Among The Living: Works of Living Composers

I'm rather fond of some minimalist stuff: have you heard "Different Trains" by Steve Reich, on the disc with a performance by the Kronos Quartet? It's coupled with Pat Metheny playing "Electric Counterpoint", with lots of overdubbed guitar looping (the original performance had several tracks recorded and he then played a final part over the top of it all).

Similar in some ways (use of repeating recorded loops, minimalist structures) but very differnt in others is John Tavener's "Tears of the Angels" which is available from Linn, performed by the BT Scottish Ensemble with Patricia Rosario (IIRC) for voice parts on one of the 3 pieces. I think this is a beautiful disc with deep spirituality available in abundance, but those who dislike minimalism may well spend a lot of time thinking "this is a bit last the last bit, and the bit before that, and the bit before that"... I sent a sampler tape of various bits and bobs from my collection to a friend who's a semi-pro soprano in Michigan, and she went straight out and bought the full disc as it touched her so much.

Pete.

Peter Schat and his The Heavens

Why don't I add a Dutch contemporary composer to this thread.

Peter Schat (1935) is an interesting composer in that he made the move away from serialist and other forms of doctrinaire composing (he studied with Boulez), and went back to his romantic roots. Of course there was no way of going back to old romanticism, and to avoid this he devised a tonal / harmonic system called the Tone Clock. He wrote a book about it, which I never read, because to me the music sounds fine the way it is.

The Heavens is a 45 minute piece commisioned by the Concertgebouw (1990). It's structured in twelve variations for large orchestra. I seem to recall Schat telling me the work was inspired by a stay in Australia, looking at the big sky and ocean there.

Not every variation is an entire success. Sometimes there's too much happening at the same time (not a good thing in the Concertgebouw acoustic anyways). However the slower more spacious variations feature lovely music, especially in unusual high - low combinations, such as counterbassoon / bass clarinet and flute / hobo and a most intriguing African drum that I first took for pizzicato on the violas.

IMHO the 11th chorale-like variation alone (with the wooden drum) is intriguing enough to get the entire Heavens.

Schat has been composing since the sixties, and especially his post 1985 work is worth checking out. Most of it should be available on the NM Classics label.

Herman

[This message was edited by herm on MONDAY 08 April 2002 at 15:10.]

I may be somewhat late in coming to this disc seeing as how it is about four years old, but I recently bought Thomas Ades' Living Toys and I just love the disc. Here is proof that there is hope for younger composers. Every work on the disc is at least good, and the best are extraordinary.

The title work is exceptionally fine modernist music worthy of repeated listenings. Arcadiana is a fine string quartet expertly rendered by the (underrated) Endellion Quartet. (They realy must record more Haydn.) I disagree with the Gramophone critic who proclaimed this the best work on the disc, however. The nest work is Sonata da Caccia, a fine, fine tribute to Couperin with the composer playing the harpsichord. Exceptional! My only complaint is that the harpsichord is relatively obscured by the other instruments. The finest work on the disc, IMO, is The Origin of the Harp, a dark, brooding work for nonet plus percussion. If more experienced ensembles were to take it up - the Ensemble Intercontemporain, perhaps? - it may be elevated to masterpiece status. The concluding short choral and organ work (I cannot recall the name as I type) is also fine and worth hearing.

Since this is an EMI "Debut" series disc, it's cheap. It's easily worth full price. I can hear why it won a Gramophone award. I will be looking into Ades' first Debut series disc. It is definitely reassuring to hear a composer of my generation delivering the musical goods.

I have recently sample a nice variety of works by living composers, some exceptional some rather uninspiring.

I'll start with the less exceptional. I borrowed a copy of Krystof Penderecki's Credo from my local library so I could get a taste of modern liturgical writing and because the performance was recorded in my home state of Oregon. Alas, I was somewhat disappointed. The work is not bad, but nor is it particularly good. The highlights of this hour-long Credo (a bit too much, perhaps?) comes in the final two movements. There is some fine ensemble singing, all the soloists singing different parts simultaneously. And then there is Juliane Banse's beautiful voice. (I'm not much into singers, but I do love her voice.) Good, but with reservations.

Next up, another modern work with a liturgical name, though Hans Werner Henze's Requiem is not exactly liturgical. The work definitely boasts some fine modern part-writing, and Ingo Metzmacher and the Ensemble Modern deliver a fine performance, but the work is somewhat of a mixed bag. Parts of the work, especially at the beginning are enthralling, but later parts are so obviously politically motivated that the work loses power. Not too bad, but not too good. Since I picked it up for $5, I'll live with it.

Moving up in quality somewhat, I also picked up a 1994 Sony recording of Giya Kancheli's Sixth and Seventh symphonies. The disc has an interesting warning about the dynamic range and rightly so. Most of the works are exceedingly quiet and indeed mesmerizing, and then - WHAMMO - some huge crescendos appear. I rather wish the engineers would have compressed the signal somewhat, the presented dynamic range actually seeming a bit unreal. The music verges on the nonsensical at times, particularly during the crescendos, but, clearly, that is the point of the music. I will definitely listen to these symphonies again, and I look forward to more music by Kancheli, perhaps even the new recording by Yuri Bashmet.

Last and certainly not least, I picked up the final two discs from the Pollini Edition. The Schoenberg is great but does not fit in this thread. (I thought I'd recommend it anyway.) The final disc of music by Luigi Nono and Giacomo Manzoni does, at least for the Manozoni. The
Masse: Omaggio a Edgard Varese is just incredibly good. Pollini's playing is great, of course, and Sinopoli shows his affinity for this music. A truly wonderful piece and recording, especially for an early digital recording of a concert. The Luigi Nono works on the disc are, if anything, even better. I cannot praise this disc enough. Since is it is available at mid-price, there is simply no reason not to buy it.

I recently picked up Yuri Bashmet's recording of Giya Kancheli's Styx and Sofia Gubaidulina's Viola Concerto. It is an especially fine disc. Styx is loaded up with the vast dynamic contrasts I noted in Kancheli's symphonies, and the addition of the solo viola and mixed choir adds to the attractiveness of the music. This is not a great work, and nor do I consider Kancheli a great composer on the same level as, say, Boulez, but this work is worth hearing. I will say that there are points in the work where the overall feeling is some mystical or fantastic in a sort of soundtrack to Lord of the Rings or perhaps Carmina Burana way (when the opening of latter work is attached to movies.) The music is definitely better than that, but that is the feeling it evokes. Make no mistake, it is quite good.

Gubaidulina's Viola Concerto is on an entirely different level. I'm quite tempted to call it a masterpiece. Maybe a half-dozen more listens and I will. This piece is proof that less is more; the austere nature of the piece, and its striking repetition are mezmerizing. It's sort of substantive minimalism, if you can envision such a thing. Wonderful.

Sound is clear if a bit closed in.

I was inspired by the Kancheli/Gubaidulina disc to finally plop down the cash for Gubaidulina's Canticle of the Sun and Music for Flute, Strings, and Percussion. I only wish I had bought it sooner. The Music is definitely the highlight: a modern masterpiece for sure. The Canticle, while less immediately attractive, to me at least, is also exceptionally fine. Playing is exceptional and sound is clear 'n' clean. Highly recommended!

I picked up Pierre Boulez' most recent recording of Pli Selon Pli and declare it a masterpiece. I have not yet heard either of the two prior recordings he made of the earlier versions of the work, but if the current version is any indication, they are fine, too. The whole 70 minute work is, dare I write, fun to listen to. (Okay, it's not really fun, but that word comes as close to any as describing listening to this.) I cannot really adequately describe this work other than to say it is relatively accesible, quite austere, and possessed of musical complexity not usually associated with something so "easy" to listen to. (Bear in mind my musical predilictions when reading the word easy.) There may be one or two points where it seems to drag a bit, but those are rare and overall this is an exceptional work. Sound is mighty fine, most notably in its extreme clarity.

I recently picked up Sofia Gubaidulina's St. John Passion conducted by Valery Gergiev and I have to write that it is a stunning work. No, it may not match up to Bach's Passions, but that is a tall order for any composer. It is a mezmerizing work, the sparse orchestration and disparate biblical texts combined into a wondrous work. I sat through the brief-feeling 90 minutes without pause (well, except to change the disc). If you like Gubaidulina's idiom, buy this work. Sound is very clear, if a bit compressed, and the solo voices are a bit to prominent, though as far as live recordings go, this is a peach.

Her second string quartet is a masterpiece. The Arditti quartet's version on Montaigne is the only one available, I think, on an excellent disc with this, Lutoslawski's quartet, and several pieces by Kurtag. I've just discovered a shop in Hong Kong selling all of the Montaigne discs at HK$50 each - that's about US$6.50.

Jarrett; she develops something quite unique and ethereal from a very simple sustained G. IMHO, worth a try.

I finally picked up Harrison Birtwhistle's Pulse Shadows and I must write that this is a superb disc. The nine string quartet pieces are all well-nigh perfectly realized by the Arditti Quartet, and Claron McFadden sings splendidly to carefully chosen texts. Sound is generally top-notch. My only complaint is that McFadden's voice sometimes seems to blend more with the instruments than to be front and center. (I guess that means it's somewhat more "realistic" than normal.) A wonderful disc.

Should it have beaten out Boulez's Pli Selon Pli in the Gramophone awards? I'd say no, but both works are exceptional. Perhaps even masterpieces.

Hi Todd,

It is an excellent disc indeed, and dirt cheap out here (under 10 UKP). There was an interesting review of some Birtwistle releases in the NY Times this week, by Paul Griffiths. Perhaps it's accessible without passwords etc:

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/17/arts/television/17GRIF.html

Herman

PS when looking on Amazon or something like that, don't forget it's Birtwistle - no h.

One to consider, one to avoid

The bad news first: I heard a concert broadcast of the Pittsburgh Symphony with Emmanuel Ax as the soloist in Christopher Rouse's piano concerto Seeing. I'll be blunt: this piece is horrid. Mr. Rouse came up with the "idea" by combining a song by Moby Grape and the Schumann piano concerto, and tied them together with the theme of mental illness. What tripe. The opening was promising, with its tone-clusters and staccato rythms, but then it devolved into garbage. Rouse actually stole the big theme from the first movement of Schumann's concerto so he could have it repeatedly beaten down by the racket he has the orchestra create. Many other great composers have stolen ideas - Stravinsky, Handel, Shostakovich - but Rouse is not great. Avoid this if it makes it to CD.

More promising are works by Bechara El-Khoury in a new release in Naxos's "21st Century Classics." (Bless Mr. Heymann.) The first work on the disc, from 1985, is the Symphony "The Ruins of Beirut." (El-Khoury is Lebanese.) As one might expect, the tone is tragic and the music at times searing and intense. It's not a great work, but it does have some fine moments, especially in the concluding movement. The next three works are all shorter, single-movement works from the 90s. Hill of Strangeness is interesting, but not profound. It moves along nicely enough, but really doesn't ignite. Much better are the two latest works, from 1995 and 1997, the Twilight Harmonies and Wine of the Clouds. Both marry creative orchestration with disparate musical styles. Since Mr. El-Khoury is only 46 this year, the progress shown on just this disc makes him a promising talent for the future. As to what he sounds like, think Shostakovich and Honegger mixed with a little bit of Dutilleux. The recording is good if not great. Do consider this disc. I'll keep my eyes out for more works by him.

An old school-mate of mine is the current "composer in residence" of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Here's a link to her site: Augusta Read Thomas

Sadly ill-served on CD in the UK but available widely in the US.

Time for another conductor turned composer. Actually it's the opposite of that. Last night I heard a broadcast concert of Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the US premiere of his orchestral work Foreign Bodies. Now here's some modern music I can really get into. The large scale but brief-ish work (about 20-25 minutes) is an excellent work that does not conform to any "school" but does utilize a number of influences to become inviting and unique.

One can definitely hear some influence of Stravinsky in the Finn's score. Not that the piece sounds like Stravinsky, but the piece does have that rhythmic assurance so prevalant in the Russian's work. Since Salonen is such an accomplished advocate of Stravinsky, this is not surprising. I thought I detected the influence of Revueltas, too, in the way that the work can have so many different things going on at once while still maintaining the musical line - the brass playing fanfares, the low strings repetitive chords, the violins a dissonant crescendo - all the while the whole piece is moving forward, so to write. There is some truly impressive writing here. I guess I could find many other influences, but I don't want to make it out to be more than it is: one can heard the influences, but this piece is unique and sounds unlike anything I have heard before.

Perhaps this piece doesn't quite scale the heights of other modern masterpieces like, say, Dutilleux's The Shadows of Time, Boulez's (revised) Pli selon Pli, or Carter's Symphonia, but it is an outstanding work all the same. It points to a composer of real talent and is hopefully a glimpse of what is to come. Perhaps Salonen could be persuaded to put down the baton for a few years to just work on composing? That could be a treat.

[This message was edited by Todd Arola on THURSDAY 23 January 2003 at 18:43.]

Actually he did put the baton down last year for a sabbaticle, we had mostly guest conductors here in LA while he worked on several projects, and I believe that was one of them. I too heard it but now wished I'd put down the paper to really listen as I thougth it'd be longer. He also did a work called LA Variations that got good press. He's amazingly talented young man of about 40. Makes some of the trickier 20th C stuff sound ravishingly beautiful. His own work has moved from the serial 12 tone to something more radiant and has noted this due to living on the west coast.

He's also done a lot of work with scores created by other European composers that did residencies here. Bernard Herman and Revueltas are two CDs I can think of. If you like Revueltas, I heard Salonen and the LA Phil at the Ojai Music Festival end a concert with "Homenaje a Frederico Garcia Lorca for Chamber Orchestra" it was a standing ovation after that magnificent piece. Very hot stuff. He's now working with John Adams a lot, and next year when our Disney Concert Hall opens there will be a new piece by Adams called "Dharma of Big Sur" damn if it doesn't cost about $5000 and black tie to get into that concert. I'll have to wait for it to be recorded. Glad you liked his work Todd

Ned Rorem is one of those composers whose name I know, but whose music I am not too familiar with. Up until a few days ago, the only music of his that I had heard was his fourth string quartet played (formidably) by the Emerson String Quartet. I rather enjoy the piece, with its unabashedly modern, angular, and widely disparate style of writing. I’ve contemplated buying some more of Rorem’s music, but never got around to it.

Well I just picked up a new disc of his music in the Naxos American Classics series and must write it up. The disc in question is a collection of three chamber works written between 1975 and 1987. All three works utilize less than popular ensembles; all three are impressive. The disc opens with End of Summer for clarinet, violin, and piano from 1985. It is the best work on the disc. The piece allows all three instruments to work together and separately, in turns, and contains decidedly “modern” techniques along with some more traditional elements. This ranks right up there with that other masterpiece for this particular ensemble, Bartok’s Contrasts.

The second work is entitled Book of Hours for harp and flute from 1975. When I think of compelling instrumental combinations, I admit that these two don’t usually come to mind. I would certainly characterize this as the least impressive work on the disc, but it is still impressive. Rorem obtains some truly wonderful sounds from this duo. The piece is not too aggressive (how could it be?), nor is it too sleepy. It’s just right!

The disc finishes up with Bright Music for flute, two violin, cello, and piano from 1987. The instrumental combination allows for some unique and inviting music. Everything is blended and played just right. The concluding movement is entitled Chopin, and is a chamber rewriting of the concluding movement to the B flat minor sonata, and it is extremely effective.

The Fibonacci Sequence plays all of the pieces, and they do an outstanding job. The sound is bright and clear, if perhaps too close at times. All told, this is a peach of a disc and one of the best I’ve yet heard from the American Classics series. Do consider it.

Thanks Todd,

I will look for this disc.

Herman

Like many forum participants, my music collection is overwhelmingly Occidental. Some composers I like do indeed explore Oriental ideas. Composers like Bechara El-Khoury, Ahmed Saygun, and Sofia Gubaidulina have written some music that really captures my interest. But more must be out there. So imagine my interest when I read on the net how Gramophone had selected a disc of music by Bright Sheng as one of the discs of the month for May, describing him as the “Chinese Bartok.” (I’ve not yet read the full review.) I had to get the disc.

And what a disc. All three works on the disc are quite unlike anything I have heard before, and all the pieces are extraordinary. I was so impressed after my first time through that I had to listen again just to make sure I got it all. The opening work is China Dreams from 1992-1995, a four movement, somewhat programmatic piece infused with Chinese folk music from less well-known provinces. (I can only assume this is the piece that warranted the comparison to Bartok.) It is a thoroughly enjoyable work, and though it has a decidedly Eastern hue to it, the music is quite acceptable to my Western ears. Sheng shows real flair for orchestral writing and can make standard instruments take on an Eastern sound.

The second work is Two Poems from the Sung Dynasty from 1985, which sets two poems to some impressive orchestral scores. Here I was reminded more of Lutoslawski than Bartok. I like Lutoslawski, so that’s a good thing. The music is “complex” and perhaps a little more challenging than the first work, but I liked it at least as much. The texts are very different than what I am used to, and the singer, one Juliana Gondek, does a fine if not wholly idiomatic job singing. Very impressive.

The work on the disc is the final work, Nanking! Nanking! A Threnody for Orchestra and Pipa, from 2000. This is the first work in my collection featuring a Pipa soloist. (Zhang Qiang appears to be an outstanding Pipist(?).) And what a work it is. It is obviously a work of remembrance for the people who lived through The Rape of Nanking, and so it contains searingly intense music. In fact, take the most brutal, intense, “primitive” music you can think of, and this matches it; no one, not Stravinsky, not Bartok, not Prokofiev, not Revueltas has ever penned more intense music. The orchestra swells, swirls, the percussion explode, the strings erupt, and then – silence – for the introduction of the Pipa, and then more musical brutality. The work is neither chaotic nor directionless. Quite to the contrary: this is a focused work that simultaneously made me wish the piece would end soon and continue on. This is probably not the best work to lift one’s spirits, despite its more positive conclusion. Think of it as The Rite of Spring with a more Eastern feeling and with a more concrete program. Better yet, think of it is an original masterpiece.

Samuel Wong conducts the Hong Kong Philharmonic for all of the pieces, and all involved do some exceptional work. I do have one complaint: the sound is oddly glassy and congested at high levels – necessary and unavoidable in Nanking! Nanking! – given that it was recorded only last year. A small quibble. With all of those crappy crossover projects being produced, here is an example of original compositions deserving of an audience. I will be actively seeking out more work by Sheng. This is an extraordinary disc.

I don’t like accordion music. Never have. The whiny, screechy sound of the instrument, and the silly music or song transcriptions that I’ve heard just never made me like the instrument. Fortunately, I only have to endure accordion music at the occasional “authentic” Italian restaurant or at the odd festival.

But recently I decided to give Sofia Gubaidulina’s music for strings and the bayan – apparently the Russian accordion – a whirl. I like accordion music. Well, at least this accordion music. I ended up buying the erstwhile Marco Polo / current Naxos release of In Croce, Silenzio, and the Seven Words with one Elsbeth Moser on the bayan, Maria Kliegel on the Cello, and the mighty Camerata Transsylvanica. In Croce is a duo for the bayan and cello and is most effective. The two instruments start at different ends of the spectrum – the cello playing low and the bayan high – and the instruments work towards each other, then cross, then end in opposite musical positions if you will. It is a very effective work. Silenzio is a trio, with a violin added to the above duo, and is a meditative, slow, and mostly quiet affair. Again, it is very effective. Seven Words, obviously a setting of the Seven Last Words of Christ, is astounding. The string orchestra play an occasionally rhythmic, occasionally droning backdrop to the discourse of the cello and the bayan. Gubaidulina takes the bayan to some expressive extremes, screeching (in a good way) and moaning, the cello making some brief, sharp interjections. This work is a worthy alternative to Haydn’s setting.

All of the music has that Gubaidulina sound – almost eerie at times, mostly slow, often droning, always reflective – that I am so susceptible to. I wouldn’t say start here for newcomers to her music (Offertorium would work better for that), but she can even make the accordion appealing. Sound quality is excellent. Highly recommended for the adventurous music fan.



"The universe is change, life is opinion." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

quote:

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Originally posted by Tom Alves:
Henri Dutilleux

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Violin Concerto ('L'arbre des songes'), pref by Isabelle van Keulen on Koch.

Herman

Dutilleux? Ainsi la Nuit with the Arditti Quartet on Montaigne - also some interesting stuff by Dusapin on this disc.

Brian Ferneyhough is also worth a mention, either La Chute d'Icare, or his string quartets (again, the Arditti do the business here).

Just looking back through some of the previous replies, and picking up on the Oriental theme, here are two discs which are worth trying;

Qigang Chen, Iris devoile, on Virgin. I first heard this on the radio in Hong Kong, and was sufficiently interested to track down the CD. It is not a masterpiece, but it is interesting, in that it combines Peking Opera with western themes.

Tan Dun, Ghost Opera with the Kronos Quartet. I'm not normally taken with the Kronos' approach, but it seems to work well here.

Hey Duncan,

I recall the time (couple months ago) when you were pretty much hissed off the GrooveHandle Forum for suggesting that Rachmaninov had actually written more than just the Second Piano Cto (or some such weird thing). Very humiliating. The new ZeroGain board is better in that respect. However, glad to see you're still posting here.

If we're talking about 'oriental' composing, I'm always ready to suggest the Debussy of the East, Takemitsu - especilly his piano pieces.

Herman

Herm,

I was listening earlier today to Takemitsu's In an Autumn Garden on DG's 20/21 series - this is with traditional Japanese instruments, biwa and shakuhachi, and has pretty much left me cold. Can you suggest some of his piano pieces?

Other things that I have been listening to today have been Elliot Carter's piano music (ED, Winston Choi), which is excellent, and the ECM disc of Nancarrow and Antheil's piano music, played by Herbert Henck - again, very good. (OK, they're not alive, but Carter is).

BTW, I'm David, not Duncan, and I didn't talk about Rachmaninov on Groovehandle!

Cheers

David