Tag Archives: Redshift Records

Nova Pon and the Mother and Child Reunion


Redshift TK 546 (also available on Bandcamp)

I’ve written before (and likely will again) about the disturbing lack of attention given to new classical composers from Canada. Nova Pon (1983- ) is a Canadian born and educated artist who was awarded an “Emerging Composer” award back in 2015 here, in this release, shows herself to be a composer who has emerged and continues to develop substantial works that are easily approached yet quite original. The two works on this disc (released just last year) are the work of a mature and evolving artist from my neighbor to the north (not the 51st U.S. State).

The disc begins with World Within (2015), a chamber work of a brief but symphonic dimension that provides the listener with a sonic taste of the composer’s work at the time of that emerging composer award. It is scored for a modestly sized chamber orchestra. The composer describes the work as a musical metaphor describing the visuals of staring into a little sphere (like a terrarium) as well as a metaphor for the experience of deep emotion. It appears to be a set of variations in more or less classical tradition, This concern with visual, emotional, and musical metaphor develop much more substantially in the five movement Symphonies of Mother and Child (2022), the featured work on this fine Redshift Records release.

Ms. Pon shares, in the concise liner notes, the intended metaphorical underpinnings of both works on the disc, and describes each of the five movements of this symphony. The composer invokes the same metaphor that Luciano Berio did in titling his masterful “Sinfonia” of 1968, the original meaning of “sounding together”. In doing so she invokes her connection to the past and the evolving meaning of “symphony”. She also returns to her focus on her internal world contemplating her experiences as a mother. It is ,perhaps, a world known more completely to women who have borne children, but the music does speak universally.

The performance duties are discharged most enthusiastically by Vancouver’s Turning Point Ensemble under the able guidance of Owen Underhill. This music, I suspect, may not be easy to play but it is a delight to hear. Whether the listener connects with the intended metaphors, their own metaphors, the music, or both, the music and performance here are likely to connect with listeners. This is quite a spectacular release and puts Nova Pon on my musical radar which I will monitor eagerly awaiting this artist’s next effort.

I must also comment on the beautiful album art work by Kathryn Beals which seems to evoke the very images that inspired the composer. No surprise that both album design and liner notes were also the work of Ms. Pon. This is a very personal album that explores themes not often considered in the classical western music traditions, a trend that this writer has noticed lately. As the emerging composer was born and crowned, she now shares her personal experiences of pregnancy, childbirth, and nurturing even as she gives birth to some amazing new music. Give a listen. You will be glad you did.

Emilie Cecilia Lebel: Landscapes of Memory for solo piano and e bow drone


Redshift TK551

This listener hears the influence, or at least some common elements of Morton Feldman, La Monte Young, and a too little known David Toub. What are those common elements? The long, frequently slow development of Feldman and Toub along with long held tones of La Monte Young.

Emilie Cecilia Lebel (photo from composer’s website)

What we have here are two solo piano pieces by Canadian composer Emilie Cecilia Lebel (1983- ). After reviewing her nicely organized website I came to the conclusion that this composer works in drones, long held tones, and long form works that not infrequently bleed into sound installation and ambient musics categories. She writes for piano and other instruments including works that are suitable for traditional concert stages as well as works that function in a more ambient mode like gallery installations or site specific sound design.

These two works are best heard in an environment that allows the listener to focus on the slow development of ideas that both these works share. That environment can be a recital hall or, as in this listener’s case, a CD player attached to some good headphones, reclining with eyes closed. Despite said slow development, these pieces compelled this listener to stay put and really enjoy the way this music unfolds as the initially perceived sparseness gives way to allow the structure and logic to emerge.

Despite the perceived similarities to the sound world of other composers as mentioned above, these pieces have a unique and developed voice. In a sense they are the next generation containing the musical DNA of their predecessors.

One of the things I had to look up was the “e bow drone”. This little electromagnetic device is more commonly found in jazz and fusion, perhaps rock bands as well. Primarily used with electric guitars and basses, this device excites a targeted string on a given instrument to produce long held tones. Exactly how it is used by the performers is doubtless indicated in the score but, suffice it to say that it works well here. These held tone fades from foreground to background and back again as the music relates always to the anchor of the drone.

Both pieces utilize this drone apparently as both a structural and sonic tool. By that I mean that the music unfolds partly via its relationship to the drone tone. Within that framework the pianist plays a variety of chords, arpeggios and near melodic lines that produce cadences which delineate the structure. And here I’m only relating this listener’s experience. I do not have the knowledge to attempt a more sophisticated analysis but I guess the point is that such analysis, while doubtless interesting, is not essential to the appreciation of this music and I respectfully leave this to those with more sophisticated training than I.

The two works presented are here performed by the artists who commissioned them. Technical concerns aside, these works are satisfying to the listener able to focus on the flow of the music. These are well developed, engaging pieces that conceivably could be successful as a concert performance or an ambient sound installation.

This release is another valuable feather in the cap of the Vancouver based Redshift Records. This label celebrates Canadian Composers new and old (mostly new). Interested listeners would do well also to check out Riparian Acoustics, a marketing organization with some fascinating curatorial radar. (N.B. This reviewer has published at least two other Redshift productions reviews here and here).

This is a composer I’m delighted to have made it onto my personal radar. She deserves to be a person of interest for successful artistic transgressions, so to speak. Enjoy!