Volume 23 Issue 6 - March 2018

precedents as well, as on Purcell in the Eternal Deir Yassin. Traces of
the 17th-century composer’s music drift though an open window via
a bel canto soprano’s vocalizing; more prominent are Indian influences,
with an electronic tambura providing an appropriately subcontinental
drone, while voluminous reed tones side-slip into various
keys and pitches.
This sort of solo contemplation is actually
connected to an instrument’s technical
versatility, rather than its nationalism. It’s
the same way that Lithuanian soprano and
tenor saxophonist Liudas Mockŭnas’ improvisations
on Hydro (NoBusiness NBLP 110
nobusinessrecords.com) lack any overt
Baltic musical inferences. But considering
the titles of the seven-part Hydration Suite,
three-part Rehydration Suite, and the final extended Dehydration,
his relationship with the sea is highlighted. Conspicuously by utilizing
“water-prepared” (sic) saxophones, the Hydration Suite includes
liquid-related sounds, while denser echoes from vibrations of potential
coastal and submerged objects share space with the saxophonist’s
moist hiccups and puffs, plus seabird-like wails that expand or recede
in degrees of pitch and volume. Oddly enough, Hydration Suite part
5, the most abstract outpouring, with dot-dash, kazoo-like treble
textures, seemingly only using the sax mouthpiece, precedes the
suite’s final sequences, which are delicate and almost vibrato-less.
Melodic and expressive, the gentle curlicues could come from a
so-called “legit” player. Wolf-like snarls and staccato peeping characterize
the Rehydration Suite, but the track also emphasizes Mockŭnas’
reed fluidity, encompassing circular breathing, emphatic screams and
gut-propelled emotional sweeps. A compendium of the preceding
techniques, the multi-tempo Dehydration showcases the saxophone’s
farthest reaches, including pressurized vibratos, whinnying cries
falling up instead of down, and gusts that appear to be blowing any
remaining water from his instrument, with pure air and key jiggling.
An individual adaptation of the equipment
used by the likes of Küchen and
Mockŭnas is offered by New York’s Jonah
Parzen-Johnson, who plays baritone saxophone
tones alongside an analog synthesizer’s
textures. I Try To Remember Where I
Come From (Clean Feed CF 430 CD cleanfeed-records.com)
contains seven instances
where his overblowing and split tones play
catch-as-catch-can with the electronics. Avoiding loops, overdubbing
or sampling, gutty textures either arise from mouth-propelled
blowing or live processing. Since his preference is for simple, songbased
material, the result is unlike any other CD here. Parzen-
Johnson sparingly utilizes multiphonic screams or thickened vibrating
quavering tones. On tracks such as Too Many Dreams, he comes
across as if he were a folk or country balladeer, with the synthesizer
taking the place of a backing combo. The machine can also
deflect his sax’s tones back at him, doubling his exposition, but here
and elsewhere he manages to overcome the dangers of reed overpowering
with skill. While the title tune sets up distinctive contrasts
between unaccented puffs and burbles from the baritone and the
synthesizer’s pipe-organ-like cascades, What Do I Do with Sorry is
the most notable track, since the split-second transformations come
from man as well as machine. With his output shaped as if he were
playing a bagpipe chanter and the synthesizer responding as if it were
the bagpipe’s reservoir bag, Parzen-Johnson’s improvising takes on
buzzing, triple-tongued aspects while the synthesizer’s echoing pulsations
suggest both Celtic airs and the beats from a club DJ.
There may be as many ways to play solo saxophone as there are
saxophonists, and these are a few instances of how it is done.
Old Wine, New Bottles
Fine Old Recordings
Re-Released
BRUCE SURTEES
In the 1930s and into the 40s, two high profile conductors shared
the attention of the record-buying public in the United States:
Arturo Toscanini and Leopold Stokowski. Both men and their
orchestras, the NBC Symphony in New York and the Philadelphia,
were then under contract to RCA Victor, which profited either way.
Both men had their disciples and a free-bowing performance by the
rapturous Stokowski could not be mistaken for the taut Toscanini. For
Stokowski, the printed score was a point of departure. His recordings
were in demand around the world, as were Toscanini’s. The
Disney 1940 avant-garde film Fantasia with Stokowski and the
Philadelphia Orchestra recording (most of) the soundtrack widened
his reputation and certainly attracted newcomers to the classics.
As it had been quite some time since I
listened to a Stokowski performance, the
arrival of a new compilation was unexpected
and welcome. Leopold Stokowski: Complete
Decca Recordings (4832504, 23 CDs)
contains the recordings made in Europe
from 1962 to 1973. Orchestras are The New
Symphony Orchestra of London, the London
Symphony, the London Philharmonic, the
New Philharmonia, the Royal Philharmonic, the Czech Philharmonic,
the Hilversum Radio Philharmonic and l’Orchestre de la Suisse
Romande. It was said that Bruno Walter could make any orchestra
sound like the Vienna Philharmonic and similarly, a performance
from anywhere conducted by Stokowski usually feels like a
performance conducted by Stokowski. His performances of absolute
music, symphonies, concertos, etc. were straightforward with
variations of tempi and expression. In program music his interpretations
could be and usually were flamboyant and hyperbolic. CD9
in this set contains three perfect examples: Stravinsky’s Firebird
Suite, Tchaikovsky’s Marche Slave and Mussorgsky’s Night on Bare
Mountain in Stokowski’s own mighty orchestration, in over-the-top
performances heard in Decca’s best Phase 4 sound. Phase 4 technology
basically employed more than a score of microphones over the
orchestra, enabling the recording engineer to spotlight instruments
and re-balance the performance to suit his own taste, presenting an
obvious dichotomy. It was the ultimate in multi-miking. The raison
d’être for this collection is Stokowski plus the repertoire plus Decca’s
Phase 4 sound. A partial list is in the set mentioned below but check
amazon.co.uk for the complete track listing.
The 23rd disc is Leopold Stokowski A Memoir with voices of
Stokowski, John Georgiadis, Hugh Maguire, Gervase de Peyer and
other colleagues, plus excerpts of the recordings. An interesting
section is Leopold Stokowski Remembers Gustav Mahler. Thomas
Martin Recalls Auditioning for Leopold Stokowski has the double
bass player recounting his audition for the Houston Symphony when
Stokowski was their music director. An unusual and nice way to
conclude the collection.
In 2014 Decca issued a 41CD set,
Phase 4 Stereo Concert Series (4786769),
that contained a broad collection of singular
performances of some familiar standard
repertoire and more, featuring international
artists such as Sean Connery, Ivan
Davis, Eileen Farrell, Ruggiero Ricci, Marilyn
Horne and Robert Merrill. Conductors
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