Volume 23 Issue 6 - March 2018

Kumbos
Paulo J Ferreira Lopes; Karoline Leblanc
Atrito-Afeito (atrito-afeito.com)
!!
Even if you really,
really dislike electroacoustic
music,
give this release
a try because its
strength in sound,
collaboration and
experimentation
lead to accessible
listening. Montreal-based composer/
performer Paulo J Ferreira Lopes utilizes his
many, many clever and established electro
and percussion skills to create a fascinating
musical conversation with his collaborator,
acoustic keyboards performer Karoline
Leblanc, in this one-track, hand-numbered
200 limited edition sound adventures release.
Kumbos begins with an attention-grabbing
recurring percussive opening and dense
piano chords. The subsequent soundscape
of high pitched squeaks and cymbal washes
against piano textures is a pleasing juxtaposition
of sound effects. More melodic piano
lines provide contrast in the quieter sections.
Love the sudden loud electronic crashes.
Highly effective are the numerous silences
interspersed throughout the work, which are
welcome escapes from sound, and music in
their own right. These add to the creation of
musical intrigue leading to the final climactic
conversation of more intense electroacoustic
rhythms, large held piano chords and washes
of sound colour.
There are touches of field recordings by
Leblanc which are a bit of a strain to hear but
are colourful musical diversions. Additional
melodic piano sections would be welcome,
as well as more drum kit against electronic
effects. The production is clear and the instrument
levels are balanced. Repeated listening
adds to a gratifying appreciation of detail in
performance and composition.
Tiina Kiik
Shadow Etchings – New Music for Flute
Orlando Cela
Ravello Records RR7982
(ravellorecords.com)
!!
Orlando Cela’s
Shadow Etchings
is a nine-track
collection of
recent compositions
for flute using
“extended techniques,”
whistle
tones, harmonics,
vocalizing and
playing at the same time, blowing air quickly
through the flute without making an actual
pitch and so on. Having some experience
with extended techniques I can say with some
conviction that Cela does them very well.
A brief description of each track will
provide an idea of what is on this recording:
Jean-Patrick Besingrand’s Le soupir du roseau
dans le bras du vent, the first track, is derived
from Claude Debussy’s Syrinx. Beginning
with the first couple of phrases of Syrinx,
variations are added using vocalizations,
breath tones, throat flutters and other distortions
of which the flute is capable. Lou Bunk’s
Winter Variations consists of distorted long
tones on the flute with percussive discords
on the piano. Robert Gross’ Variations on
a Schenker Graph of Gesualdo, combines
manipulated electronics with harsh multiphonics
and vocal punctuations by the flutist.
Dana Kaufman’s Hang Down Your Head is a
disjointed version of the original Tom Dooley
folk melody complete with vocal growls,
whistles and shrieks. The three movements
of Stratis Minakakis’ Skiagrafies II offer lots
of multiphonics, overtones, shimmers, vibes
and twitters. A Turning Inwards by Edward
Maxwell Dulaney gives us high alternating
overtone whistles and Self-Portrait by Ziteng
Ye is built on wavering, breathy tones with
some voice added.
All in all, this disc offers an intriguing
introduction to some of the new sounds available
to the contemporary flutist.
Allan Pulker
Aesthetic Apparatus – Clarinet Chamber
Music of Helmut Lachenmann
Gregory Oakes; Matthew Coley; Jonathan
Sturm; Mei-suang Huang; George Work
New Focus Recordings FCR196
(gregoryoakes.com)
!!
Utter the
name Helmut
Lachenmann
in a loud stage
whisper, being
sure to accentuate
fully the consonants,
exaggerating
the different vowel colours, and you’ll have
an idea what it is like to perform his music.
He asks performers to make varying sounds
which require a complete rethinking of one’s
technical approach. Lachenmann, Maurizio
Kagel and Heinz Holliger have led the way
to innovative notations depicting the strange
breath effects, kisses, clicks, squeaks and
honks they demand from performers.
In Aesthetic Apparatus, clarinetist
Gregory Oakes has compiled three substantial
chamber works by Lachenmann. The
first, Dal Niente, for solo clarinet, is an extension
of silence into a variety of soundscapes.
Oakes conveys conviction that all the sounds
he generates belong in a congruent whole,
and with more hearings I’m certain I’d agree.
What is unusual in this recording is the
extended periods of nearly empty time, where
the effects produced might be more easily
perceived if one could see them produced. It
takes chutzpah to publish this performance
on a sound-only recording.
Trio Fluido, for clarinet, viola and
percussion, provides a richer soundscape,
although the writing is still full of attenuated
pauses. Early exchanges between the instruments
seem full of repressed violence, which
occasionally breaks out into outright hostility.
Beyond this, there are delightful moments of
simply elegant trialogue, as if three species of
creature are employing their various intelligences
to match one another’s language.
Allegro Sostenuto, for clarinet, cello and
piano, completes this wonderful exploration.
I use the term “tonal” modified by “somewhat
more” to indicate that in contrast to the first
two tracks, this work exploits more interplay
between pitches than raw sounds, making it
perhaps the most immediately listenable.
Max Christie
East of the Sun & West of the Moon –
Orchestral Music of Daniel Crozier
Seattle Symphony; Gerard Schwarz;
Moravian PO; Stanislav Vavřínek
Navona Records NV6137 (danielcrozier.com)
! ! “These are
fairy tale pieces,”
writes American
composer Daniel
Crozier (b.1965),
professor of theory
and composition
at Florida’s Rollins
College. Crozier
names only one of the stories, saying it’s more
entertaining for listeners to use their own
imaginations.
The 34-minute Symphony No.1: Triptych
for Orchestra begins with Ceremonies, a
movement whose sombre sonorities and
unstable tonal centres suggest portentous,
menacing situations. The second movement,
Capriccio, with its sprightly winds, dancing
strings and outbursts of brass and percussion,
conjures (for me) images of malicious elves
cavorting in a dark forest. The final movement,
Fairy Tale: East of the Sun and West of
the Moon, draws its title from a Norwegian
folk tale containing many familiar fairy tale
elements. This, the symphony’s slow movement,
features a long-lined, otherworldly
melody for the violins followed by a solo
flute floating over hushed strings. I was quite
taken with this music – rather than hearing
episodes of a story, I “saw” a beautiful,
secluded mountain lake, shimmering under
the stars. The symphony ends by recalling
its ominous opening before quietly fading
away. No happily-ever-after here. The Seattle
Symphony Orchestra and conductor Gerard
Schwarz provide an energetic, virtuosic
performance.
The 11-minute Ballade: A Tale after the
Brothers Grimm resembles the symphony’s
second movement – animated playfulness
bracketing a sinister-sounding, slow
middle section. It’s performed by the
Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra under
Stanislav Vavřínek.
Both of these very colourful works are well
thewholenote.com March 2018 | 75