Iceland Symphony Orchestra / Daníel Bjarnason CONCURRENCE

CONCURRENCE

 

Iceland Symphony Orchestra / Daníel Bjarnason RECURRENCE

RECURRENCE

 

Siggi String Quartet STARA

THE MUSIC OF HALLDÓR SMÁRASON

PAULINE KIM HARRIS Heroine

“In reimagining the Bach Chaconne and Ockeghem’s Deo Gratias, I searched for meaning and connection to the greater, mysterious universe. My collaborator Spencer Topel, and I created an expansive sonic experience. It is as close to stopping time as I can imagine.” (Pauline Kim Harris) 

Ambient Chaconne is an immersive exploration of the J. S. Bach Partita No. 2 in D Minor: IV. Chaconne (BWV 1004). Unfolding over 42 minutes Ambient Chaconne blends live and pre-recorded violin with electronics. Using both human and machine transcription, the Chaconne serves as the structural underpinning to the work, appearing often as small disassociated fragments, and at other times in extremes: consisting of extended passages of sounded or silent materials. As with renditions of the Chaconne by past composers such as Brahms and Busoni, Ambient Chaconne extends the notion of transcription metaphysical, framing the Chaconne both as a musical composition and as a collective-subconscious memory.

Deo is an acoustic-electronic transcription of Johannes Ockeghem’s stunning Deo Gratias devised as a complement to Ambient Chaconne. Notable as a 36-part canon, Ockeghem evokes singing of angels in heaven via an innovation on a traditional canon, using this ancient musical device as a kind of acoustic feedback delay. In essence, our Deo expands this idea of delays to a canon of thousands, in an ever expanding and infinite soundscape, where the melodies eventually dissolve into resonance.

Bruce Levingston PHILIP GLASS Dreaming Awake

Bruce Levingston’s close association with Philip Glass over the years has seen him perform duets with the composer and produce solo piano arrangements of Glass’s film music. The pianist’s earlier ‘Nightbreak’ was an imaginative attempt to combine the American minimalist with Liszt, Brahms and Rihm. Yet, while ‘Dreaming Awake’ focuses entirely on Glass, the spectre of 19th-century piano music continues to leave its mark on Levingston’s performances.

Take the opening 10-bar phrase of Étude No 2. There are almost as many tempo changes here as there are measures. The phrase’s subsequent repetition yields further unnecessary pushing and pulling. Rubato is not verboten in Glass any more than it is in Bach or Beethoven, but it can stifle the sense of forward momentum provided by the composer’s trademark repeating cycles and patterns. The music’s very raison d’être is undermined.

Levingston’s adoption of over-cautious tempos results in a dream predisposed towards sleep rather than wakefulness. The lethargic Metamorphosis II and soporific Étude No 5 overstay their welcome. When Levingston allows the music to follow its own course, such as the well-paced Étude No 12 or Wichita Vortex Sutra, with its subtle shifts of colour, the results are far more convincing. The latter, which includes a brilliant reading of excerpts from Allen Ginsberg’s stream-of-consciousness anti-war poem of the same name by Ethan Hawke, is highly recommended. Hawke’s Midwestern accent is more in keeping with the poem’s location than Ginsberg’s earlier version on ‘Hydrogen Jukebox’.

Levingston’s notes point out that Glass’s Études ‘raised the idea of a mere technical study to a highly expressive art form’. This may well be true; but for these studies to truly work, expression has to be combined with energy, brilliance and flashes of virtuosity. Other than the excellent Wichita Vortex Sutra, Levingston takes a ‘safety first’ option, and the music sometimes struggles to spark into life. (Gramophone)

Jasper String Quartet THE KERNIS PROJECT: DEBUSSY

This album marks the culmination of our decade-long journey with Aaron Jay Kernis’s music for string quartet. From the moment we put bow to string for Aaron’s Second Quartet, we realized his special voice and our connection to his music’s ability to capture both the complexity of the world and the simplicity of a moment. This depth fascinated us, inspired our playing and prompted us to dream of commissioning Aaron’s Third Quartet.

Six years later, after performing and recording his first two Quartets and organizing the commission, we received the first movement of his Third Quartet “River”. As the movements accumulated in our inbox, so did our sense of excitement and dread. It was clear that this piece surpassed its two preceding quartets in complexity and difficulty. The route forward was clear enough, but still daunting. Practice, rehearse, repeat. Through the spring and into the summer the piece started to take shape. Coalescing first a little at a time – glimmers of cleverness, brilliance, atmosphere amid the musical and technical challenges. As those moments grew to sections and then movements that began to make sense, we started to build them into the larger arc. (Aaron Jay Kernis)

Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir VERNACULAR

Icelandic-American cellist Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir has recorded VERNACULAR on the Sono Luminus label. The intriguing album, soon to be available from a number of sources, features music for solo cello by Icelandic composers.

Páll Ragnar Pálsson’s quietly meditative Afterquake opens the album. The composer finds his inspiration in the poetry of fellow Icelander Auður Jónsdóttir’s The Big Quake, echoing its description of a barren yet beautiful landscape in a series of musical gestures ranging from glissandi, trills, and double string playing to sul ponticello bowing.

48 Images of the Moon by Þuríður Jónsdóttir engages the attention through the use of a nighttime field recording by Magnus Bergsson made close to the Önundarfjörður fjord. The combination of the nocturnal sounds of nature juxtaposed to Thorsteinsdóttir’s sometimes serene sometimes energetic responses to the enveloping soundscape is mesmerizing.

Halldór Smárason’s O explores in music the poetic connotations of light and darkness. Its three movements: Ljós, Minni and Slokkna evoke a world enveloped in darkness for a good part of the year. In that world, the lighting up of a fire, even one as small and modest as that of a candle takes on a special significance for those who inhabit it. Its three sections blur their starting and stopping points creating a continuum of sounds- some nervous, some serene, some haunting, all of them fascinating

Solitaire brings the album to a close. Hafliði Hallgrímsson’s composition is divided into five sections; Oration is rhapsodic and impassioned, calling for sweeping bowing, Serenade adopts a playful pizzicato approach, Nocturne is meditative and gentle, yet suddenly interrupted by fierce glissandi, Dirge and Jig, elicit a diversity of unpredictable sounds from the cello of Thorsteinsdóttir.

Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir has lovingly brought to life a project that merits attention from listeners open to new music from all parts of the world, Iceland in this case, from which we hear little and about which we know hardly anything. The cellist has accompanied the beautifully designed and packaged album with candid notes about her musical journey with these compositions, and she has surrounded herself with the Sono Luminus “A team”, headed by the superb Dan Merceruio and Daniel Shores as engineer.

International Contemporary Ensemble ANNA THORVALDSDOTTIR Aequa

AEQUA presents a varied constellation of recent chamber pieces for smaller forces by composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir — ranging from solo piano to string ensemble — orbiting the large ensemble work “Aequilibria.” The album takes the listener on a journey through Thorvaldsdottir's distinctive soundworld, where sounds and nuances are as much part of the meticulously structured tapestry of the music as harmonies and lyrical material. The works are performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble, with two works conducted by Steven Schick and a work for solo piano performed by Cory Smythe. 

“Internally, I hear sounds and nuances as musical melodies and in my music I weave various textures of sounds together with harmonies and pitched lyrical material. The music is written as an ecosystem of sounds and materials that are carried from one performer — or performers — to the next throughout a progress of a work. As a performer plays a phrase, harmony, texture or a lyrical line it is being delivered to another performer as it transforms and develops, passed on to be carried through until it is passed on again to yet another. All materials continuously grow in and out of each other, growing and transforming throughout the piece. 

My music is often inspired in an important way by nature and its many qualities, but I do not strive to describe or literally incorporate elements from nature in my music. To me, the qualities of the music are first and foremost musical — so when I am inspired by a particular element that I perceive in nature, it is because I perceive it as musically interesting. The qualities I tend to be inspired by are often structural, like proportion and flow, as well as relationships of balance between details within a larger structure, and how to move in perspective between the two — the details and the unity of the whole.” (Anna Thorvaldsdottir)

Lorelei Ensemble IMPERMANENCE

Migration of peoples across borders has shaped the human experience for millennia. While securing permanent shelter—a home—has become a goal for the majority of individuals in our world, migration remains one of our main strategies for survival. Today, tens of millions of individuals live a nomadic lifestyle as hunter gatherers or pastoralists. Pilgrims seek moral or spiritual significance through extended physical journeys. Immigrants and refugees seek freedom, stability, and safety in a new community or country. Whether physical or metaphysical, humanity survives by way of continuous movement—our culture, beliefs, and histories are marked by impermanence. Music functions as a container of meaning, a vehicle we have used for centuries to express and grapple with the ineffable. We want to capture music—to write it down with a notation that clearly defines and preserves our musical ideas for generations to come. Yet, we have struggled to create a collection of symbols that can fully express our intentions—intentions that go far beyond pitch and rhythm. With this evolution came an ever-expanding musical vocabulary, new levels of complexity, and an increased desire to prescribe performance practices with the pen. But music resists this containment—the possibilities precede and outlast the technology that seeks to write them down. The repertoire on this album is rife with symbolism and metaphor that further teases out concepts of impermanence, migration, and the transient nature of musical language. From the wordless vocalises of Takemitsu’s Windhorse depicting Tibetan nomads, to the 12th century polyphony of the Codex Calixtinus sung by pilgrims traveling along the Camino de Santiago, to the dramatic shifts of polyphonic style seen in the 15th century motets of Du Fay and the Turin Manuscript, to Peter Gilbert’s contemporary meditation on the phases of the moon—temporality is a common and unmistakable thread.

Ronn McFarlane THE CELTIC LUTE

"I’ve always loved this music. In the early 1980s I began performing and recording Scottish music, since there is a written repertory of Scottish tunes written out for the lute in a number of manuscripts dating from the 17th century. But alas, there is no repertory of Irish lute music. Yet there is an obvious sympathy between the music of Ireland and Scotland, so I undertook to make arrangements of some of my favorite Irish and Scottish tunes that had never quite made it into the historical lute repertory. (An oversight, I’m sure.)

The harp music of Turlough O’Carolan often fits the lute amazingly well, and the traditional Scottish and Irish dance music can also be a good fit, though one needs to choose the tunes with care. The arrangements of Scottish music found in the Balcarres Lute Book (compiled around 1700) make a great example of how to arrange popular melodies and dances for the lute. I used that as my model when I started out on this project."

"The Kid on the Mountain" is a popular Irish slip jig about a young goat on a mountainside. Celtic music aficionados may recognize it from the 1976 album, Old Hag You Have Killed Me, by The Bothy Band. 

“Carolan’s Welcome” was originally composed by Irish harper/songwriter Turlough O'Carolan in the late 17th or early 18th century, though it had no known title until it was adapted by The Chieftains in 1979. Ronn has created this all-new arrangement of piece for The Celtic Lute, which includes several other O’Carolan compositions.

Matei Varga EARLY DEPARTURES

Matei Varga artistry has received standing ovations from audiences around the world and superlative reviews from prominent critics. Noting that it is hard to find the right words to describe the beauty of Mr. Varga playing, Corriere della Seras chief critic Paolo Isotta praised the young artist as a true poet of the keyboard, a musician of depth, and a genuine artist. Other critics have found his performances impressive (Gramophone, 2016), magical (Süddeutsche Zeitung, 2009), colorful, vivacious [and] engaging (Le Diapason, 2012). Discovered at age 10 by soprano Mariana Nicolesco, he went on to win top prizes at the George Enescu International Piano Competition and the International Maria Canals Piano Competition. Mr. Varga is also a recipient of the Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant and a runner-up at the Vendome Prize in Lisbon, where he was singled out by Elisabeth Leonskaja who awarded him a special prize. This release features rarely heard and recorded works by Dinu Lipatti and Tudor Dumitrescu, the theme throughout the album being the undercurrent of sadness that all of these pieces possess.

Irina Muresanu FOUR STRINGS AROUND THE WORLD

Irina Muresanu writes of this release: “It all started when I tackled Mark O’Connor’s “Cricket Dance.” It is a short, straightforward tune that requires the skills of an intermediate player, and yet it took me an absurdly long time to learn. To put things in context: I was capable of learning whole violin concertos in a matter of weeks, so why was the O’Connor piece so hard to get under my fingers? Could it have been because it was written in a musical style completely different than my classical training? And if so, how many more different languages were there outside of the traditional/standard repertoire? With this idea, I started my exploration of works reflecting the ways the violin (including its ancestors and relatives) is employed in musical settings worldwide. What resulted is Four Strings Around the World, a celebration of diverse cultures refracted through the unifying voice of solo violin, a project which immersed me in sounds and colors I didn’t even realize could be produced by my own instrument…” “irresistible…not just a virtuoso but an artist” (The Boston Globe) “Musical luster, melting lyricism and colorful conception made Irina Muresanu’s performance especially admirable” (LA Times)

Bruce Levingston WINDOWS

The title of pianist Bruce Levingston s haunting new album,Windows, is taken from the beautiful suite by acclaimed American composer James Matheson, heard here in its world premiere recording. This evocative, richly-colored work depicts the exquisite stained glass windows of Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse inspired by ancient imagery and scripture. These works, which reflect a myriad of overlapping artistic influences, led Levingston, an artist known for his cutting-edge programming, to seek out other composers who have been inspired by multiple art forms. Schumann was an immediate choice. His intimate Kinderszenen, a series of distilled little jewels that offer fleeting glimpses of childhood, is paired with the urbane, elegant Arabeske. Distinguished British-American composer David Bruce is also heard here in the premiere recording of his touching work, The shadow of the blackbird, inspired by the music of Schumann as well as the moving poetry of Wallace Stevens. It seemed fitting for Levingston to program these three inspired, and inspiring, composers together. Their works, old and new, represent aural windows through which their extraordinary visions may be heard, sensed and felt. Bruce Levingston is one of the today s celebrated figures in contemporary classical music. The New York Times named his album Heavy Sleep a Best Classical Recording of the Year praising his mastery of color and nuance ." The New Yorker has called him a force for new music with a gift for innovative and glamorous programming.

Del Sol String Quartet / Gyan Riley TERRY RILEY Dark Quenn Mantra

Sono Luminus announces the August 25, 2017 worldwide release of Dark Queen Mantra, a new recording from Del Sol String Quartet featuring new music by Terry Riley and Stefano Scodanibbio. The album includes Terry Riley’s Dark Queen Mantra (2015) written for Del Sol and Terry Riley’s son, guitarist Gyan Riley; Mas Lugares (su Madrigali di Monteverdi) by Stefano Scodanibbio (2003); and Terry Riley’s The Wheel & Mythic Birds Waltz from 1983.
Dark Queen Mantra begins brightly with “Vizcaino,” named for the hotel in Algeciras where Terry first stayed on arrival in Spain. The distinctively Spanish opening motive plays with shifting groupings and irregular accents. Terry started writing the second movement with Francisco Goya’s paintings in mind. Then the music began to take flight and grew fast and fluttery —“Goya with Wings” he called it. The final movement explores a heavier and more insistent groove. As Terry says, “it gets dark.” 

Stefano Scodanibbio’s Mas Lugares (su Madrigali di Monteverdi) refracts Monteverdi through the lens of bassist/composer Scodanibbio’s prodigious timbral imagination. The piece is dedicated to Luciano Berio, another master of transcription and re-invention of music of the past. 

In his The Wheel & Mythic Birds Waltz, Terry Riley views an Indian tabla rhythm through a kaleidoscope of possibilities, gently shifting the meter to set it dancing in new ways. Sometimes the music surges forward with sweeping melodies, sometimes it lingers looping in eddies. In a pre-concert talk with Del Sol Quartet in Camptonville, California, Riley revealed that the birds he imagined in the piece came from Anagarika Govinda’s account of Tibetan Buddhism, The Way of the White Clouds. He had been reading the book and wanted to give the birds a dance to do. (Pledge Music)

International Contemporary Ensemble ANNA THORVALDSDOTTIR In The Light Of Air

You could say composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir is a bit of an ice sculptor. No, not the frozen water type of ice—the musical type of ICE. The Icelandic composer recently collaborated with ICE, the International Contemporary Ensemble, to create a new four-movement chamber work titled “In the Light of Air.” 

And while we’re on the topic of ICE, let it be known that they are not your average ensemble. With a modular makeup of 35 leading instrumentalists, the group performs contemporary classical music in forces ranging from solos to large ensembles. In fact, they make it their mission to advance the music of the 21th century by pioneering new musical works and multimedia strategies for audience engagement. 

 In 2011 they created ICElab, an innovative new musical project which places teams of ICE musicians in collaboration with emerging composers to develop works that push the boundaries of the classical genre. 

 ICE’s latest album, titled “In the Light of Air: ICE Performs Anna Thorvaldsdottir,” is just a single product of that collaborative project. The album features two gorgeously enigmatic pieces: “In the Light of Air” for viola, cello, harp, piano, percussion, and electronics, and “Transitions” for solo cello. The performers on the album are ICE members Kyle Armbrust on viola, Michael Nicolas on cello, Nuiko Wadden on harp, Cory Smythe on piano, and Nathan Davis on percussion.

The title track is a tetralogy of works that together form a unified structure—the four main movements are connected by texturally fascinating transitions and framed by a prologue and epilogue. The first movement is an airy, delicate sound world aptly titled “Luminance.” The percussion and electronics provide a slowly rumbling bass part beneath a gradually shifting texture of sound materials, melodic fragments, and harmonies.

The second movement, titled “Serenity,” is an entire ocean of sound: infinitely varied yet beautifully unified in its ever-changing timbres and textures. The translucent calm sparkles with gorgeous harp details and gentle piano echoes, the vast and limitless soundscape punctuated with delicate, misty whispers of simple melodies.

The third movement is much shorter than the rest. Clocking in at less than four minutes, “Existence” is a slow and pensive journey, each bow stroke in the strings a deliberate, measured step through an atmospheric sound mass of deep drones and rumbling echoes.

The piece ends with “Remembrance,” a movement which delicately balances the lyrical, long-breathed melodies of the strings with the harmonic depth of piano and the textural interest of percussion. In fact, the percussion part features an installation of metallic ornaments which Thorvaldsdottir designed specifically for use in this particular movement. The ornaments, called Klakabönd (which is Icelandic for “a bind of ice”), were created by artist Svana Jósepsdóttir.

 The other piece on the album is “Transitions,” which was commissioned by cellist Michael Nicolas in 2014. The single movement work explores the theme of man and machine, both of which are represented through contrasting cello parts. Nicolas soars through the organic lyricism and expressive melodies of man while also excelling at the metallic timbres and technical accuracy of machine. Through his sensitive balance and imaginative interpretation of each role, he showcases the cello’s rich tone, wide pitch range, and stunning timbral depth. (Maggie Molloy)