Volume 26 Issue 6 - March and April 2021

several angles as each piece on this recording
presents high degrees of challenging material.
First, Chris Paul Harman’s 371 Chorales
(2016) is a wonderful gem full of shimmering
charm and glistening high-register
counterpoint – a delightful miniature that
expands upon the composer’s predilection
toward recontextualizing old material. Brian
Cherney’s multi-movement Tombeau (1996)
is a mature work of a modernist approach
that sends the listener through a gamut of
contrasting expressive landscapes – terrain
that Den Boer handles with world-class musicianship.
The serendipitous monophony of
Matthew Ricketts’ Melodia (2017) is a deeply
original work that relies on decidedly exposed
lines. This music allows the piano to sing
wonderfully in the hands of Den Boer, and is
a refreshing reminder that newly composed
piano works do not require a maximal
approach to produce successful results.
Lastly, Reiko Yamada’s Cloud Sketches
(2010) is a substantial work comprised
of scalar flourishes and prickly interruptions
that evoke a series of conversations
and contemplative interludes. With such
contrasting works, each demanding in wildly
different ways, this release is a strong statement
showing Den Boer’s importance as a
contemporary music interpreter.
Adam Scime
Martin Arnold – Stain Ballads
Apartment House
Another Timbre at166
(anothertimbre.com)
! Canadian
composer Martin
Arnold’s illustrious
compositions over
the decades are
so very much his
own sound. Here
UK-based ensemble
Apartment House perform four works in
which Arnold strives to combine lyricism
with formlessness in his self-described “stain
ballads.” As Arnold explains on the Another
Timbre label’s website, “Stains are … always
stain-shaped but don’t present a form… form
and content are the same thing.”
Opening track Lutra (2017) for cello and
humming is given a slow and reflective
performance by Apartment House founder
and director, Anton Lukoszevieze. The highpitched
cello opening leads to a lower-range
bowed melody, with alternating high and low
pitches united by humming and delicate cello
lyricism. Stain Ballad (2016), for seven-piece
orchestra, also encompasses the contrasting
ideas of held string notes, here versus
detached piano lines and percussion throbs,
as all the instruments are musically balanced
and blended in Arnold’s expert “story-telling”
orchestration.
Arnold’s understanding of held string
capabilities makes the cello/violin duet
Trousers (2017) sound like a full orchestra.
A more fragmented work with minimalistic
touches, quiet breaks between phrases,
bowed strings, pitch slides and midpiece
dissonant lines are just a few sounds
Lukoszevieze and violinist Mira Benjamin
play, sparking listening interest! Great inclusion
is Arnold’s earlier career quartet Slip
(1999), a jig-like dance with opening bass
clarinet/violin/cello uneven phrases until the
accented piano chordal entry adds percussive
flavours.
Arnold’s tightly interwoven “formless”
lyricism, combined with these dedicated
performances, create captivating
colourful music.
Tiina Kiik
Linda Catlin Smith – Meadow
Mia Cooper; Joachim Roewer; William Butt
Louth Contemporary Music Society
LCMS20201 (louthcms.org/recordings)
! The enchanting
stillness and
hypnotic beauty
of sprawling
mossy fields has
been captured
ever so deeply
by Linda Catlin
Smith in her new
work, Meadow, for string trio. This gentle
music paints an endless moment amid the
green-lit swaying turf. Sonorous pulsating
chords and brief melodic offerings envelop
the ears much like cascading grassy plains
wrapping around bark and stone. Smith’s
unparalleled command over the fusion of
colour and harmony is immediately captivating.
This sound world is a tapestry woven
with delicate care and personal magic. At
times, the distinctly fragmentary material
forms echoes in the mind’s eye: glimpses of
forgotten images begin to surface and radiate
throughout the heath. The trio’s performance
(Mia Cooper, violin; Joachim Roewer,
viola; William Butt, cello) on this release was
accomplished with extraordinary intimacy.
The pureness of tone and capacity for expression
result in a profoundly successful interpretation
of Smith’s poetic intention.
This recording comes as the first release in
an initiative from the Louth Contemporary
Music Society, titled out of silence, to produce
meaningful recordings under the exceptional
conditions of the pandemic. While
the pandemic continues to be a struggle for
many, we thank artists for their commitment
toward creation and for reminding us why
we need art in our lives. When listening to
the striking grace of Smith’s Meadow, many
things come to mind and many emotions are
felt throughout – I suppose this can all be
summarized with the phrase “Thank you.”
Adam Scime
Happiness in a Troubled World
Frank Horvat
Independent (frankhorvat.com)
! Written as an
offering to a world
in need of healing,
Happiness in the
Troubled World is
a potent mixture
of ambient sounds
and well-thoughtout
musical ideas.
This music has the
potential to shift your energy, calm your mind
and expand your awareness.
Frank Horvat’s latest album is inspired by
the Dalai Lama’s book The Art of Happiness
in a Troubled World. Six compositions bear
the titles of the final six chapters of the book
and each is inspired by a quote from that
book. Choosing an ambient electronic genre
allowed Horvat to create a perfect musical
vessel for expressing the noble ideas of
empathy and compassion, hope and optimism.
The building and ever-changing layers
of sound generate the feeling of being in
the womb of the world that is mending and
healing. The textures throughout are smooth,
unperturbed. In each of the compositions
Horvat creates the safe space for a listener to
expand their own aspirations for the world
we share.
The album opens with peacefully neutral
Coping with a Troubled World. It then
continues with pulsing sounds and bright
piano in Hope, Optimism and Resilience.
The lightness and joyfulness increase with
each composition until the final number,
Empathy, Compassion and Finding
Happiness in the Troubled World, brings an
incredible sense of peace.
If you are looking for a meditative, calm
sonic space that induces happiness and optimism,
this album is perfect for you.
Ivana Popovic
MC Maguire – Saturation Velocity
MC Maguire; Keith Kirchoff; Bryan Holt
Albany Records TROY1843
(albanyrecords.com)
! Toronto
composer/producer
M.C. Maguire is a
music alchemist,
making sophisticated
post-modern
musical hybrids
combining Western
classical, pop,
jazz and electroacoustic
elements. His works often transform
electronics, samples and acoustic instrument
soloists into an intense wall of sound,
accumulating up to 300 tracks.
Maguire’s fourth album, Saturation
Velocity, is no exception, though it’s
important to observe that his compositions
thewholenote.com March and April 2021 | 41