Alarm Will Sound, Presents Modernists

The superlative new music chamber ensemble Alarm Will Sound comes at us with an unabashed anthology of high modernist works, humorously packaged (as you can see from the cover image above) as Alarm Will Sound Presents Modernists (Cantaloupe Music 21117). The cover art portrays a horrified couple hearing something they fear in proportion to the extent they cannot understand it. Other cover art emphasizes the Space Age of interplanetary exploration so much a part of the cultural gestalt that included the modernist phenom at its mature peak, say around 1965.

The liners talk about the average person's aversion to modernism, certainly during its height, no doubt continuing today. It is too new, there is too much that is new. On the other hand classic modernism emphasized leaving behind the past, ignoring it, embracing the avant present. That all-new, advanced unrooted innovation was of course the point, and it disturbed many people uncomfortable with the feeling of a foundationless, pure now.

So in this packaging Alarm Will Sound somewhat ironically looks back to the classic period of high modernism with six works that give us a chance to reconsider but also of course for those confirmed modernists or those at least sympathetic it gives us its own quasi-retrospective on it all.

And after all that is what this is about--something to introduce gun shy folks to modernism and some for the old hands to savor as well. We do have a program here that eschews the absolutely expected for an interesting mix of worthy pieces. Perhaps the most surprising is a Matt Marks arrangement of the Beatles' "Revolution 9," which either puzzled or intrigued those who bought the Beatles White Album back in the day. For impressionable and open-minded youths of the time, which I was one, the middle-period Beatles helped create a precedent of experimentation that opened at least some of us to the avant garde so much a part of the world then, though no doubt it also horrified some others.

This arrangement succeeds in adopting some of the loop dialog and other aspects into a modernist chamber piece. And in the end shows of course that the Beatles were delving into the modernist world with a gusto.

Another unexpected appearance is an Evan Hause arrangement of Edgar Varese's late '50s breakthrough "Poem Electronique," translating the electronic sounds into acoustic chamber equivalents. It is not so much a literal, note for note or sound for sound conversion, but rather like "Revolution 9" takes liberties and makes of it something different.

Those two bookends cradle some excellent modern chamber works that are musical modernist gems we may not be familiar with (I was not) but decidedly hold their place as representative examples. So we get Charles Wuorinen's "Big Spinoff ," Wolfgang Rihm's "Will Sound," Augusta Read Thomas' "Final Soliloquy of the Interior Paramour," and John Orfe's "Journeyman." For the Read work Kirsten Sollek and Caleb Burhans sound wonderfully well as alto and countertenor soloists, respectively.

And indeed conductor Alan Pierson and the Alarm Will Sound ensemble sound very well as a totality throughout, giving us performances that do justice to the complexities and intricacies of these works. They remind us in the process of their premiere new music chamber status, as one of the very best.

The anthology stands out as exemplary in its choice of not-so-familiar works and bold arrangements of the at least once very familiar. Those who may never have taken the plunge into high modernism will be well served in this as an introduction. Confirmed modernists will gain much with this program, too.

It's something of a must-hear release. Hear it!

Tonu Korvits, Mirror

Is there an orchestral-choral school active these days that one might call "ambient"? Surely. Probably its most celebrated member is Arvo Part. The roots of such things go back to liturgical music in the Church--in Gregorian and Byzantine Chant and what developed out of it. We have a fellow Estonian today who with Part most certainly fits in with the ambient mode. He excels at it in his own way as heard in the new release of his music, Mirror (ECM New Series 2327).

We are treated to six of Korvits' works, all of which give us some remarkably resonant music in the hands of the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir under the direction of Tonu Kaljuste, with solo appearances by Anja Lechner on cello, Kadri Voorand, voice, and the composer on kannel, a stringed zither-like instrument.

The music as a whole, notes Paul Griffith in the liners, has much to do with Korvits' own channeling of the Estonian choral tradition, especially as practiced by his predecessor Veljo Tormis. Be that as it may we who are on the outside of that tradition get some remarkably open, spacious, cavernous strains in which the sound of the hall plays an important part in framing the sounds themselves (something of course that all cathedral-centered music shares in various ways--with Korvits it would seem to be essential to the presentation of his vision).

The six pieces by Korvits take advantage of space and sound in organically moving ways. Anja Lechner's cello acts as a kind of reflector, a commentator of sorts when she is called for, in the opening work "Reflections from a Plainland" (2013) for cello and choir, a fantasy on a song by Veljo Tormis and Paul-Eerik Rumo. The final work "Lau" (2012-13)  makes beautiful use of Lechner as the soloist rising above the strings. And "Seven Dreams of Seven Birds" (2009/rev 2012) is perhaps the most stunning of all, evoking uncanny passages for cello, choir and strings with a very ethereal result.

The second work, "Labyrinth" (2010),  is a seven-part suite for strings. It gives us the purely instrumental aspects of Korvits in very pleasing ways.

In all the program has a good deal of contrast, variety, beauty and a very imaginative approach to the possibilities of ambience.

I found the music grew within the listening me as I listened repeatedly over time. As I began catching the inner details on the music on later listens the whole of the Korvits way blossomed out in ever more luxurious bloom. This is music that has an otherworldly presence for even a casual listen, but reveals its structural form and musical worth increasingly as one listens.

I do not hesitate to recommend this album to anyone seeking the possibilities of renewal outside of one's customary musical habits. Korvits is an original and an extraordinarily interesting one at that.

Paul Bowles, Complete Piano Works I, The Invencia Piano Duo

Paul Bowles (1910-1999) was that most rare of humans, an extraordinary creative writer and a composer of real originality. The Sheltering Sky and other works are classics of 20th century literature; his compositions were what he was first known for but have mostly fallen into eclipse until now. His Complete Piano Works I (Naxos 8.559786) should give present-day listeners the chance to hear some of his music, some of his best, as played with sensitivity and care by the Invencia Piano Trio. I believe that those who don't know the music will be in for a very pleasant surprise.

For Bowles' piano music identifies him as a largely tonal, faux naive practitioner, an American Satie with his own straightforward yet very poetic and sometimes impressionistically sophisticated melodic-harmonic approach. We hear ten of his works, plus two very short musical tributes by Leonard Bernstein and Virgil Thompson, respectively.

The music ranges from Latin-American influenced, folksy Americana or otherwise vibrantly lively and/or lyrical character studies and a more formal "Sonata for Two Pianos" that sound refreshingly unpretentious yet disarmingly brilliant. Andrey Kasparov and Oksana Lutsyshyn (the Invencia Trio) play the two-piano works with a togetherness of subtle nuance and then take turns performing the solo works in this volume.

This first volume gives us a rousing sendoff that makes us eager for the second. If you seek a change of pace in your listening, this one will give you a delightful break from heavier fare. It is timeless yet in its own way modern in a sort of guileless, naturalist way. Very much recommended!

Miranda Cuckson, Blair McMillen, Bartok, Schittke, Lutoslawski

The talented and extraordinarily accomplished violinist Miranda Cuckson makes her ECM New Series debut with pianist Blair McMillen and a brace of three Slavic masterworks (ECM New Series 2446). The works here presented are without exaggeration three cornerstones of the modern repertoire for violin and piano: Bela Bartok's "Violin Sonata No. 2" (1922), Alfred Schnittke's "Violin Sonata No. 2 'Quasi una Sonata'" (1968) and Witold Lutoslawski's "Partita for Violin and Piano" (1984).

Each of these works combines in its very own way brilliant melodic-harmonic light, dramatic expressivity and a self-consciously wayward nod to tradition within a high modernist framework. They demand much of the violinist, much of the pianist, and in the process create when in the right hands a singular music forged in the foundry of strife, courage and boldness.

In the hands of Cuckson and McMillen they soar with impeccable precision, verve and elan. The violin parts demand much especially, and Ms. Cuckson triumphs, rising to each challenge with extraordinary dash and conviction. Clearly there is the sort of affinity between performer and composition that is temperamentally deep. Ms. Cuckson, in her words, revels in "the dark-hued tones and harmonies, the mordant wit, the detailed shaping of folk ornamentation."

Cuckson has made a name for herself as an unparalleled interpreter of the many shades of modernism with acclaimed performances of Nono, Korngold, Sessions, Carter, Xenakis, Shapey, Hersh, among others.

The insightful interpretations of the three works on this album will no doubt serve as present-day benchmarks of excellence for future performers to come. They are extraordinary, a triumph both for Cuckson and McMillen. Molto bravo!

Dalmatica, Chants of the Adriatic

The Croatian coastal region of Dalmatica has a history of various  global influences ebbing and flowing with periodic war and strife. In the end it left the region with a rich musical treasure trove of medieval liturgical music that incorporates in local ways both Catholic and Byzantine music strands.

The four female singers of Dialogos under Katarina Livljanic and the group of male traditional Croatian cantors, Kantaduri, under Josko Caleta, join forces for a fascinating journey into rare Latin manuscripts, oral tradition and the polyphonic Glagolithic chants of the area. They cover by disparate examples the holy season spanning the time of Advent through to Holy Week. All this on the splendid album Dalmatica, From Oral to Written Transmission: Chants of the Adriatic (Arcana 395).

The collection is endlessly absorbing, indeed at times showing an original fusing of East and West and a medieval-and-beyond primality. There is plenty of polyphony, monodic plainchant, archaic harmonizations and a strong Byzantine influence.

There is a wealth of examples that are inimitable, unexpected, and quite beautiful in the hands of the talented and mellifluous singers. This is something special, experienced in the hearing much more so than in the telling.

I will thus leave off attempting to describe in detail the many musical ins-and-outs to be heard. Instead I will heartily recommend you listen closely and repeatedly to this offering. It is most assuredly a different confluence of early music liturgical possibilities, excellently presented.

Eighth Blackbird, Hand Eye, Sleeping Giant Composer's Collective

From the award-winning world-class contemporary chamber ensemble Eighth Blackbird comes their latest recording, Hand Eye (Cedille 90000 162), a riveting collection of eight short to fairly short compositions by the composer's collective Sleeping Giant. Like Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, it is music directly inspired by a contemporary visual art collection, in this case works contained in the Maxine and Stuart Frankel Foundation for Art. Each composer chose a particular work as the catalyst for his/her piece.

The music runs together nicely as a continuous whole, as movement within a larger totality. And so we get Timo Andres' "Checkered Shade," based on a pen-and-ink abstraction by Astrid Bowlby; Andrew Norman's "Mine, Mime, Meme," inspired by rAndom International's installation "Audience;" Robert Honstein's "Conduit," engaging with a digital interactive sculpture by Zigelbaum and Coelho; Christopher Cerrone's "South Catalina" takes inspiration from rAndom International's interactive "Swarm," while also capturing the composer's reaction to the intense brightness of the sun during Southern California's winters after experiencing the more dreary East Coast variants; then there is Ted Hearne's "By-By Huey," an interpretation of Robert Arneson's painting "Bye-Bye Huey P." depicting Huey Newton's murderer Tyrone Robinson; and finally Jacob Cooper's "Cast," which is informed by and forms an analogue equivalent to Leonardo Drew's paper casts of everyday objects.

The ultimate effect is of something seminal, a romp through a series of many faceted works iconically post-modern, elementally, radically tonal at times, always filled with vivid tone-color painting, distinctive parts of an ultra-contemporary whole.

Nothing sounds derivative, nothing settles into minimalist orthodoxy, but instead ever sets about creating novel and musically rich dwellings for us to inhabit for a short while, only to move on to the next. It is music most originally conceived by Sleeping Giant and superbly performed by Eighth Blackbird.

If someone were to ask me, "what does the latest contemporary classical modern music sound like?" I would likely put this on for them for starters. It is a most wonderful synthesis of convergent trends in new music today, one of a handful of iconic examples of where we may be headed in the musical future.

Needless to say I would strongly recommend this one to you if you want to keep abreast of what's good about the newest of the new.

Giacomo Fiore, Colors: Modern Music for Guitar

I reviewed Giocomo Fiore's impressive IV: American Electric Guitars LP this past April 11, 2016 on these pages. I am back today with another, his 2011 Colors: Modern Music for Guitar (GFCD 2011).

It is an excellent example of some fine acoustic/classical guitar compositions played with great artistry and logic. Unlike the piano, as I've complained in the past, the guitar does not have all the notes set out for you sequentially from left to right, unless you play on only one string! So the modern, noteful expansion of possibilities perhaps requires more spatial reorientations for the guitarist from the start. The initial getting of all the notes right, expressively as called for, perhaps requires more initial toil, at first, assuming he or she comes to the instrument with a previous accretion of scalular and chordal residues that modern music may partly or wholly abandon. Then of course the challenge is to use your artistry to make the music make sense, in phrasings and colorations, to bring out the essence of the music. (And that is not to say that playing modern music on the piano is easy in itself, but there are different initial demands physically.)

Needless to say Giacomo Fiore is a truly gifted exponent of interpreting modern music for the guitar. So here as examples we have four exceptional works that make their own demands on the artist. Giacomo provides us with interpretations that sound beautifully logical, flowing naturally with the phrasing and artful sort of varied attacks that make of each something special and expressively comprehensible on the highest levels. Colors is an especially apt title for this CD, as we experience a wealth of it thanks to Fiore's performances.

The least traditional modernist-classicist of the four works is, understandably, Lou Harrison's 2002 "Scenes from Nek Chand," which calls for untempered tuning and is played by a special resonator guitar refretted to allow for Harrison's just intonation. It has the Harrison expressive charm of a new world music and gets a fully impeccable and characteristic performance.

The three other works at hand call for the standard classical, nylon stringed guitar and are each in their own way icons of the modern repertoire. Benjamin Britten gives us some unforgettably melodic-modern revisitations of early music implications on "Nocturnal After John Dowland" (1963). It is performed with a dynamic and lyrical thrust I have never heard the equal of, personally.

So too we get some exceptional performance interpretations of Toru Takemitsu's "All in Twilight" (1988) and Michael Tippett's "The Blue Guitar" (1983), both giving us music that challenges the artist to present a coherency out of the many strands of musical figurations each composer juxtaposes.

In the end we get a hugely successful and moving recital from a guitarist of supreme artistry, a totally conversant medium for the music of today and just yesterday. Giacomo Fiore is the real thing! Do not hesitate to find this one, all you who appreciate the guitar extremely well played and the modernist adventurists who seek new some gems played with exceptional facility. Very recommended.