CD Review, Contemporary Classical

CD Review: Voices of the Pearl, Vol. 3

Voices of the Pearl, Vol. 3

Anne Harley

Various Artists

Voices of the Pearl, Volume 3 is one of a series of albums featuring song cycles dedicated to the rediscovery, through contemporary music, of the voices of women from ancient times to the present.. According to the organization website: “The project commissions, performs and records musical works from composers across the globe, setting text by and about female esoterics from world traditions throughout history, reclaiming these lost voices and the tradition of female spirituality.” Volume 3 in this series contains five new works, based on Buddhist, Chinese and other Asian texts dating from as far back as 800 BCE. The compositions were all written between 1995 and 2018 by contemporary composers and feature soprano vocals with a variety of instrumental accompaniments. Anne Harley and Stacey Fraser are the soprano soloists and the accompanying ensemble is made up of a number of prominent Los Angeles area musicians.

The first track is the world premiere recording of Persevere (2017) by Karola Obermüller. This consists of nine movements of vocal music based on texts in Pali and Tibetan dating from 817 BCE to the late 20th century. Anne Harley is the soprano, accompanied by Barbara Poeschl-Edrich on harp and the composer on live electronics. The first few seconds of the opening movements begin with mysteriously indistinct whispers followed by ominous electronic sounds and a strong vocal entrance. The harp provides sharp chords that precede the vocal phrases and add to the tension. The chant-like incantation in the voice compliments the prayerful text that dates from 500 BCE and is attributed to two Buddhist nuns.

The movements in this piece run together, sometimes separated by silences or by stretches harp and electronics. The second set is sung in Tibetan from Lady of the Lotus-Born by Yeshe Tsogyal, ca. 800 CE The vocal phrasing is strong and clear while the supporting accompaniment is perhaps a bit less menacing, and this results in a more confident feel. The later movements return to the mysterious whisperings in contrast with a high, arcing soprano tone that increases in volume, eventually dominating. This piece convincingly brings to life the ancient texts with resolute singing and a spare accompaniment that vividly conveys the historical setting without sounding alien or contrived. The Pali and Tibetan words were sung with precision and a bright assurance so that Persevere artfully connects us to the emotions of a distant past.

Still Life After Death (1995) by Chinary Ung follows, and this piece describes the journey of a soul facing the ultimate reality of death as related by ancient Buddhist texts written from the perspective of a woman. From the liner notes: “In the face of death, the Soul searches for insight into the great beyond. Although it may feel frightened or abandoned, the soul does not journey alone: a monk, represented here by a bass-baritone, chants short phrases from a Buddhist scripture…” The somber opening tutti chord immediately sets the feeling. Soprano Stacey Fraser, as the Soul, enters in a deep register with solemn vocal expressions that soon devolve into a series of yelps and cries. The distress is underscored by a lush instrumental accompaniment while the voice alternately dominates with strong sustained tones and short snappy phrases. The singing by Ms. Fraser is precise and controlled but always powerful, even in the panicky stretches as the Soul feels increasingly vulnerable. The instrumental accompaniment by Brightwork newmusic is extraordinary, with vivid coloration and strong dynamics. Towards the finish, the entrance of James Hayden, singing bass, changes everything with the chanting deep tones of spiritual calm and reassurance. The soprano repeats these lines, absorbing a final sense of release from fear as the piece concludes. Still Life After Death is a dramatic portrait of the emotions experienced at the end of life and the timeless reassurance of prayer.

My Spirit is Chanting (2011), by Yii Kah Hoe is next, inspired by Makyong, the traditional Malaysian form of dance-drama. Low bass clarinet tones open, followed by rapid, spiky passages, masterfully played by Brian Walsh. Anne Harley’s soprano enters with steady, chant-like phrases that counter the uncertainty in the clarinet and percussion. The singing is strong, but reserved, and the voice gradually dominates with a sustained power interspersed with great jumps in pitch and dynamics. The combined effects of the clarinet, voice and percussion slowly build tension as the piece progresses. The voice is ultimately heard at high volume and in a high register – with strong and impressive singing. There is an exotic and imposing feel to this at times with good ensemble of the three elements, each contributing just the right dynamic. Now a quiet stretch towards the finish arrives with soft squeaks and breaths from the clarinet – a good contrast between this and the earlier sections. My Spirit is Chanting is an impressive combination of artful composition and virtuosic performance.

You Moving Stars (2017), by Emilie Cecilia LeBel is on track 4, and this is based on early Therīgāthā texts in the Pali language. The composer writes: “The Therīgāthā (Verses of the Elder Nuns) is the earliest known collection of women’s literature, and it collects spiritual poems by and about female disciples of the historical Buddha (from approximately 5th century BCE).” The soprano voice is Anne Harley with Steve Thachuk accompanying on electric guitar.

The opening is a low drone with occasional solitary guitar notes. The soprano soon makes a strong entrance with slow, deliberate phrases and later, a high cry. This has a sacred feel, with repeating vocal passages and a steady, unhurried accompaniment. The singing throughout is solid and purposeful with just the right touch for each segment – powerful when reaching upwards and softly intimate in the quieter sections. The guitar tones are exotic and the notes are sparingly used, serving to increase their impact. The singing is both confident and expressive and music of You Moving Stars is a well-crafted frame for the text. There is a distinctly ancient feel to this, yet never foreign or alien – a masterful imagining for the important historical voice of The Elder Nuns.

The final track is Therīgāthā Inside Aura (2018), by Chinary Ung and at a little over 22 minutes this is the longest piece of the album. It is a world premiere recording and features large musical forces: two soprano voices, viola, clarinet and percussion, all conducted by David Rentz. The texts are sourced from the Therīgāthā – the collection of early Buddhist sacred material attributed to The Elder Nuns ca. 600 BCE. Bright bell tones open this, quickly followed by a lush tutti chord and text spoken in English. Strong singing by Anne Harley and Stacey Fraser together follows, and this has an almost fugal character while the instrumental accompaniment sustains a pleasing combination of mysticism and confidence. The vocals – sometimes spoken, sometimes sung – interweave with each other and the various instruments, adding to the exotic feel. All sorts of combinations of voice, percussion and instruments are heard, and the singing by the two sopranos is operatic in scale and power with complex and independent melody lines. The entire ensemble bursts with energy, surrounding the listener in a full embrace.

Later in the piece, there is a fine soprano solo soprano that simply brims with strength and confidence, and this seems to sum up the entire album. There are several recording engineers credited on the various tracks but Scott Fraser mastered the finished album. The sound engineering deserves mention because the soprano voices – even apart from their obvious vocal power and virtuosity – are always in the forefront. This perfectly compliments the ideals of the Voices of the Pearl project – the historical female voice is heard clearly and on its own terms. It becomes a living presence in our own time, and not treated as some curiosity of the distant past. Voices of the Pearl, Volume 3 vividly recreates the dynamism and influence of neglected female artists of ancient times and so becomes an important creative reference point for our own contemporary culture.

Voices of the Pearl, Volume 3 is available at Amazon Music and Apple Music. For further information about the Voices of the Pearl project, visit their website.

The musicians vary from track to track – here is a summary:

Track 1 – Persevere (2017) by Karola Obermüller
Anne Harley, soprano; Barbara Poeschl-Edrich, harp;
Karola Obermüller, live electronics

Track 2 – Still Life After Death (1995) by Chinary Ung
Stacey Fraser, soprano; James Hayden, bass-baritone
Aron Kallay, piano; Sara Andon, flute
Brian Walsh, clarinets; Tereza Stanislav, violin;
Maggie Parkins, cello; Nick Terry, percussion
David Rentz, conductor

Track 3 – My Spirit is Chanting (2011), by Yii Kah Hoe
Anne Harley, soprano
Brian Walsh, bass clarinet; Nick Terry, percussion

Track 4 – You Moving Stars (2017), by Emilie Cecila Lebel
Anne Harley, soprano; Steve Thachuk, electric guitar

Track 5 – Therīgāthā Inside Aura (2018), by Chinary Ung
Anne Harley and Stacey Fraser, sopranos
Susan Ung, viola and voice; Brian Walsh, clarinet and voice
Nick Terry, percussion and voice; David Rentz, conductor

by Paul Muller
CD Review, Choral Music, early music, File Under?

Ora Singers – Spem In Alium. Vidi Aquam (CD Review)

Spem in Alium. Vidi Aquam

Ora Singers, Suzi Digby

Harmonia Mundi, 2020

English choral group the Ora Singers, led by Suzi Digby, present Thomas Tallis’s magnificent forty-part motet Spem in Alium on their latest Harmonia Mundi recording. Split into eight choirs of five apiece, the singers are given many opportunities to overlap in successive entrances, interact among cohorts, and sound immensely scored chords. The Ora Singers present a beautiful performance that combines purity of sound with thrilling forte climaxes. Digby deserves plaudits for her careful shaping of phrases and mastery of Spem’s myriad challenging balancing acts. 

Most of the rest of the recording contains Latin works by composers active in England during the sixteenth century. These include three of foreign descent – Derrick Gerrard, Philip Van Wilder, and Alonso Ferrabosco the Elder. Van Wilder’s Pater Noster is filled with delicately corruscating lines and the composer’s Vidi civitatem is particularly poignant, with arcing entries blending with subdued declamatory phrases. Ferrabosco is as well known for suggestions of criminality and spying (for Queen Elizabeth, no less) as he is for his music. Ferrabosco’s In Monte Oliveti contains widely spaced, sumptuous harmonies while Judica me Domine is performed with long flowing imitative lines and solemn pacing. Gerrard’s O Souverain Pastor est maistre is a deft display of canonic writing, while his Tua est Potentia employs pervasive imitation. There is relatively little by Gerrard that has been recorded, which is a pity: he is a fine composer. 

Works by more famous composers include Tallis’s covertly recusant motet In jejunio et fletu, in a particularly moving performance, and a delicately shaded Derelinquit impius. William Byrd is represented by two motets,  Domine, salva nos, its introductory homophonic passages tinged with chromaticism and succeeded by elegant imitative entries, and Fac cum servo tuo, which instead begins in canon straightaway. 

The recording’s closer is a contemporary piece written in response to Spem in Alium, Vidi Aquam, a forty-part motet by James MacMillan. Using small paraphrases of the Tallis piece interwoven with new material, MacMillan creates an exuberant composition  filled with an abundance of stratospheric ascending lines.  it is a thrilling, and tremendously challenging, companion work.

-Christian Carey

by Christian Carey
Contemporary Classical

Podcast: The Southland Ensemble

Since 2013, the Southland Ensemble has been one of the mainstays of the Los Angeles new music scene. Dedicated to the interpretation and performance of experimental music, Southland Ensemble regularly produces concerts of the mid-twentieth and 21st century masters, as well as lesser known composers. In this podcast we hear about the beginnings of the Southland Ensemble, some of their memorable concerts, their current interests and what they are doing to cope with the pandemic.

With Paul Muller and Jim Goodin

by Paul Muller
Choral Music, File Under?, Twentieth Century Composer

Penderecki’s Passion: a new recording

Krzysztof Penderecki

St. Luke Passion

BIS Records

Sarah Wegener, soprano; Lucas Meachem, baritone; Matthew Rose, bass

Sławomir Holland, speaker

Warsaw Boys’ Choir; Kraków Philharmonic Choir

Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Kent Nagano, conductor

Krzysztof Penderecki’s St. Luke Passion (1966) garnered international acclaim that raised the composer’s stature substantially. Penderecki had a long relationship with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, appearing with them a number of times as a guest conductor from 1979-2015. The orchestra gave the Canadian premiere of St. Luke Passion with Nagano conducting. This live recording was made at the Felsenreitschule Salzburg Festival in July, 2018 with the composer in attendance. 

At the time of its premiere, there also were undercurrents of criticism on two fronts. The musical avant-garde pilloried Penderecki for his eclecticism, which ranges from triads to twelve-tone rows (two are used in the piece) to cluster chords and a prominent use of the B-A-C-H motive. In retrospect, one can evaluate the work as a precursor to the polyglot postmodern assemblages of the 1970s. Others decried the use of such devices in a liturgical piece of music. Despite these critiques, the work has weathered well. 

Throughout, there is a powerful sense of declamation by both the soloists and chorus. Soprano Sarah Wegener’s voice supplies thrilling high notes with abandon while baritone Lucas Meachem displays a richly powerful voice and bass Matthew Rose an impressive lower register. Perhaps most impressive is Slawomir Holland’s potent delivery as a speaker. The choruses are superlatively well prepared, their singing mixing thick chords and stentorian high notes as well as swirls of group spoken word passages. Concomitantly a fluidity between styles and idioms prevails.Sprechstimme morphs quickly into detailed harmony, micropolyphony mixes with quotation and tonal signatures. 

Nagano leads the Montréal musicians through an assured and nuanced account of the score. In the wake of Penderecki’s passing, this recording comes at a propitious time to reevaluate his compelling early work. 

-Christian Carey

by Christian Carey
Contemporary Classical

Review: Alex Wand – Carretera

Alex Wand

Carretera

In the fall of 2018 composer Alex Wand assumed his Alejandro Botijo persona and began a cycling trip from Los Angeles to Michoacán, Mexico. Alex explains: “I create aliases for myself that highlight certain qualities of my person. I think of them like archetypal, mythological people that help me realize existing aspects of myself. For example, Alejandro Botijo helped me bypass the physical limitations of my body, feelings of loneliness, fear of being hit by a truck, along with many other vulnerabilities that come with cycling over 2,000 miles alone.”

The bicycle trip took him along the migratory path of the monarch butterflies and Alejandro recorded his impressions with field recordings and music from that perspective. The monarch butterfly is the only species of butterfly known to make a two-way migration during the year. Towards the end of October they make their way south, spending the winter in Southern California and Mexico, heading north again in March to spend the summer in the US and Canada. At the conclusion of the trip, Wand/Botijo created a summary of his experiences and the result is Carretera, a series of miniature musical impressions of the journey south.

From the liner notes: “These compositions investigate migration from the monarch’s perspective. The field recordings and spoken word are meant to be ways of listening-with the monarchs by capturing moments of stillness and space on their journey, as well as outlining myriad challenges such as predators, pesticides, and habitat degradation. Alejandro loops, time warps, and pitch shifts the musical sounds to express overlaying temporalities and to articulate the repetitive aspects of migration. With these elements, the music seeks to trace the experience of the monarch/cyclist on their journey to the oyamel forests of Michoacán.”

High Desert, the first track, describes Botijo’s first stage of his trip south from Los Angeles. Single bell-like tones are heard accompanied by a sputtered rushing sound, as if cycling alongside a busy desert highway. Wand provides spoken commentary with his calmly enigmatic voice, repeating a list of the hazardous contents of the roadside along with the beauty of the landscape. There is a swirling mix of headlights, broken bottles and nails together with vivid red and purple sunsets.

Baptist Church follows, and this has lighter tones combined with a softly hopeful tremolo. The vocals begin with “There’s a Baptist Church at the border town where the railroad used to pass through. There’s an old building where the railroad workers used to spend the night.” A series of stronger tones are heard at irregular intervals, invoking the presence of railroad tracks. As the text is repeated, more details are added so that gradually the feeling becomes one of sanctuary – a place that a migrating butterfly – or cyclist – might find rest for the night.

Depredadores is next, full of aggressive percussive beats and active rhythms. The text is now in Spanish, a list of words and names accompanied by low video game sounds. Only a minute and a half in length, Depredadores nevertheless captures the sense of crossing into Mexico by way of a gritty border town. Texaco follows with the sound of mystical drums and cymbals. The text speaks of an abandoned gas station, a barbed wire fence, farmland and a chili factory. Deep guitar chords paint a grim and desolate picture of what could be an agricultural town in northern Mexico.

Mercado, on track 5, however, is very different. A lovely groove comprised of light electronic tones is heard and soon accompanied by animated street sounds and the chatter of voices in Spanish. Clearly we have traveled farther into Mexico and have finally arrived at a warm and welcoming village. Repartiendo el Pan follows, opening with a sweet repeating guitar phrase and the sound of chirping birds. Children are heard playing, and wind instruments enter with a happy bounce. The piece ends with a short fragment of a pop song sung in Spanish, continuing the hospitable feeling that carries over from the previous track. Clearly we are deep into Mexico.

Stream, track 7, is just that: the sounds of rushing water accompanied by electronic rhythmic phrases. There is no spoken narration or human sounds. Restful, calming and most definitely rural. Carretera follows and this opens with an active, bouncing synth and repeating guitar lines that radiate an upbeat and optimistic feel. A series of spoken place names and Spanish nouns are heard, adding an intimacy to the music and creating an emotional sense of homecoming.

The final track is I Wish I Could Disappear, and this features sunny, repeating guitar lines accompanied by the sung and spoken words of the title. This is a final summing up of the emotional changes triggered by the long journey. From the northern border lands to a place deep in the Mexican interior, there is a real sense of longing in this music for a simple communal life that is in harmony with the natural environment. Perhaps it is this – and not just the climate – that draws the monarch butterflies back each winter.

Carretera is an engaging and succinct depiction of a long emotional journey, as seen from the eye level of a migrating butterfly. Like the monarch, we long for a place where we can be part of a welcoming community – Carretera completely and elegantly captures this sensibility.

Carretera is distributed for digital download via Bandcamp and a vinyl disk may be ordered. There is also a companion film Camino de las Monarcas, that is available for download.


by Paul Muller
CD Review, Contemporary Classical, File Under?

Anna Höstman’s Harbour (CD Review)

Anna Höstman 

Harbour 

Cheryl Duvall, piano 

Redshift Records, 2020 

Harbour, a recital recording of Anna Höstman’s piano works played by Cheryl Duvall, reveals an emerging composer who both synthesizes her research interests – she has written about Feldman and Linda Caitlin Smith – while developing a significant voice of her own. Thus, gradually developing fields of sound remind listeners of the aforementioned composers, but Höstman’s gestural palette is significantly different. Examples of this include the ornaments on “Allemande” and the blurring gestures of “Yellow Bird.”

The title piece is a twenty-five minute long essay that begins with flourishes that remind one of Messiaen’s birdsong, as well as gliss-filled descending lines, set against a slow moving series of polychords. Registral expansion affords these three elements considerable latitude and points of intersection. The verticals take on a reiterated ostinato that alternates with linear duos and the glissandos, allowing for the music to gradually grow more emphatic in demeanor. There is a long-term crescendo that allows for these elements to take on a certain bravura that transforms them, at least for the moment, into emphatic post-Romantic material. However, the sound soon scales back and Harbour returns to a quietly mysterious space.

Pianist Cheryl Duvall is an excellent advocate throughout, bringing a graceful touch and finely detailed shadings of dynamics and voicing to the music. Composer and pianist seem to be an ideal pairing on this consistently engaging release. 

-Christian Carey 

Anna Höstman 
by Christian Carey
CD Review, File Under?

Rhodri Davies – Transversal Time

Rhodri Davies

Transversal Time

Ryoko Akama: electronics

Rhodri Davies: pedal harp, electric harp

Sarah Hughes: zither

Sofia Jernberg: vocals

Pia Palme: contrabass recorder

Adam Parkinson: programming

Lucy Railton: cello

Pat Thomas: piano, electronics

Dafne Vicente-Sandoval: bassoon

Confront Recordings

Co-commissioned by Huddersfield Festival, Chapter, and Counterflows

 

Multi-instrumentalist Rhodri Davies created the piece Transversal Time in 2017. This recording is of its performance at Chapter, captured by Simon Reynell (also known for his own label, Another Timbre). The assembled musicians are a who’s who of today’s experimental cohort and Davies gives them imaginative prompts for the music they are to play. These involve a variety of time systems – standard time, decimal time, and hex time – creating a layering of tempos.

 

The tone colors elicited are particularly attractive and, while often blended, each performer gets a standout moment. Sofia Jernberg’s wordless vocals play a role early on, then electronics from Ryoko Akama, Adam Parkinson, and Pat Thomas create sine tones and glissandos that are then imitated as sustained pitches and slides by the rest of the ensemble.  Later, birdlike chirps become an extended call and response. The prevailing dynamic level is piano and there often is a delicate sensibility to the proceedings.

 

The incorporation of contrabass recorder, played by Pia Palme, and bassoon, provide a sturdy grounding for the rest of the treble instruments. A lengthy percussive interlude by Davies, Lucy Dalton, and Thomas combines harp, cello, and inside-the-piano work. Davies alternates between pedal and electric harps and is very much a member of the ensemble rather than a soloist. That said, one can hear the harp as an instrument that urges the various time streams forward and in that sense Davies is a master of ceremonies. Gradually, electronics and then the rest of the ensemble are reincorporated, the different speeds creating a hocketing effect. A coda of soft sustained notes and electronic smears is a fitting denouement.

 

Transversal Time lasts thirty-eight minutes, but is so absorbing that it feels like it passes in a blink of an eye. The interwoven textures reward multiple listenings, and the recording comes highly recommended.

 

by Christian Carey
Contemporary Classical

CD Review: John Luther Adams – Lines Made By Walking

Cold Blue Music has released Lines Made by Walking, a new CD of string quartet music by composer John Luther Adams. Two three-movement pieces are featured, performed by the acclaimed JACK Quartet. As with his earlier string quartet pieces, this new album further explores the intimate relationship that Adams, an avid hiker, has with the wild terrain that inspires him. As the composer writes: “Making my way across these landscapes at three miles an hour, I began to imagine music coming directly out of the contours of the land…” Those who appreciated Adam’s earlier string quartet music CD The Wind in High Places, will find this new album to be a further articulation of his strong environmental sensibility.

The opening movement of Lines Made by Walking, the first piece, is “Up the Mountain” and this immediately establishes the deep connection between the land and the music. From the start, deep cello tones rise up in warm arpeggios. The other strings enter in similar fashion in their higher registers. All the strings reach their upward pitches at different times and in different combinations, so that the interleaving layers of sound create a convincing sense of ascent. The mixing and repetition of the phrases create some lovely harmonies and the result is purposeful and unhurried, as if walking a favorite mountain trail.

The second movement, “Along the Ridges” has similar phrasing and feel, but the mix of notes is not as evocative of the vertical, and a slower tempo suggests a more leisurely amble. Not as purposeful in its repetitiveness, there is a more introspective feeling in this movement. Thin violin lines at times soar high above the lower strings, while at other times there are moments of lush four-part harmony. The settled feeling here is comforting and meditative, as if looking down from a great height on a quiet village below. “Down the Mountain”, the third movement, begins in rarefied air with high violin tones flaring out followed by notes that fall in pitch. The lower strings enter in a similar pattern and the layered, repeating phrases are interwoven to form a cascading stream of descending tones. Appropriately, this sequence is the reverse of the opening movement, but still maintains the warm sense of place, especially in the final minute.

Lines Made by Walking, portraying as it does the ascent and descent of a mountain, calls to mind MacLaren Summit, an earlier string quartet piece by Adams that describes a remote mountain in the wilds of Alaska. In MacLaren Summit, the music suggests a more challenging environment and climate. The familiar high violin phrases are more active and needle sharp, suggesting a bitter cold. Overall there is a more distant and isolated feel, yet there is at the same time a welcoming oneness with nature that is clearly heard again in Lines Made by Walking. Adams continues to write music that is accurately descriptive of rugged landscapes without being adversarial toward them. The JACK quartet understands this perfectly and supplies just the right touch throughout.

The second piece in the album is Untouched, and this is only the second string quartet composed by Adams, at age 58. All of the instruments are played on natural harmonics or open strings throughout, and this allows the sustained overtones to interact and languidly mingle. The first movement, “Rising”, opens with deliciously low cello tones accompanied by lofty violin pitches. The feeling is open and airy, as Adams describes in the liner notes: “I stood on the tundra, holding a small Aeolian harp on top of my head, dancing with the wind, turning like a weathervane. Music seemed to flow out of the sky – across the strings and down through my body, and into the earth. From that beginning, I’ve discovered a broad harmonic and melodic palette derived from superimposing the harmonic series on itself at different intervals…”

As “Rising” progresses, it proceeds in a series of stages or waves, each with a slightly higher pitch set. This gives a sense of progression, but the gently rocking rhythms and harmonies also radiate a warmly accessible hospitality. The phrases are comprised of notes that move broadly upward and by the end of the movement, the cello drops out, liberating the violins to rise to extreme heights. The second movement, “Crossing”, features a more horizontal feel; the notes follow different patterns but carry the same organic feeling that springs from the harmonic series. In the fluid texture it is possible to imagine an ephemeral melody arising out of the repeating lines of notes. The cello is not as deep or rich here, and the violins sparkle in a stratospheric register. A somewhat slower tempo at the finish lengthens the tones before fading at the finish.

“Falling’, the final movement, begins with almost painfully sharp high notes in the violins, and as the lower tones enter the harmony restores the congenial atmosphere of the earlier movements. The tones gradually fall in pitch and the music becomes more inward and nostalgic. The notes seem to dance and flicker like firelight, adding to the meditative feel. Deep cello tones at the finish produce a sense of vast grandeur, perhaps a tribute to the drama of the Alaskan wilderness.

Lines Made by Walking affirms Adam’s embrace of the natural environment and extends his creative powers through a masterful deployment of the harmonic series.

Lines Made by Walking is available directly from Cold Blue Music, Amazon and from numerous CD retailers.





by Paul Muller
Contemporary Classical

EP Review: KOAN Quartet – Johanna Beyer – String Quartet IV


The Koan Quartet has recently posted the premiere commercial recording of Johanna Beyer’s String Quartet IV. The German-born Ms. Beyer is one of the lesser known composers of experimental music and was most active during the 1930s. She is associated with contemporaries such as Henry Cowell, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Carl Ruggles and others of that era. Her enduring legacy recently surfaced in an educational workshop that examined the transformative potential of new digital entertainment, including nouveaux casino en ligne, revealing unexpected parallels between her trailblazing approach and modern online platforms. Her music has been described as economical and well-balanced with a dash of the whimsical, as well as having a solid commitment to experimentation. Beyer’s 1938 work, Music of the Spheres, was the first piece for electronic instruments to be scored by a woman. Some of her work prefigures later musical developments, including tone clusters, pitch-based rhythmic processes and repetitive elements as subsequently employed by the minimalists.

Ms. Beyer died in 1944 and her legacy had largely been forgotten, but an extensive editing and recopying of scores by the Frog Peak/Johanna Beyer Project has brought her work back into current view. There is now a good selection of her works available. The Koan Quartet has, for the first time, recorded Beyer’s String Quartet IV, a piece thought to have been composed in 1943, and not known to have been performed during her lifetime.

The most prominent feature of the string quartets of Johanna Beyer is that they typically consist of short movements. String Quartet IV is just 12 minutes spread over four movements. For all their economy and brevity, however, nothing is lacking. Where Haydn might take several minutes to work out the arc of a single movement, Johanna Beyer expresses her musical ideas fully, yet succinctly, and the listener does not feel in any way short-changed.

“Movement I – Moderato” of String Quartet IV opens with playful variations on what sounds like a children’s melody, confirming Beyer’s longstanding attraction to the lighthearted. The brief form and structure are solidly and carefully detailed here by the Koan Quartet. Dissonance in the counterpoint – normally a distinguishing feature of Beyer’s music – is not as prominent here as in, for example, her String Quartet II. The sound is nevertheless full and elegant, especially in the dramatic finish of this movement.

“Movement II – Larghetto”, opens with a mournful solo – slow, deliberate and spare. There is a somber, expressive feeling to this, especially in the lower strings. There is also a faint echo of the melody from the first movement, but subdued and with a solemn feel. The pizzicato phrases that come and go throughout this movement are cleanly played by the Koan Quartet against the sustained tones of the melody. “Movement III – Andante” begins with a low cello solo, followed by strongly declarative and march-like tutti theme. There is a sense of purpose and action here making a good contrast to the second movement. A stretch of warm harmony precedes a return to the strident rhythms of the theme as this movement finishes.

“Movement IV – Presto” has an active and busy feel, and is filled with rapid tutti passages. The characteristic Beyer dissonance in the counterpoint is more in evidence here and nicely emphasizes the sense of movement. This final movement is nicely complex, but not overwhelmingly so and provides a spirited finish to the entire piece. String Quartet IV is an appealing work whose charm is enhanced by its modest scale. Perhaps miniature string quartets, such as the gems composed by Johanna Beyer, deserve greater consideration in the experimental repertory. The Koan Quartet has made some history here with the first commercial recording of String Quartet IV, and their fine playing has rightly increased their reputation as a reliable source of historically valuable performances.

Koan Quartet is Eric KM Clark and Orin Hildestad, violins; Cassia Streb, viola; and Jennifer Bewerse; cello.

Joanna Beyer: String Quarter IV is available as an EP digital download at Bandcamp.

by Paul Muller
CD Review, File Under?

Ralph van Raat plays French Piano Rarities (CD Review)

French Piano Rarities

Ralph van Raat, piano

Naxos 8.573894

I was fortunate to hear the US premiere at New York’s Weill Recital Hall by Ralph van Raat of Pierre Boulez’s early work Prelude, Toccata, and Scherzo (1944). Composed when he was just nineteen, the piece is a substantial one, twenty-seven minutes long. Unlike Boulez’s works from 1945 onward, as is evidenced by a recording here of 12 Notations from that year, the piece predates his fascination with Webern and total serialism, instead seeking a rapprochement between tradition and Schoenbergian dissonant harmonies. Van Raat’s recording of the work for Naxos is authoritative, details large and small shaped with impressive care and bold playing. 

“Prelude, Toccata, and Scherzo” serves as the centerpiece of the French Piano Rarities recording, but it is accompanied by fascinating fare. In addition to the aforementioned, a late Boulez piece, Une page d’éphéméride, is also included, resembling late Stravinsky in its use of small repeating collections in post-tonal fashion. Olivier Messiaen is represented by three pieces, Morceau de lecture á vue from 1934, with strong polychordal verticals, two movements from the piano version of Des canyons aux étoiles…, filled with birdsong and color chords, and La Fauvette passerinette from 1961, a rapid birdsong essay.

Three earlier works by French masters are included: a gently ephemeral Menuet from mid-career Maurice Ravel, and two late pieces by Claude Debussy: Étude retrouvée and Les Soirs illuminés par l’ardeur du charbon. They all prove that, past the well-worn selections one frequently hears on recitals, there are many underserved pieces that hardly deserve to be “rarities.” 

-Christian Carey

by Christian Carey