Craig Madden Morris, "Dreams:" Modern Chamber Music

There are times when music may not be ultra-advanced catagorically yet be so captivating that one doesn't care. The composer Craig Madden Morris and his chamber music on the album Dreams (Ravello 7813) gives us such a time.

There is lyricism, formal heft, the beautifully played parts (for example Christine Kwak's violin performances are quite lovely) and an idiomatic craftsmanship/inspiration that makes it all a joy to hear.

The piano reduction version of Morris' "Violin Concerto" is a perfect example of this. A ravishing violin presence, an intimate, harmonically early modern-later romantic context played sensitively by Eduard Laurel on piano, all facets come together for a work that brings beauty into your world, one note at a time.

The same is true of the other works presented here: solo piano on "Dream Songs" and "Tropical Dances," cello and piano on "Cello Rhapsody." All serve to map out Morris's most definite stylistic parameters, and all bring a timelessness into play that does not always apply to those working along more-or-less traditional lines. I would love to hear the orchestral versions of the several piano reductions but for now this is something to appreciate repeatedly and happily.

Aaron Novik, "Floating World Vol. 1," New Music-Prog-Song Suite

There is a "serious" cabaret music style that goes from Kurt Weill to Carla Bley and others. Aaron Novik's Floating World, Vol. 1 (Porto Franco PFR 021) fits in there somewhere. It's a suite of songs for female vocalist--mostly Carla Kihlstedt or Katy Stephan--along with a cabaret-rock-old-time styled chamber group.

The lyrics have to do with everyday life and/or whimsical-philosophical takes on modernity.

It sometimes veers a little to the side of "cute" and that you need to get past if you are to appreciate the very musical side of it all. It's not in an operatic vocal style but (like Weill and Bley) a vernacular one. And the music toys with theatre and vernacular while it transcends that with an original take on where to place it all.

This may not get enough attention, I fear, but it is quite different and needs to be heard.

"Sculpting the Air:" Modern Works for Wind Instruments

Winds and brass. They have a sound, of course. Modern composers have most certainly made them as fundamental as string and keyboard instruments in the mix of timbres they seek to realize. Not that there is anything really new there. But never as consistently have they been a part of the chamber and orchestral action.

It is to the chamber part of the action that we look today, in a nice anthology of modern works that incorporate winds and brass as principal components, Sculpting the Air (Navona 5852). Eight work by eight composers, widely varying in style from later romantic-neo-classical to classic modernism, and in varying configurations from the wind quintet to wind-piano combinations and others as well. There is much of interest for the lover of the modern and/or the wind enthusiast.

There is one "ringer" on the program, and that is Samuel Barber's lovely "Summer Music." It should be well known to many. The rendition given here is warm and expressive. On from there we hear pieces by James Adler, Russ Lombardi, Jan Van Der Roost, Barry Seroff, Brian Gillett, Juan Sebastian Lach Lau, and Richard Crosby, all relatively undersung, all living, all contributing works of interest and personality, the works all well performed.

It is an appealing program.

Christopher Shultis, "Devisadero:" New Music from New Mexico

New-Mexico-based composer Christopher Shultis gives us something original and good for the ear on his CD of four contrasting compositions, Devisadero (Navona 5849). There's a four-part suite for wind symphony ("Openings"), a song cycle for soprano and piano ("Songs of Love and Longing"), a reflective work for soprano sax and winds ("a little light, in darkness") and a suite for solo piano ("Devisadaro").

Generally this is a modern, original take on American post-impressionism, with tone painting that evokes the stunning landscape of New Mexico.

"Openings" has plenty of contrast, some very dynamic percussion-winds interplay, chorale-like grandeur, and orchestrational depth and transparency. "Songs of Love and Longing" pits a homespun charm against contrasting blocks of emotive expressiveness, American Chopin-Liszt-and beyond pianisms of idiomatic writing, some of the simplicity-in-sophistication of the Ives-Barber lineage, and a hint of later Strauss songsmithing for a kind of exquisite expression of lack.

"A little light in darkness" nicely juxtiposes acapella soprano sax with alternately sparse and full wind thematics. There is an introspective drama in the quiet parts, a little more espisodic urgency in the sectional, multi-solo tuttis. "Devisadaro" makes good use of recurring motifs in a series of poetic through-composed soliloquies.

Throughout Shultis goes after a modern shimmer, the small sounds of the landscape and the large, a sensitivity to the micro and the macro, in ways that reference past classical styles while harnessing them to the insistent and consistently inventive musical imagination of Christopher Shultis.

Anonymous Four, "Secret Voices," 13th Century Vocal Polyphony Beautifully Performed

Containing a wealth of songs, organum, elaborate polyphony, sacred Latin chant, the 13th century Codex Las Huelgas was originally intended for a convent of aristocratic Castilian women. In spite of a ban on women singing polyphony, they most certainly sang it, as well as a fascinating cross-section of sacred and secular repertoire.

The acclaimed vocal quartet Anonymous Four, women all, give loving performances of 11 works from the Codex, with the very sonorous and detailed vocal presentations for which they are known. Secret Voices (Harmonia Mundi) is the latest in an ongoing series of beautiful recordings by the quartet. It will I hope serve as a bellwether for excellence in medieval vocal performance practice.

I will not rehearse the actual titles of the selections. Suffice to say that the gamut of vocal possibilites are run, from simple but sometimes ornate unison chant and song form to sophisticated four-part polyphony.

Anyone who loves the music of the Middle Ages will find this a delight, as did I.

Stephen Barber, "Astral Vinyl," A Special Sort of Eclecticism

As time moves on, the idea of "something different" changes. The avant garde of today might be something considered conservative 30 years ago. Time changes things, perspectives shift and we find different aspects of music to gauge so-called progress. Sometimes, that is. Someone like Edgar Varese may be ahead of his time for a long time, perhaps for all the time our civilization has. Who can say? The chances are slim that "Arcana" will be the background music for a coffee commercial any time in the future, at any rate. And should that matter to us, really? I don't think so. You don't find microbiologists lamenting how little their work has entered the pop mainstream. Why is modern classical any different?

The music of composer Stephen Barber, on the other hand, is advanced in its eclecticism. Astral Vinyl (Navona 5850), a recent compilation of his compositions, bears this out. He has big ears. He has been absorbing the music around him. He casts a wide net. The compilation showcases 12 of his works, all for diverse combinations. There are string quartets, vocal music with piano and steel drums, chamber ensembles that let in rock elements a la Zappa, brass choirs, some electronic filtering here and there, an occasional harmonically expanded tang to the sound.

In all of these works there is eclecticism, yes, but there is a tonal Americana lurking in the wings. Maestro Barber is the son of Ives, Copland and the other Barber, spiritually. Oh, also a little Schoenberg, Webern, Berg and Stravinsky, at least to my ears. Yes, also Frank Zappa. And he brings a musical personality into the mix that pleases as it hones a lyrical craftsmanship and artistry of which, for his most characteristic works, perhaps we will say someday, "oh yes, that's Stephen Barber's music. I can tell."

Be that as it may, right now I find the music very pleasing. Posterity will do what it will, willy nilly.

Prism Quartet, "Dedication," 31 Minatures in Celebration of the Saxophone Quartet's 20th Anniversary

The all-saxophone Prism Quartet recently celebrated its 20th anniversary as a group. Dedication (Innova 800) notes fittingly the passing milestone with the quartet performing 31 short compositions penned especially for the occasion. Most pieces are a little over a minute in duration, though some are longer. Time passes quickly and rewardingly when listening.

Jazz adept Greg Osby joins the group for some effective solo work on alto for his piece "Prism #1 (Refraction)," presented in two interesting takes.

In addition there are short pieces by Ken Ueno, William Bolcolm, Jennifer Higdon, Tim Berne, and a host of others. As might be expected, some directly channel the sounds and influences of modern jazz, others take on various characteristics as the particular composer deems fit. All are contemporary, seem specially suited for the quartet, and sparkle like small but brilliant stones in a modern cabinet of curiosities.

Dedication showcases ideally the excellence of the Prism Quartet with their exceptional tonal blend and precise agility. A most fitting way to kick off the next 20 years!