a mixtape comprising fragments from many different compositions, improvisations, and installations. It leads the audience on an autobiographical listening journey, freely mixing styles, periods, and languages, from free improvisation to Fluxus to Artificial Intelligence, from compositions for shiphorns to works for hundreds of musicians, from Sargentini’s L’Attico and the Beat 72 to MAXXI and the Tate, from Angelo Mai and The American Pavilion of Expo 58 to No Mans Land and the Théâtre de Chaillot.
The Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome (MACRO), Via Nizza, 138
inauguration September 20, 2023, from 6 pm to 9 pm
running until March 17, 2024
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Curran in performance at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley in 2014.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge begat Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, who begat Coleridge Taylor Perkinson… Wait, that’s not right. But these three men, listed in chronological order, became intertwined, much as they were admired, by their names. Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1792-1834) is the great (white) British poet. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), named in honor of that poet (and the subject of this review) was a much lauded, though subsequently neglected British composer, as it happens a black British composer. Taylor Coleridge Perkinson (1932-2004), a much lauded and subsequently neglected black American composer named in honor of those predecessors. Stick with me, this comes together (for the purposes of this review) with the name of the orchestra on this recording, “Chineke”, a word taken from the African Igbo religion, meaning, “God”. Add an exclamation point and you get “Chineke!”, the orchestra which was founded in 2015 by the double bass player, Chi-chi Nwanoku CBE, to provide career opportunities for Black and ethnically diverse classical musicians in the UK and Europe.
All that to introduce listeners to this landmark of the recording industry, fulfilling in part the mission of this fine orchestra. This two CD set provides an intelligent selection of the music of Samuel Taylor-Coleridge which is nothing short of revelatory. Knowledge (at least outside of Britain) of his music, up until this release pretty much limited to his fine choral work “Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast” and perhaps a short orchestra movement. The late great Paul Freeman included an aria from that choral work and one movement (Danse Negre) from his African Suite in his defining set of recordings on Columbia/Sony, “Black Composers”. These brief pieces were the introduction for many people, this writer included, to this composer’s work.
The last family Christmas card, 1912
Chineke! now presents a far more representative selection of this man’s work with a truly nice touch of alreleasing the first recording of music by Coleridge-Taylor’s daughter Gwendolyn Avril Coleridge-Taylor (1903-1998) who wrote under the pen name Peter Riley (it is hardly a secret that both black people and women suffer from lack of recognition in the world of classical music).
Coleridge-Taylor’s output was large, comprising some 82 pieces with opus numbers and unpublished works as well. That’s a lot of music from a man who died at age 37 from pneumonia. This two disc set does a very nice job of presenting music from all eras of his brief career. From the Opus 2 Nonet (1894) to the Opus 80 Violin Concerto (1912) this release provides a larger perspective on this artist (dubbed by white musicians in New York, in what today would be judged a pejorative appellation, “The Black Mahler”). My guess is that the same people who would speak condescendingly about Coleridge-Taylor were also not appreciative of that Jewish Austrian conductor/composer.
Though it appears that all these works have appeared previously in recordings (appropriately on mostly British labels) this collection does a great service in demonstrating the arc of his truncated life’s work. Only the Avril Coleridge-Taylor work, “Sussex Landscape” (1940), is a world premiere recording.
Track list
For the purposes of this review I will be discussing these works in chronological order rather than the order on the recordings. Even a short career demonstrably goes through changes over time, led by social, political, historical, and musical experiences. A photo (above) shows the order on the discs.
The Nonet Op. 2 (1894) for strings, winds, and piano was written by the 19 year old (still a student at the Royal College of Music). This unusual combination, nearly a chamber orchestra in dimension as is the grand, late romantic, Brahmsian dimension. His skill in orchestration is evident here and serves to clarify the musical lines in these four large movements. It is virtually a symphony with a virtuoso piano obbligato.
Here, emissaries of the nascent Harlem Renaissance came to England in the the form of a 1896 concert by the Fisk Jubilee Singers who presented a program of “Negro Spirituals” (Fisk is one of the so called “Historically Black Colleges and Universities” which were formed to provide educational opportunities for Black Americans who were barred from admittance to other colleges). The following year Coleridge-Taylor met the Black American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), who had come to England on a literary tour. His parents were freed slaves in Kentucky. Both of these experiences had a profound effect on Coleridge-Taylor and his music. Coleridge-Taylor would attend the first Pan-African Conference in London in July 1900. There he would explore the ideas and philosophies of Pan-Africanism which emphasised the importance of a shared African heritage. The orchestral works “Ballade in A minor” Op. 33 and the “African Suite” Op. 35, (both 1898) reflect those influences.
The two movement Ballade is a grand romantic work with no particular program but one that demonstrates the composer’s amazing command of the orchestra. The African Suite, one of his more popular works, was directly influenced by the work of Dunbar (whose career, like Coleridge-Taylor’s, also ended prematurely).
The two movement “Romance” Op. 39 (1899) for violin and orchestra is a foreshadowing of the later Violin Concerto. It is a heavily late romantic work with a beautiful and substantial violin part.
His “Petite Suite” Op. 77 (1911) is among his most popular works and arguably served as a precursor to what would later be termed, “Light Music”. The second movement strikes deep into this writer’s memory as one of those pieces whose charm prompted me to find out what it was so I might hear it again. Very charming and immediately listener friendly music.
The first work on this set, The five movement, “Othello” Orchestral Suite Op. 79 was published in 1909 and first performed in 1911. It was conceived and written as an orchestral suite, not a suite of music drawn from another work and is complete as performed here. It is a stunning example of the composer’s skills with orchestration and with dramatic writing.
Maud Powell (1867-1920)
Now we come to the Op. 80 Violin Concerto of 1911-2 which is dedicated to American violinist Maud Powell, a staunch advocate for female musicians, black composers, and new music in general (an early model for the likes of Rachel Barton Pine). This work of high late romanticism echoes Brahms and Bruch in its Melodie’s, it’s harmonies, and the grand sweep of its gorgeously orchestrated three movements. It is easy to imagine this as a regular repertoire piece.
Avril Coleridge Taylor (1903-1998)
Last and most certainly not least is the world premiere recording by Coleridge-Taylor’s daughter, Gwendoline Avril Coleridge-Taylor (1903-1998), her “Sussex Landscape” Op. 27 (1940). This is just a taste of her 60+ compositions but it is compelling enough to prompt listeners (and hopefully progressive organizations such as “Chineke!”) to pursue more exploration of her oeuvre.
Chineke! Truly achieves their goal in producing this wonderful portrait of a composer whose work has, until very recently languished in relative obscurity. Even this writer, whose obsessive interest in the new and interesting, has been seriously transformed by this release. You really have to hear this release. My thanks and congratulations to everyone involved in this fine Chineke! release.
Utter the name “Israel” and probably only a handful of people will think, “classical music”. As a lifelong new music fan I’ve made many wonderful discoveries by looking at work done by composers in countries that aren’t part of the typical America, Germany, Italy, France, Russia nexus. Throw in the Nordic countries, Canada, and Australia more recently and you have perhaps 90% of what is marketed (even if not efficiently distributed) as new classical music. Israel, at 75, remains a young country but its participation with world class classical composers and musicians is among their proudest contributions to the world at large and those contributions are both extensive and interesting.
Neuma 177
This fine release gives only the briefest taste with a curious selection of pieces that will likely lead listeners to the “more where that came from” path to discover a huge trove of music that really needs to be heard. The only problem with this release is that it’s not a 20 or 30 CD box set of representative western classical music from a comparatively new country in a very old artistic/cultural hotbed.
This fine Neuma release is actually a very nice taste whetting collection of three generations of Israeli composers. I wish I could call it “representative” but that would be a tall order. It is an intelligent selection that will hopefully inspire further exploration of Israel’s classical music artistic legacy. Israel is, in many ways, a country of challenges and this release is, similarly, an extension of this country’s challenges to the canon of western art music in its way and a gentle nudge to curious listeners.
Professor Robert Fleisher (photo: Darsha Primich, courtesy Navona Records)
This project began with a 1986 Israel residency by American composer/musicologist (now Professor Emeritus at NIU) Robert Fleisher. The culmination of this residency resulted in his marvelous book, “Twenty Israeli Composers” (1997) and all but one track on this disc from an earlier concert at NIU in 1987. which was fortunately recorded rather nicely. You can download the book for free by clicking on the title above. Fleisher wrote the very useful liner notes which are also available as a free download. Those two sources can help guide the avid listener to a wider range of music from Israel’s first 75 years.
Track list
German refugee Paul Frankenburger (1897-1984), better known as Paul Ben-Haim is doubtless the one name in this collection that listeners may have heard. He emigrated to the (then British Mandate of Palestine) in 1933 just ahead of the onslaught of the Third Reich in Germany. He Hebraicized his name when he became an Israeli citizen at that country’s inception in 1948. Truly, he was there at the beginning.
His pupils Tvi Avni, Eliahu Inbal, Henri Lazarof, Ami Maayani, Ben-Zion Orgad, and Shulamit Ran (to name just a few) all went on to make significant impacts on the musical world. Some made their careers in Israel, others established the Israeli artistic diaspora but that is another story.
The disc opens with one of Ben-Haim’s finest and best known compositions, his 1943 protominimal “Toccata” for piano. This brief piece is a virtuoso showpiece that this listener found immediately appealing having heard it played as an encore after a concerto performance. Here, a wonderful rendition by Liora Ziv-Li makes a strong case for this piece to be heard more often. This first release of this live performance is, happily, not the only recording of the work. Ben-Haim whose style is of a post romantic/nationalistic style somewhat like an Israeli Aaron Copland, creative and nationalist with just a dash of liturgical. His work is fairly well represented on recordings and on YouTube but he is far less known outside his adopted country where his pedagogy also sowed further seeds.
This second track is one of two (with Tsippi Fleischer’s “The Gown of Night”) that did not appear on the 1987 concert referenced in the intro. Bashrav (2004) by Betty Olivero (the first Israeli born composer represented on this recording) was recorded in Tel Aviv in 2020. The inclusion of this work can stand as a challenge to get listeners to hear one of the finest living composers from Israel. Olivero (1954- ) is very well known in Israel but less so elsewhere despite the fact that some major American orchestras have embraced her work. She is a lyrical and substantive composer whose work is quite appealing. Bashrav is an instrumental chamber orchestra piece based on a Turkish/Iranian musical form from which the work’s title is drawn. It was commissioned and first performed by the San Francisco Contemporary Chamber Players. This is the first commercial recording.
Now we come to another name changer. Tzvi Avni (1927- ) was born Hermann Jakob Steinke in Saarbrucken, Germany. He, like Ben-Haim (with whom he later studied) fled Germany (in 1935) for the safety of the British Mandate of Palestine and took a name reflecting his adopted national alliance. Avni is probably the second best known Israeli composer outside of Israel. His somewhat Stravinskian (to this listener’s ears) neoclassicism is another voice seriously in need of a wider hearing. His brief Capriccio (1955/1975) for piano has had several recordings and performances and the release of this live recording provides an opportunity to hear the work as well as the opportunity to hear another artist’s interpretation of the work. Avni had the foresight to tap into the emerging world of electronic and computer music and added a stint at the justly famed Columbia Princeton Electronic Music Studio to his musical training. Sadly, though he may have name recognition, his representation in recordings is nothing short of abysmal.
Ami Maayani (1936-2019) is, in this writer’s opinion, the third best known composer of those represented here outside of Israel. He was the founder of several fine Israeli music ensembles including the Israel Youth Orchestra. Like Avni, he chose to supplement his traditional music studies at the fledgling Columbia Princeton Electronic Music Center. He also counts Paul Ben-Haim among his teachers. His musical style derives from Arabic traditional music (one of the few folk musics routinely incorporating the microtonal quarter tone) as well as Ashkenazi and Sephardic folk music. In addition to training in music, he studied architecture and has written several books.
While he has written more experimental work, the majority of his available music sounds basically tonal with folk and sometimes electronic elements. Maayani was a prolific composer who, like his “best known” colleagues, suffers from a distribution problem. His architectural work is represented in several portions of Israel’s infrastructure. His three volume study in Hebrew of Richard Wagner challenged Israel’s (understandable) dislike of Wagner’s music. And now time is nigh for a fair reckoning of Maayani’s own music. This is not the first recording of his Arabesque No. 2 (1973) scored for flute and harp. His sister Ruth Maayani (1948-1921), herself an accomplished musician plays the harp in this 1987 performance. His orchestral work, “Qumran” (1970) was the first Israeli composition to be performed in Germany after World War II (even that took nearly thirty years to achieve).
Now we come to another refugee from early to mid century European fascism. Abel Ehrlich (1915-2003) was born in east Prussia and took a more circuitous route to Israel, arriving in the Palestine Mandate in 1939. Unlike some of his predecessors he made no changes to his name. He did study at the Eretz-Israel Conservatory in Jerusalem and went on to write music and teach at Israel Conservatory, the Rubin Academy of Music, Jerusalem; the Rubin Academy of Music, Tel Aviv; Bar-Ilan University and Oranim Academic College. He was of an age that didn’t create a web page but even Wikipedia has very little to say about him except that he was recognized during his lifetime with various prizes and I was able to find this laudatory 2004 concert review in Ha’aretz which reports a count of some 3500 compositions (sic)! It also makes mention of one of his best known compositions, his 1953 “Bashrav” for solo violin. This is a piece based on the Arabic musical form for which it is named. Astute listeners/readers will recognize the name from the earlier Betty Olivero work with which it shares both its name and structure. Would that a performance could have been included here but listeners can easily find several recordings of that other Bashrav on YouTube.
Abel is represented on this recording by two works, both from 1986 and both world premiere recordings from the 1987 concert that forms the core of this album. Track five documents a piano work called, “The Death of Dan Pagis”. It is a sort of lament for Pagis (1930-1986) some of whose poetry Abel set musically but was sadly never heard by the poet. Track eight gives us a hearing of Ehrlich’s “The Dream About Strange Terrors” for two flutes. Both are brief but effective works and, like much of the music here (and a lot of art) seem to be a form of sublimation, a Freudian derived term which refers to an adaptive psychological mechanism, a transformation of pain, anxiety, anger, etc. into something positive. The otherwise informative liner notes say little about these two works but given the composer’s history, both works would seem to fall into that category. Both are in a sort of mid century post romantic style that challenge the performers but speak pretty directly, in a musical sense, to the listener.
Track six introduces us to another native born Israeli composer, Tsippi Fleischer (1948- ). This one is a graphic score which is realized electronically. “The Gown of Night” (1988) is a setting of a poem. It is performed in the original Arabic. The English translation is below.
THE GOWN OF NIGHT Muhammad Ghana’im
The gown of night Envelops the desert Engulfing tent and well From the boundaries of night The howling of jackals descends To raise the dawn Engulfing tent and well Then came the dawn …
A portion of the graphic score is reproduced in both physical and digital formats of the album. It is one of the pieces that has actually been released before but those releases on small limited distribution independent labels has likely remained obscure to all but the most tenacious listeners and collectors. It is a fine example of purely electronic music and was composed using recordings of Bedouin children reciting the poem.
I was astounded and oh so pleased to learn that all of Fleischer’s recorded output (including liner notes) is available for free downloads via her website the link for which can be accessed by clicking on the composer’s name in this review. Well, brava Maestra Fleischer for striking a blow against obscurity.
Arie Shapira (1915-2013) is another substantial and prolific composer with no personal website, no government generated website, no publisher generated website, and a way too brief Wikipedia page. In fact Professor Fleisher’s book remains the “go to” resource for this man’s work. A quick look on the discogs site, not surprisingly, list only two CD releases.
He is represented in this collection by “Off Piano” (1984) written for the Michal Tal who performs it here. The 1984 premiere was broadcast by Israeli media. This all too brief work immediately suggested the pianistic fireworks of Frederic Rzewski.
Tracks nine, ten, and eleven comprise the second largest offering by time of all the composers on this album. The “Three Romances” (1986) for piano by Ari Ben-Shabetai (1954- )The works, premiered in 1986 and were written for Liora Ziv-Li whose 1987 performance are on the present disc. Ostensibly an homage to Robert Schumann’s similarly titled work are a modernist and highly virtuosic set of pieces.
Lastly we have by far the longest offering of music of all the represented composers with Oded Zehavi’s “Wire” (1986) for chamber orchestra and soprano (Zehavi plays the piano part in the ensemble). Born in 1961, he is by far the youngest composer this collection. Wire is a setting of a poem in Hebrew by Chaya Shenhav, English text given below.
In those awful shadowless minutes before sunset when greenish lights rise from the valley When the trees on the slopes glow with a sudden great light but beingless, perhaps, And the children slowly climb the path, their faces shining with a strange brightness . . . Call out to them quickly, “speak,” “shout,” like the partridges screaming in the valley scream, You see, you know, don’t you? that they are moving away
This release is a testament to Professor Fleisher’s musicological efforts that help raise awareness that Israel has some truly world class composers of new classical music. It is also a fine place for listeners to begin their explorations of this repertoire.
Roger Reynolds (1934- ) turns 90 next year. This prolific American artist’s work is being collected and preserved by the Library of Congress. The present recording is the most recent release documenting Reynolds’ music, now numbering about 30 CDs and DVDs. And this is but a fraction of his musical works.
I first encountered Reynolds’ music when I heard a broadcast of the first commercial recording of his music. The disc, released in 1969 on Nonesuch records documented performances of Frederic Myrow’s “Songs from the Japanese” (1964) paired with Reynolds’ “Quick are the Mouths of the Earth” (1965), a work that actually uses the text of the title to derive the music. I recall that the sound of this music sent chills up my spine and sent me to a record store to purchase a copy. This first encounter was a visceral experience, one of many I would encounter as I heard his subsequent music, and that of his contemporaries.
Reynolds has been a prolific composer, writer, and reader. His father was an architect, Roger would go on initially to study engineering and then also encountered some of the new interest in experimental music at the ONCE Festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the early 60s. His studies in music and literature continued to be wide ranging and the fine liner notes by Thomas May in “For a Reason” are extremely useful in grasping the range of inspirations that inform Reynolds’ music. This is one of those gorgeous new music releases that will likely become one of those odd but much sought after collectibles. The booklet jdesign by Karen Reynolds, Stacie Birky Greene, and producer Philip Blackburn is by itself, worth the price of this release.
While listeners can certainly appreciate Reynolds’ work without those details, they add a dimension of understanding and provide contexts as well. In some ways, Reynolds is unclassifiable but this writer finds him to be the consummate experimentalist and modernist, two aspects that appear to have been in his work from the very beginning. His work is rarely easy listening but, even if you don’t get it on first hearing, his compositions tend to reveal weight and substance with repeated listenings.
That said, Reynolds’ music produces sounds that might be heard as romantic, expressionist, and even classical at times. Much of his work, as is the case with most of this 2 CD set, is electroacoustic. It is not heavily dissonant or overly complex to the listener’s ear but his music presents unique challenges to performers. And, as mentioned, this beautifully designed set includes a decent set of liner notes to help navigate this voyage.
Three of the four works here are “electroacoustic”, meaning that some form of electronics interacts with the performer. The one work that does not fit that category pretty much needs it’s own category. Pieces for speaking pianist are getting more common in the last 20 years or so but pieces for speaking percussionist are far less common. Frederic Rzewski’s “To the Earth” for speaking percussionist playing on clay flower pots comes to mind. Of course John Cage also wrote in this genre but Reynolds’ essay is the longest, most complex work this listener has encountered for solo percussionist with speaking duties.
The first track is “Dream Mirror” (2010), the first of Reynolds’ “Sharespace” series of compositions in which an instrumental performer interacts in the shared performance space with a computer musician in a duet. This first sharespace work is for guitar and computer musician. It features the fine Mexican guitarist, Pablo Gomez Cano. The fact that Cano is not a familiar name is likely that his work has focused on challenging new music such as this. Dream Mirror is a big work, at over 20 minutes in performance, but it has a chamber music quality consistent with the composer’s focus on the interaction of this duet in their shared performance space.
The second track introduces listeners to the fourth in the Sharespace series, this time, for violin. “Shifting/Drifting” (2015) was written for Irvine Arditti, one of the finest working musicians of our time supporting new music via his solo efforts and his work with his esteemed “Arditti Quartet”. Like the preceding track, this big duet takes some 20+ minutes in performance.
On to CD 2 for the third offering, “Here and There” (2018), both the longest work and the most recent. This one is for solo percussionist with a substantial speaking part designed to be spoken by the percussionist (in this case, Steven Schick, one of Reynolds’ fellow faculty at UCSD). Solo percussion works are relatively uncommon, though readers will want to familiarize themselves with volume one of Mr. Schick’s ongoing series of the solo percussion repertoire Hard Rain.
This will likely become a showpiece but, at the time of this writing only Schick and the ubiquitous William Winant come to mind as being both willing and able to perform this work right now. And it is apparently a beast of a challenge for the performer but remarkably engaging for the listener. The texts, from Samuel Beckett, are referenced in the liner notes. Not surprisingly, Schick delivers a stunning performance, setting a bar for successive performers and performances. The texts are non-narrative and have a more musical than didactic or dramatic function.
Last but not least is the earliest work on the album, “Sketchbook”(1985), originally written for Joan LaBarbara but never performed. Here, singer, Liz Pearse effectively took a page from Irvine Arditti (whose doctoral studies resulted in research that culminated in John Cage being able to finish his partially completed solo violin work, “Freeman Etudes”). Pearse, also pursuing doctoral studies came upon this work and collaborated with Reynolds in creating a performance. His texts here come from Milan Kundera. The work, while dramatic and challenging, is not a species of opera or monodrama but, like the preceding works, a piece that, like Reynolds, thrives on collaboration. In addition to requiring some pianistic skills, the singer collaborates with interactive computer electronics.
These four works, despite their differences, clearly fit Reynolds’ interest in literature, collaboration, and in various technical aspects described in the well documented liner notes. Those notes provide technical detail and insights beyond the scope of your humble reviewer’s skills but what I can tell you is that this release is a marvelously engaging experience revealing fascinating aspects of this composer’s work.
The experience of listening and reading and the visual experience of the graphics was an immersive one and a delightful use of my time. Heads up to all my fellow new music aficionados. This is truly spectacular.
“Music in Exile” is but one of many projects that are attempting to find, perform, and in many cases publish music neglected for many reasons, mostly political. Alberto Hemsi (1898-1975) is not a familiar name to this reviewer and will likely not be familiar to the average listener. But such are the hazards of resurrecting neglected music. This release in the 6th in the Music in Exile series and, like it’s predecessors, it is a loving adventure of discovery.
The ARC (artists of the royal conservatory) Ensemble here bring to a CD player near you an (apparently representative selection) of the extant works of this composer and ethnomusicologist. Hemsi spent 17 years collecting and publishing harmonizations of Sephardic Melodie’s he collected throughout the countries of the former Ottoman Empire.
Alberto Hemsi (photo from University of Michigan website fair use)
The composer’s widow donated his manuscripts to the European Institute of Jewish Music in 2004 where The Hemsi Collection has become a significant part of one the largest collections of Judeo-Spanish music. Spain, in 1492, famously funded Christopher Columbus’ expedition of discovery and, infamously in that same year, officially exiled all of the Jews in Spain. Now some 500 years later the work of Hemsi is helping to preserve some of that culture.
Of course, like Bartok, Kodaly, Copland, and sundry like minded composers who incorporated similar song collecting ventures into the late romantic nationalist traditions in the late 19th and early to mid 20th century classical compositions. But this disc is actually more about Hemsi’s own compositions.
Track listing
The two works that comprise the first six tracks of this recording, the “Danzi Nuziali Greche” Op. 37 bis (1957) for cello and piano, and the “Tre Arie Antiche” Op. 30 (ca. 1945) for string quartet are fine examples of Hemsi’s direct incorporation of his collected folk musics into these charming chamber works.
But, for this listener, the pre 1945 works provide a compelling insight to this fine composer’s works that are not explicitly expositions of folk songs. Don’t get me wrong. All of these works are receiving world premiere recordings in this release, making them valuable additions to the history of music. But this listener was pleasantly drawn to Hemsi’s contributions to the western classical canon.
The three movement Violin and Piano Sonata Op. 27 (1942) is the longest work here and demonstrates the composer’s facility with larger compositional architectures. The same can be said of the “Quintet for Viola and String Quartet Op. 28 (ca. 1943). This very substantial music, composed in the shadow of the Second World War reveal a hopeful and talented composer producing music that would not see public performance in his lifetime.
The album concludes with the Meditation Op. 16 (ca. 1930). It Carrie’s the subtitle “in Armenian Style”. Hemsi’s folk song documentation also included Armenian Melodie’s, music of yet another culture of exile. It is doubtless influenced by some sense of the reality of the Armenian genocide which was vehemently denied until the 21st century.
We have yet another album of suppressed, oppressed, neglected music to add to an important and growing collection of music that arguably began with that of the Nazi declared “Entartete Musik” where music and composers were vilified viciously and directly. But this collection reminds listeners that the neglect and marginalization of art neither began or ended with “The Third Reich” and that there remains a great deal of research to be done and much joy to be derived from bringing such music to light as this disc does admirably.
Kudos to Chandos records and the fine Canadians of the ARC Ensemble for the joyful presentations of music that needs no longer languish in obscurity.
Aaron Jay Myers’ third album grabbed my attention immediately and didn’t let go til the album ended. Working un-self consciously in a stunning plurality of styles (this guy clearly paid attention to his 20th century music history classes) he has produced some mighty substantial works. His ability to integrate a wide variety of techniques and styles into his artistic persona is simply astounding. His references to other composers’ works, rather than sounding derivative, evoke nostalgic homage, at least in this listeners ears. Indeed there seem to be more references per square inch than in a Thomas Pynchon novel. And the fact that he shares this writer’s passion for Star Trek, Deep Space Nine only endeared him more to me (more on that later).
His very listenable music seemingly embraces the whole of the twentieth century stylistically and his very judicious use of extended techniques for pretty much all instruments including voice demonstrate a firm understanding of where those techniques best serve his artistic vision. Fortunately he has managed to find performers who both meet his technical demands and have a real grasp of his musical vision. This Neuma release is truly something special.
There are six works divided among the thirteen tracks. These chamber works were written between 2011 and 2021. None require more than ten minutes or so of your time and left this listener satisfied with the music and optimistic for the future of classical music in general.
“Save One Life, You Save the World Entire” (2017) for the unusual combination of flute and baritone saxophone opens this album with a surprisingly engaging work. It sounds like a challenge for the musicians who handle those challenges seamlessly and engage the listener in this rather brief essay.
When I listen to “Late Night Banter” (2011 rev. 2015) now, I do so in bare feet (it knocks my socks off). This piece for ten musicians with a conductor is a finely crafted piece that grabbed this listener’s attention by that craftsmanship but also by what seem to be a plethora of sonic references to 20th century music. The style of Stravinsky, an homage to Luciano Berio, etc. These brief references evoked emotional responses which led me to recall similar emotions I had attached to the apparent (at least to me) object of said reference. Even minimalist references occur matter of factly. Such efforts can sound derivative or at least imitative but not so in this piece. Rather it had the quality of a tour of the twentieth century in respectful jogs of memory. But even if you don’t get the references, this is a substantial and entertaining work. The evanescence of those references had me questioning whether they were actually there or just my mental figment. (I guess I’ll just have to listen again). Either way I was thrillingly engaged.
Avery Brooks as Captain Benjamin Sisko, commander of Deep Space Nine
“You Get On My Nerves, And I Don’t Like Your Hat” (2020) is the Deep Space Nine reference mentioned at the beginning of this review. If you haven’t seen this series I highly recommend it. And so, apparently, does Aaron Michael Myers. This work for vocal quartet (SATB) takes its title from a witty utterance by Captain Sisko (my fave Star Trek Captain). Of course you don’t have to know Star Trek lore to appreciate this work, but it helps. It is a challenging work for four unaccompanied soloists which reflects the composer’s sense of humor as well as his connection to pop culture.
Aaron Jay Myers
“Lichens III” (2018) is scored for soprano voice but the singer also does the work of a percussionist. In addition to the vocal challenges the singer is asked to perform on “body percussion”, the various sounds one can make by percussing (pounding) on one’s body. It is more commonly an idiom of folk and blues but soloist Stephanie Lamprea handles both the singing and the percussing as though it is her everyday practice accomplished with ease.
Clairsentience (2016) is another wind instrument duo, this time for clarinet and alto saxophone, a similarly unusual choice of instruments. This one is about twice the duration of that first piece and every bit as engaging as well as challenging.
The last track is a marvel of multitasking. Other than Aaron Trant (who does a fine job) on drums, all of the parts (three electric guitars, and bass) are handled by the composer. “Perception Stains Reality” (2002) is a tour de force consistent with the other works on this disc. Here he shows his rock/pop sensibilities, clearly as essential a part of his artistic endeavors as his “classical” training.
Myers is one to put on your hot list. He is certainly on mine. If you can hear a performance of his work, whether live or recorded, you would do well to check it out.
NB, I have made corrections on errors very publicly posted on the composer’s website. The changes are factual corrections and copyright citations. My blog is intended to provide the perspective of an avid listener and to promote music which I believe deserves attention and I believe I have done that. I’m always happy to correct errors of fact but I retain the right to my opinion. To be clear, I like the album very much.
I hope that my flippant title for this review does not offend. But an artist who creates new acoustic instruments of unusual tunings which he plays and for which he has written music sounds a lot like spiritual progeny to Harry Partch. Partch had no children and even if he did it is unlikely they would have followed in his footsteps. Strictly speaking, Cris Forster may be more like “nephew of Partch” given that he is following his own distinct trajectory and is doing so in a very different time. But he embodies the ethic and has made it his life’s work to compose in non-standard tunings and to create instruments capable of playing those tunes accurately and effectively. Forster is, in a metaphorical sense, a sort of spiritual progeny, one that would have made daddy proud.
The instruments are themselves works of art. This is Chrysalis II. Chrysalis I is on the album cover. Photos from CD booklet.
Cris Forster (1948- ) was born in Brazil, became a US citizen in 1966, and earned a degree in history from UC Santa Cruz in 1970. After graduating in 1974 from Lone Mountain College (now the University of San Francisco) with a degree in piano performance, he began building his own instruments in 1975 and, in 1976 (two years after Partch died), he began a four year stint as curator, archivist, and performer for the Harry Partch Foundation. While there he maintained the original Partch instruments, created what I’m calling “Post Partch” instruments, and subsequently performing both Partch’s music and his own compositions. In 2000 he published “Musical Mathematics”, a comprehensive accounting of his researches.
Harmonic/Melodic Canon, another beautiful “post Partch” instrument.
Forster also wrote this nearly 1000 page tome to describe his work, available on Amazon. It is arguably a continuation of Harry Partch’s defining book, “Genesis of a New Music”. I guess that makes this a “post Partch” book.
It is fairly easy to write about Forster, his book, his CD. But it is extremely difficult to communicate meaningfully about the sound of his music and how these beautiful but odd looking instruments are played. To that end I will provide a few YouTube links so that readers can experience the music itself: “A child said What is the grass” (1986); “Blue Nights” (2013). These are from Forster’s YouTube channel where you can see/hear more. Don’t worry about the unusual tuning. After a few listens (at least for this listener) one begins to hear it as the beautiful music that it is, a worthy successor to the Partch legacy.
There are eleven tracks featuring selections from two large works, Song of Myself: Intoned Poems of Walt Whitman (1977) written for Chrysalis I, Harmonic/Melodic Canon, and Voice; and Ellis Island/Angel Island (1978-2023) for a larger ensemble but without voice consisting of four groups of instruments: Stringed instruments: Chrysalis I, Chrysalis II, Harmonic/Melodic Canon, Bass Canon, and Just Keys; percussion instruments: Diamond Marimba I, Diamond Marimba II, and Bass Marimba; friction instrument: Glassdance; and wind instruments: Simple Flutes. And the informative liner notes are by Heidi Forster who also plays in the ensemble.
1.Song of Myself: Intoned Poems of Walt Whitman Song of Myself (Excerpts): No. 2, “A Child Said What Is the Grass?” Cris Forster: voice, Chrysalis I
2. Ellis Island/Angel Island (Excerpts): X. Blue Nights David Boyden, Heidi Forster, Isabelle Jotterand, Benjamin Koscielak playing Glassdance, Just Keys, Bass Canon, and Bass Marimba
3. Ellis Island/Angel Island (Excerpts): IX. Dream Time Jacob Richards playing Diamond Marimba II
4. Song of Myself (Excerpts): No. 10, “The Past and Present Wilt – I Have Fill’d Them, Emptied Them” Voice and Harmonic/Melodic Canon played by David Boyden
5. Song of Myself (Excerpts): No. 11, “The Spotted Hawk Swoops by and Accuses Me, He Complains of My Gab and My Loitering Voice and Harmonic/Melodic Canon played by David Boyden
6. Ellis Island/Angel Island (Excerpts): “I. Good-Bye” Just Keys played by Isabelle Jotterand
7. Ellis Island/Angel Island (Excerpts): “II. Farewell” Just Keys played by Isabelle Jotterand
8. Ellis Island/Angel Island (Excerpts): “III. Far Away” Just Keys played by Cris Forster
9. Ellis Island/Angel Island (Excerpts): “VII. Lullaby” Glassdance played by Heidi Forster
10. Ellis Island/Angel Island (Excerpts): XI. Wild Flower Cris Forster and Benjamin Koscielak playing Diamond Marimba II and Bass Marimba
11. Ellis Island/Angel Island (Excerpts):“IV. The Harbor” Heidi Forster, Benjamin Koscielak, and Jacob Richards playing Glassdance, Bass Marimba, and Diamond Marimba II
The tuning sounds unusual at first but it grows on the listener. Happily there are plans to release the rest of the Whitman settings. Meanwhile we have this lovely release produced by John Schneider and Heidi Forster (with Cris Foster doing the recording and Scott Fraser the mastering) to listen to while we wait.
This release completes Sarah Cahill’s monumental survey of piano music written by women which saw its first two CD volumes last year.last year. This, the third volume titled “At Play”, follows the first two as seen below. This trilogy is not, of course, the last word, the end on the subject of piano works by women. There can be no last word but these selections are a reflection of Cahill’s perspective as a performer but also a producer/programmer whose scholarship and advocacy are well known and respected worldwide. These releases speak to women, certainly. But they also speak to audiences in general, producers, and fellow musicians. They comprise a careful sampling of some three hundred years of music which effectively demonstrates that “there’s gold in them thar hills” (after all Cahill is a Californian). Here’s hoping that this survey will help start a metaphorical gold rush to unearth the gold that can be found in this neglected music.
The first two volumes (both previously reviewed in this blog).
Other Minds OM 1022-2
I recall my fascination with Cahill’s earlier commissioning project which resulted in her CD “A Sweeter Music” (2013). I recall attending a very preliminary recital at Mills College where she did brief run through of some of the compositions and spoke about the project. She later toured the music (sometimes with John Sanborn’s wonderful accompanying visuals, sometimes without). Little did Cahill know that she hit upon a genre of classical music dear to this listener’s heart, that of politically inflected classical music. As a result, my interest in her artistry and choices of repertoire escalated tremendously (I heard two of her Bay Area recitals of this music and reviewed the recording in the early incarnation of this very blog). So another project, this time supporting female composers, with even greater dimension than that earlier project has similarly grabbed my attention in this landmark collection of music by women composers which has largely been neglected by mainstream artists, producers, and programmers.
This trilogy of recordings hardly solves the egregious neglect of this music but it does contribute rather authoritatively to the canon (there is one now) of music by non-male composers. Cahill is not the first artist to do this, and there are multiple ongoing projects exploring the work of female composers, but this project deserves top billing as it casts a mighty wide net with its three volumes covering about 300 years (of neglect). These recordings of some 30 pieces are but a fraction of music by women composers in this pianist’s repertoire. But, more than simply righting wrongs, this is about celebrating a legacy of artists getting their due recognition. (The “bad idea” Biblical metaphor of hiding a lamp beneath a basket comes to mind). Just look, er, listen at/to what’s been under that basket!
Cahill playing at the Chapel of the Chimes Solstice Concerts in 2013, a major annual Bay Area event created and managed by her. (Photo by Allan Cronin Creative Commons License)
This now completed trilogy doubtless will not mark the end of Cahill’s advocacy but it will stand as a major manifesto of sorts and will hopefully bring more performers and producers to be open to performing and recording them. Simply hearing these recordings exposes the listener to music of stunning substance selected by an artist whose curatorial radar is finely tuned and whose choices will speak definitively to listeners (and likely fellow performing artists) for years to come. (N.B. Listeners would do well to check out Cahill’s YouTube channel where one can find a gold mine of music which reflects the scope of her performances and advocacy, not just for women composers, but for an amazing range of artists.)
This third volume is entitled, “At Play”. Like the previously released volumes, this collection gets a collective title that vaguely hints at the character of the music herein. The sequencing of the music is, like the previous two volumes, pretty much chronological. The essential program notes by Ms. Cahill (in all three volumes) provide just enough background to provide useful contexts for the listener. And you have to love the “Cahill and friends” photo galleries (on each volume) reflecting the deeply personal nature of this undertaking. That may sound hyperbolic but just listen to this music and feel the love, the passion, the connections, the sincerity, and the incisive playing. (Should I throw in a “Pied Piper” metaphor?) Listen and you’ll likely get hooked.
Track listings
There are 16 tracks comprising nine works by nine female composers over nearly three centuries. Four of the nine works receive here receive their first (or first commercial) recordings. As noted earlier, the track sequence is chronological. (N.B. That makes 30 + works over the 3 CDs), a little less than half of the total commissions.
We begin with the last of 9 sonatas by Hélène de Montgeroult (1764-1836). Her lifespan covers the classical to the early romantic eras in western musical history but recordings of her music didn’t begin to appear until about 2006 when Jérôme Dorival published a biography of her. Listeners will likely find this music similar to that of Mozart, Haydn, and early Beethoven but with a level of virtuosic writing that anticipates Chopin and Liszt. This three movement sonata was published in 1811. This is apparently the second recording of this work as another new music champion, Nicolas Horvath, released a recording of all nine of these in 2021, further testament that time has come for this composer (and perhaps women composers in general).
Next is the Thème varié, Op. 98 (1895) by Cécile CHAMINADE (1857–1944). This late romantic composer is probably the only name with which most listeners may be acquainted. A recording of her Concertino for flute and orchestra (1902) continues to receive attention by classical broadcasters but most of her work remains very little known. Cahill makes a strong case for this music with her interpretation of this virtuosic early romantic styled work. She is far better known in her native France. It is time we see what the French have been hiding.
Grażyna BACEWICZ (1909–1969), represented here by her Scherzo (1934), has gotten recognition in her native Poland but has only fairly recently become known internationally. This early work, less modernist than her later work, has apparently been recorded before but is new to this reviewer’s ears. Bacewicz was a prolific composer and this fine piece, a virtuosic showpiece, is likely to encourage listeners to further explore her extensive catalog which includes Symphonies, Concertos for violin, viola, cello, and for piano, 7 string quartets, symphonies, operas, songs, and much more.
Now Cahill brings us into present time, featuring living composers, beginning with the music of Chinese-American composer Chen YI (b. 1953). Guessing (1989) is a small piano piece which incorporates a Chinese folk song in a set of variations.
This is the first commercial recording of this music. To be honest, I am not familiar with much of this composer’s work (nor most of them here) save for Oliveros and Wong) but this piece as with all the selections here are sufficiently intriguing to prompt listeners to explore further. That is the point of an anthology such as this, to spark curiosity, suggest another path for the journey. Mission accomplished.
Franghiz ALI-ZADEH (b. 1947), born in Azerbaijan, incorporates elements from her ethnic heritage into modern classical idioms. Music for Piano (1989/1997) utilizes Cagean-like preparations, in this case a glass beaded necklace laid across the strings. The resulting sound, evoking Alan Hovhaness and/or Henry Cowell at times, is intended to evoke that of the traditional Azerbaijani string instrument called “tar” (not a reference to the recent film). The composers use of different scales also seems to derive from folk models. The piece is in several sections delineated by dynamics and by register in which is, I believe, an ingenious use of register used to control when to allow for those prepared strings to sound. The piece is by a composer with a wide expressive pallete and the ability to use those methods judiciously toward her unique creative ends.
Next, in the briefest entry at just over 4 minutes, we get one piece from a set of commissions (all by women composers) Cahill made to honor the 100th birthday of American composer Ruth Crawford (1901-1953). Pauline OLIVEROS (1932–2016) submitted this work (her first notated composition since the 60s) which uses her own unique approach to indeterminate composition in Quintuplets Play Pen: Homage to Ruth Crawford (2001), here in its world premiere recording. Oliveros, who exerted a profound influence on a generation of composers, performers, and listeners via her work in electronic music and improvisation, but most powerfully via her “Deep Listening” concepts which effectively define the role of the listener as being a part of the compositional process.
A clearly happy Pauline Oliveros acknowledges the warm applause of the Other Minds 20 audience after her performance at the SF Jazz Center in 2015. Her gentle spirit and powerful intellect preside over this trilogy and continue to influence all who knew her and her work. She would have loved these recordings. (Photo by Allan Cronin Creative Commons license)
I’m claiming fair use in publishing this lovely photo ad for an expensive perfume inspired by the same poem. Kinda Freudian, no?
Hannah KENDALL (b. 1984) is a black British composer whose three movement “On the Chequer’d Field Array’d” (2013) is based on the 1763 poem Caissa by Sir William Jones and depicts the three sections of a game of chess. The lengthy Elizabethan styled poem can easily be read as protofeminist given that the female chess piece heroically wins. Read it if you don’t believe me. And there are musical metaphors as well. It is these: mindplay, middlegame, and coda into which the work is divided. The music, like the poem is an intimate perspective which invites the reader (or hearer of the music) to create their own meanings here.
Aida SHIRAZI (b. 1987), an Iranian born composer, takes the performer inside the piano. Her blandly titled, “Albumblatt” (2017) belies her deep understanding of the piano and its possibilities. This is arguably the most avant garde (or modernist if you prefer) composition of the trilogy. Cahill’s choices reflect her eclectic approach to music programming.
In addition to a chronological approach, this trilogy is stylistically diverse. This music borrows from forbears such as John Cage and Morton Feldman as well as Henry Cowell. This meditative music only reveals itself fully to the focused listener. This is like an etude comprised of sounds you rarely hear (intentionally) from a piano. Played much of the time inside the piano but also at the keyboard more conventionally, the piece also demands close attention to dynamics (down to silence). Here is where the recordist’s art shines through. The subtleties of dynamics and the ability to capture the variety of harmonics evoked. Of course said performer had to accomplish rather large postural changes and do so silently if the performance adheres to the score, lol. And both are accomplished here in what sounds like a single take. This is a pretty great listen.
Regina HARRIS BAIOCCHI (b. 1956), a native Chicagoan poet and composer is given the last word with her, “Piano Poems” (2020). Last but not least by any means is a testament to Cahill’s singular but relevant choices as well as her advocacy of young composers as their stars begin to rise. This artist is new on my radar but one that will remain there. As both poet and composer, this young artist, commissioned by Cahill with a request that the music be about poetry, specifically by fellow (adopted) Chicagoans Gwendoline Brooks (one of this formerly Chicagoan reviewer’s personal faves) and Richard Wright.
The response was these 4 meditations on Brooks, Wright, and on the composer’s own poetical musings. The language here seemingly derives, appropriately, from 30s to 40s jazz of Ellington and Basie and a seemingly latter day version of that in the last two pieces describing the composer’s own literary utterances. Both virtuosic and apparently written by a composer very familiar with the instrument, a fitting and hopeful glimpse to the future.
Each of these discs contains at least one piece that reflects a deeper than average commitment by the performer. Cahill’s collaborative wok (with Dr. John DesMarteau) in the Agi Jambor sonata in volume I, her advocacy of Teresa Wong premiering the first performance of (She dances Naked…),the justly celebrated bay area artist’s selection on volume II. And her reaching out to Regina HARRIS BAIOCCHI for a commission (in volume III) all reflect another valued aspect of this performer.
The recording by Matt Carr is very listener friendly demonstrating serious skills at times in dealing with the many sonic challenges. This album and its two predecessors belong in any serious collector’s library. If the future is indeed female, then this is a fine soundtrack. Listeners, performers, Brava!!
New Music Buff 