Volume 27 Issue 4 - February 2022

DISCOVERIES | RECORDINGS REVIEWED
DAVID OLDS
Elsewhere in these pages you will find reviews of new recordings
of music by Bach: the English Suites performed by Vladimir
Ashkenazy, Autour de Bach, woodwind arrangements of a
number of his works as recorded by Pentaèdre, and two sets of
Goldberg Variations, one with Sarah Hagen on piano and one with
Cameron Carpenter in his own transcription for grand organ. The
Goldbergs are arguably the most recorded, most transcribed and most
adapted for other purposes of Bach’s works, and certainly the most
often reviewed in The WholeNote. With the two reviews mentioned
above I count 25 in as many years and here comes number 26.
When Karlheinz Essl (b. Austria 1960) was
approached by the Orpheus Trio in 2002 to
arrange an existing string-trio version of the
Goldberg Variations with the addition of live
electronics, his initial reactions were “astonishment
and bewilderment: how could that
be possible with this music? Was there any
artistic necessity of doing so? The idea of
manipulating the sound of the live instruments
electronically, of ‘spicing it up,’ seemed almost sacrilegious.”
The trio was persistent however and this eventually led to the first of
four (so far) realizations of Gold.Berg.Werk: for string trio; for harpsichord;
for saxophone quartet; and, most recently, for piano. It is a
recording of this last variety, featuring Xenia Pestova Bennett (Ergodos
ER33 essl.at/records/goldbergwerk-2021.html), that arrived on my
desk last month. In Gold.Berg.Werk – a pun on Goldberg Work and
Gold Bergwerk (to mine, as in mining for gold) – Bach’s Goldberg
Variations are “confronted with electronic sounds that are played
between groups of variations, bridging the gap between the sound
world of the Baroque era and the sonic reality of the third millennium.”
The electronics are based on the harmonic progression of the
fundamental Aria, from which the composer stripped all figurations
and ornaments. Through manipulation of the overtone spectrum and
the use of granular synthesis – compressing, stretching, and stopping
forward motion ad libitum carried out in real time with the help of
compositional algorithms – Essl has created five electronic interludes,
which in live performance are spatially projected in surround sound
throughout the auditorium. Even in the binaural mix for CD the sound
is immersive and compelling. Pestova Bennett’s outstanding performance
of the selected movements, 20 variations chosen by Essl and
arranged in groups of five, bookended by the signature Aria, is beautifully
integrated into the overall fabric of this “new” work. Regarding
Essl’s question as to whether there was any artistic necessity to
enhance such an iconic piece in the first place, I suppose we each have
to decide for ourselves. For me, Gold.Berg.Werk has brought a new
perspective that, after initial resistance to the idea, I have embraced
and found enchanting.
And speaking of Bach, you would be
excused for thinking that after last month’s
column I might have had enough cello
for a while, but not so gentle reader. Julia
MacLaine’s Preludes would have fit nicely
in that cello-centric column but it has
only now been released by Analekta (AN
2 8914 analekta.com/en). MacLaine says
that she found the inspiration for this
project in a Juilliard recital by Bonnie Hampton some years ago in
which the Preludes from Bach’s Solo Cello Suites were interspersed
with contemporary works. With funding from the Canada Council,
MacLaine commissioned six Canadian composers to write works “in
response” to the Bach preludes. The result is an intriguing CD with six
very different responses, from Airat Ichmouratov whose quite traditional
Praeludium for Cello Solo in G Major, Op.69 quotes freely
from Bach before venturing onto less familiar paths, through a gamut
of approaches before culminating in Post Bach by Prince Edward
Island fiddler and composer Roy Johnstone. This last work features
rollicking dance sections juxtaposed with what MacLaine describes
as a “grumbly […] glimpse of the underworld, the murky place that
gave rise to the motives that permeate Bach – and Johnstone.” Along
the way we are treated to Gabriel Dharmoo’s sarasaraahat, a piece
inspired by the Prelude from the Suite in D Minor that uses the Indian
Carnatic music of the composer’s cultural heritage to put the sound
produced by the cello under a microscope, exploring the “very limit
between pitch and white noise.” Carmen Braden’s Play Time asks the
cellist to “play the score as if you just heard the Bach Cello Suite No.3
for the first time and now sit down and improvise, playful as a child.”
In her signature way, Nicole Lizée employs technology to expand the
palette of the cello, in the words of MacLaine “a marvellous, fantastical
electronic world [with the cello] singing expressively above it, weaving
in and out of it, and chasing after it.” Cris Derksen states “LAND BACH
is my response to Bach’s fifth prelude as an Indigenous composer and
cellist.” Her treatment includes a section of “looped rolled chords”
which MacLaine says is characteristic of Derksen’s music.
As I have said before, it must be extremely hard for a performer
these days to find a way to present Bach’s iconic works – that have
been recorded countless times – in a new light. I find MacLaine’s
performances of both the Bach originals and the new companions
insightful and convincing. While I have mixed feelings about “cherry
picking” just the preludes from the Bach Suites, in this context where
the composers are specifically reacting to the movements in question I
find the project as a whole very well-considered and satisfying. I’ll
give MacLaine the last words: “My hope is […] that you will hear Bach
differently, as though past and present composers were having a
conversation across the years, across the ocean.”
Nicole Lizée is also among the seven
composers commissioned by Vancouver’s
venerable Standing Wave ensemble for its
project 20C Remix (Redshift Records standingwave.ca)
in which a number of iconic
20th century works are reimagined for the
new millennium. With three decades under
its belt, Standing Wave is touted as Western
Canada’s foremost contemporary chamber
ensemble. 20C Remix – a digital release with
a limited edition vinyl run – opens with Stone’s Throw, Jocelyn
Morlock’s ebullient take on Ann Southam’s Glass Houses No.9,
adapted for full ensemble: flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and
percussion. It’s a roller coaster ride for all concerned and I particularly
enjoyed finding hints of Stravinsky in the mix. Jennifer Butler
enhances Messiaen’s Le merle noir for piano and flute with the other
members of the ensemble in a fairly straightforward and effective
homage to the French master. Walking in Claude’s Footsteps is Jordan
Nobles’ gentle take on Debussy’s Des pas sur la neige and Jared Miller
finds Guilty Pleasures in his interpretation of John Adams’ China
34 | February 2022 thewholenote.com