Volume 25 Issue 3 - November 2019

Whang is the soloist for the Suite for Cello, a suite of five dance
movements very much in the J.S. Bach solo cello mode but with an
increasing use of harmonics, adding what the composer terms a
lingering sense of displacement.
The String Quartet – Infinite Season aims to depict the story of a
year unfolding, the four movements tracing the sounds of nature as
the seasons change. There’s a lovely use of harmonics again, together
with field recordings of birdsong and insect noises.
Freedom & Faith is the second album from
the American string quartet PUBLIQuartet
on the Bright Shiny Things label (BSTC-0126
brightshiny.ninja). The quartet is dedicated
to presenting new works, and the music
here is from two of PUBLIQuartet’s signature
initiatives: MIND I THE I GAP, collaborative
compositions and improvisations by the four
group members; and PUBLIQ Access, a program that commissions
new string quartet works by composers living in the United States.
The latter is represented by the opening and closing works – Jessica
Meyer’s three-movement Get into the Now from 2017 and Shelley
Washington’s Middleground from 2016 – while three collaborative
creations from the former project are at the centre of the disc: Sancta
Femina, reflections on Hildegard von Bingen, Francesca Caccini and
Chiara Margarita Cozzolani; Ella!, based on Ella Fitzgerald’s performance
of A-Tisket, A-Tasket; and Nina!, a celebration of Nina Simone.
Anything goes in the performances at times, with normal string
playing being replaced by a whistle, unison singing and chanting,
rhythmic clapping and percussive effects on the instrument bodies in
some vibrant and decidedly upbeat music.
The outstanding violinist Tianwa Yang
is the soloist on Wolfgang Rihm Music
for Violin and Orchestra Vol.2 with the
Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-
Pfalz under Darrell Ang (Naxos 8.573667
naxosdirect.com). Yang has a strong association
with Rihm’s music, having already
recorded his Complete Works for Violin
and Piano (8.572730) and the first volume
of the Violin and Orchestra Music (8.573812) for the Naxos label.
The three substantial works here are Gesungene Zeit (Musik für
Violine und Orchester Nr.2) (1991-92), Lichtes Spiel (Ein Sommerstück
für Violine und kleines Orchester) (2009) and COLL’ARCO (Musik für
Violine und Orchester Nr.4) (2008).
Rihm’s music is not always immediately accessible, but these
works are engrossing from start to finish with some truly beautiful
moments, especially in the lengthy COLL’ARCO, which with its hints
of Alban Berg often sounds like a violin concerto from the Second
Viennese School.
Yang is, as usual, simply brilliant in music that makes great technical
and interpretative demands.
Evocation – Violin Works by Paul Ben-Haim
traces the gradual assimilation of Middle
Eastern influences in the music of the
composer (born Paul Frankenburger in
Munich, Germany) after his emigration
to the British Mandate of Palestine (the
future Israel) in the 1930s. Itamar Zorman
is the violin soloist with the BBC National
Orchestra of Wales under Philippe Bach
(BIS-2398 bis.se).
The major works are the 1942 title track and the Violin Concerto
from 1960, a solidly professional work with a simply lovely Andante
affettuoso slow movement. Pianist Amy Yang joins Zorman for
the Berceuse sfaradite from 1945 and Three Songs without Words
from 1951.
The Three Studies for Solo Violin, written for Yehudi Menuhin in
1981 are among Ben-Haim’s last works. An arrangement for violin and
orchestra of the Toccata piano solo from 1943 by the soloist’s father,
Moshe Zorman, completes an entertaining CD.
Vaughan Williams enjoyed playing the viola
for most of his long life, its sound a seemingly
perfect projection of the pastoral and
nostalgic nature (on the surface, at least)
of his music. On Viola Fantasia, on Albion
Records, the official label of the Ralph
Vaughan Williams Society, violist Martin
Outram and pianist Julian Rolton perform
the composer’s works for viola and piano,
together with the Four Hymns for Tenor,
Viola and Pianoforte with tenor Mark Padmore (ALBCD 036 albionrecords.org).
The Suite and Romance both sprang from Vaughan Williams’ relationship
with the viola virtuoso Lionel Tertis. Six Studies in English
Folk Song and the Fantasia on Sussex Folk Tunes both originally
featured solo cello, the former heard here in the composer’s alternate
viola version and the latter in an arrangement by Outram. The
Fantasia on Greensleeves was arranged for viola and piano by another
British viola virtuoso, Watson Forbes.
There’s perhaps a tendency for the viola tone to sound a bit tight at
times, but there’s much to enjoy on what is clearly an authoritative
CD.
For his recording project Meditations on
Family the Russian-American violinist
Yevgeny Kutik commissioned eight
composers to translate a family photo into
a short musical miniature of about two
to three minutes in length for violin and
various ensemble. The resulting tracks were
released digitally on a weekly basis, and
were gathered together on a 23-minute
Extended Play CD earlier this year (Marquis 774718149329 marquisclassics.com).
Composers Christopher Cerrone, Gregory Vajda, Joseph Schwantner,
Kinan Azmeh, Paola Prestini, Timo Andres, Andreia Pinto Correia and
Gity Razaz produced brief but intriguing works for solo violin, violin
and piano, violin and double bass, violin and clarinet and violin with
vocal quartet and glass harmonica. Kutik plays them with warmth
and commitment.
The original photos, along with additional background information
and audio tracks can be found at meditationsonfamily.com
thewholenote.com/listening
Suite Nostalgique
Maria Dolnycky, Matthew
Christakos, Peter Stoll, Izabella
Budai, Alex McLeod
Suite Nostalgique - a celebration
of Ukraine's rich musical legacy.
Works by seven stylistically diverse
composers.
Come Closer
Michael Harley
Bassoonist Michael Harley
(Alarm Will Sound, U. of South
Carolina) releases "Come Closer"
which chronicles his work
commissioning music from a
range of composer colleagues.
thewholenote.com November 2019 | 77