Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf - Ester

"Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739-1799), the Viennese contemporary of Haydn and Mozart, was one of the most popular musicians of his age. Owing to his success as a performer - he was a fêted virtuoso violinist of aristocratic and court orchestras in Vienna - he began composing on a regular basis at a relatively late age, in the late 1760s. However thanks to his fantastically fast rate of work, his technical accomplishment and diligence he still left behind an exceptionally rich life-work - we know of some 100 symphonies, 34 operas, 30 concertos and divertimentos as well as a large number of chamber and vocal works. His natural, carefree, almost routine method of composition was accompanied by a stylistic ideal that set as its aim the basic rules of social music fashionable both with the aristocracy and the general public - good taste, clarity, elegance of form and adherence to tradition. As a result of a visit to Vienna in 1772, after his work 'Isacco' written in 1766, he once again embarked on composing oratorios which are not intended for the stage.

"The oratorio, which bears the title 'La liberatrice del popolo giudaico ossia L'Ester' (The Rescuer of the Jewish People, or Esther) is based on parts three and four of The Book of Esther, or more exactly, it uses the motifs of these sections. The writer of the Metastasianic libretto Salvator Ignaz Pintus, renounces the requirement of presenting the whole story, and indeed, he even renounces following the dramatic thread which was usual in the earlier baroque oratorios, as for example, in Handel's Esther Oratorio. Instead of adhering to the logic inherent in the plot, the poet places tableaux and scenes depicting emotions which were arrived at by magnifying certain episodes, side by side, often in an arbitrary manner without any interrelationship. The original story relates how, at the time of their Babylonian captivity, the Jewish people, with the help of Esther, escape being massacred. Esther, the lovely wife of King Ahasverus (Xerxes) undertook, at the risk of her life, to plead with the king for mercy for her people, to save them from the wrath of the Persians. At Dittersdorf's request, it was really the mass scenes that received the emphasis in the libretto. With the exception of the duet of Ahasverus and Esther, only the choral sections refer directly to the biblical story. In the introduction of the various characters the librettist distorts the essence and reduces characterization to the love relationship. The texts of the solos, recitative and arias refer in such symbolical and abstract manner to the imaginary background of the plot that often we can only surmise which biblical character corresponds to the relevant role.

"Yet from a musical standpoint the aria texts are of immeasurable value: by means of a detailed, pliant introduction of the various emotional states and situations they created conditions for the realisation of more complex musical forms, arias of sonata form or of several sections. In other words they helped the development of baroque da capo arias into multi subject classical forms. Under the influence of the heritage of Carissimi's and Handel's choral oratorios, Dittersdorf's choral movements evoke the memory of the old, more severe, restricted style.

"The recitativo accompagnatos and arias are already unambiguous classical vocal forms, characters and intonations." (Márta Grabócz. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Liszt Ferenc Kamarazenekar, Budapesti Madrigálkórus, Ferenc Szekeres

1. Ouverture

2. 'A Crude Morte Traggansi'

3. 'D'Abramo, Isacco I Figli'

4. 'In Qual Profondo'

5. 'Ferma, T'arresta'

6. 'Per Noi Quel Core S'agita'

7. 'Fra Le Sventure Estreme'

8. 'Dunque Susa Lodò'

9. 'Ester, Cara Mia Vita'

10. 'Numi Pietosi, Dite'

11. 'Ah, Se In Vita'

12. 'Fra Le Caligini'

13. 'Di Persia Nella Reggia'

14. 'La Persia Ed Isdraello'

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Buell Neidlinger - Locomotive

Buell Neidlinger-led bad named 'Buell Neidlinger's String Jazz' engage in a unique and lively collection of original arrangements of seven Monk and four Ellington standards. The band features Neidlinger's bass leading a tenor saxophone (Marty Krystall, who Neidlinger worked with often), violin, mandolin and drums. Characteristically piano-less, this quintet plays in an old-timey carnival-esque style which seems less of a throwback and more of an enticing invitation to imagine a world of American music where swing, bop and rock and roll (and, perhaps, even the automobile) had never existed. Like other Neidlinger albums (see his exploration of Herbie Nichols' compositions) this is intensely musical, firmly rooted in the jazz tradition and a fascinating work.

Performers: Buell Neidlinger (bs), Marty Krystall (t-sx), Brenton Banks (vi), John Kurnick (mandolin), Billy Osbourne (dr)

1. Rockin' In Rhythm

2. Raise Four

3. Locomotive

4. Jumpin' Punkins

5. Skippy

6. Jackie-ing

7. I Mean You

8. Subtle Slough

9. Brake's Sake

10. Boo Boo's Birthday

11. Mainstem

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Frank Morgan & McCoy Tyner - Major Changes

"Those of us who began listening to jazz after 1960 (and we are now a majority) owe our knowledge of the likes of Bix Beiderbecke, Billie Holiday, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, and Clifford Brown to the phonograph and its linear descendants. Even now, for many listeners outside New York City, records, tapes, and compact discs are the only means of keeping up with current developments. Yet since the thrill of jazz is existential as well as aesthetic, we are justifiably suspicious of a medium that deliver the music so long after the fact. Records put us at a physical as well as a temporal distance from a music that was meant to be experienced up close. But who can honestly say that he relishes going to clubs and concerts any more, now that poorly rehearsed pick-up bands are the rules and amplification is in the hands of technicians insensitive to the natural dynamics of acoustic instruments?

"It's unfortunate that few listeners will ever have the opportunity to attend a recording session, for despite the unavoidable breakdowns and false starts that vex even those dates later remembered as having been absolutely carefree, the studio control room might now be the only setting in which it is possible to forget that the music is reaching your ears through microphones. The studio is where musicians play for prosterity, but it can also be where they delight in one another's artistry, without temptation to pander applause.

"At least that's the impression I took away from the final session for Frank Morgan's album with McCoy Tyner's trio, featuring bassist Avery Sharpe and drummer Louis Hayes. (Granted, few sessions are as pure in intention or yield such memorable results.) I arrived at Clinton Studios just in time for the final number. Although the tempo was relatively up, the cadence sanctified, and the beat modified bossa nova (with Hayes deftly imitating hand-drum patterns on his snares), Morgan's melody statement was ballad-like in its rueful elegance and haunted resemblance to 'Here's That Rainy Day'. Following Tyner's leading choruses, Morgan took a solo rife with piercing declamations that ended on notes that sounded like checked sobs - a solo so nakedly personal that I assumed this must be his own composition, although it sounded vaguely familiar. It wasn't until the outro that I realised, with some chagrin, that this was 'Theme from Love Story' a maudlin, turn-that-dial hit for Andy Williams, Henry Mancini, and composer Francis Lai in 1971.

"This performance (like the earlier one on 'Double Image' [Contemporary C-14035], Morgan's album of duets with pianist George Cables) is a remarkable demonstration of the power of ardor to rehabilitate treacle - testimony to an impassioned improviser's ability to change your mind about a song, if only for the duration of one performance. Morgan doesn't share my estimate of 'Theme from Love Story' (which he first heard during a screening of the film at San Quentin in the 1970s) as a lowly vehicle. 'It's a beautiful song,' he says, 'and I always wanted to play it for my [paternal] grandmother, who raised me from the time I was six years old until I was sixteen, when she put me on a train for California to be with my father [guitarist Stanley Morgan, once a member of Harlan Leonard's Rockets, no with the Ink Spots] because she felt I was beginning to need a man's guidance. It's the song I played at her grave during a family reunion in Milwaukee last year.' But Morgan invests as much of himself in 'Emily' and 'How Deep Is the Ocean', the set's other near-ballads, and in Tyner's 'Changes' and 'Frank's Back' two brand-new pieces without possible sentimental attachment. He seems incapable of playing a note he doesn't feel deep in his being.

"Beyond noting that Morgan conveys the urgency of a man making up for lost time, it's unnecessary to bring up the three decades he squandered to heroin - that story has been told and retold in the liner notes to his previous Contemporary releases, articles in 'People', 'Newsweek', and 'The Atlantic'; and on stange in 'Prison-Made Tuxedos', a collaborative effort between Morgan and playwright George W.S. Trow. Morgan is understandably anxious to be perceived as more than a redeemed junkie, and this album should also help in winning him recognition as more than Charlie Parker's ghost. At this point, there is no better saxophonist in the bebop idiom (the proof is on 'All the Things You Are'), but the modes and scales that underpin Tyner's 'Search for Peace' edge Morgan out of his comfort zone, to startling effect. Morgan says her was 'intimidated' to find himself playing with the most influential pianist since Bud Powell, but he certainly doesn't sound intimidated. Confronted with a saxophonist he can't overwhelm for the first time since his Milestone Jazzstars tour with Sonny Rollins, Tyner reaps benefits from this association as well. His solo here, while as tempestuous as always, are admirably lean and pungent, with just a trace of Red Garland.

"'Trane introduced me to McCoy in the 1960s, when he was just a kid,' Morgan remembers, 'and recording with him was the fulfillment of a dream.' Maybe you had to be there, as I was lucky enough to be, to gauge the full impact of Morgan and Tyner's second collaboration (they also played together on a 1985 video), but unless they've joined forces in concert by the time you read this, be grateful that the tapes were rolling the last time they met. Be grateful even if they have. (Francis Davis, January 1988. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Frank Morgan (a-sx), McCoy Tyner (pi), Avery Sharpe (bs), Louis Hayes (dr)

1. Changes

2. How Deep Is The Ocean

3. Emily

4. Search For Peace

5. Frank's Back

6. All The Things You Are

7. Theme From Love Story

8. So What

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Charles Wuorinen - On Alligators

"Charles Wuorinen (b. 1938, New York) is one of the world's leading composers. His compositions encompass every form and medium, including works for orchestra, chamber ensemble soloists, ballet and the stage. Wuorinen has been described as a 'maximalist', writing music luxuriant with events, lyrics and expressive, strikingly dramatic. His works are characterized by powerful harmonies and elegant craftsmanship, offering at once a link to the music of the past and a vision of a rich musical future. As composer, conductor and pianist Wuorinen has worked with some of the world's finest performers and his music reflects the great virtuosity of his collaborators." (Biography from the liner notes.)

"I composed my fourth string quartet during 1999, for the Brentano Quartet, with whom I had had previous happy associations; the piece was commissioned by a consortium of chamber music presenters. At somewhat over twenty minutes playing time, the quartet's single movement necessarily involves a wide variety of attitudes, gestures, textures and speeds. But overall one can detect a directed progress from slower to faster, from sparer to denser - although with many detours - and finally to a kind of repose. Stasis is not victorious, however, for the work ends (some might say) with the musical analogue of a question.

"I completed 'Natural Fantasy' in 1985 in response to a commission from the American organist David Shuler. The composition of the piece was strongly affected by my then-recent engagement with the work of Benoit Mandelbrot, and the profound connection of music to the world of fractals is the underlying theme. Technical details would be burdensome to explore, but it is easy enough to describe the work's basic principles: strands of the polyphony that generate the piece have a 'statistical' character - not that any detail is other than fully chosen, but rather that the gestural shapes that describe the lines are the fundamental units of continuity, and their actual note-content is made to fit the needs of the shape. This turn my otherwise constant way of working on its head, for in all other works of mine, the note or pitch-class content has absolute priority over all other dimensions of a composition. In this sense, then, the 'Natural Fantasy' is unique in my catalogue." (Charles Wuorinen. From the liner notes.)

1. On Alligators

2. Fourth String Quartet

3. Natural Fantasy

4. Third Piano Concerto: I. Allegro Giusto

5. Third Piano Concerto: II. ♩ = 52

6. Third Piano Concerto: III. ♩ = 96

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Meet The Composer: Kaija Saariaho

"The very titles of the works of Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952) provoke strong associations. They blind the listener ('Verblendungen'), contemplate the light arcs of the Northern lights ('Lichtbogen') or one of the moons of Jupiter ('Io'), turn their gaze from the cosmic reaches of the starry sky to the microcosm of flower petals ('Petals'), or retreat to a hidden and secret garden ('Jardin secret'). Whatever the original inspiration for any of these works, Saariaho has managed to convert it with sensitivity and skill into sensual, colourful music. And even if there are some similarities or analogies identifiable between the original inspiration and the finished work, extra-musical phenomena have always been only a starting point for Saariaho, never the object of a simplistic programme.

"There is a natural explanation for why the visual dimension is often invoked in connection with Saariaho's works. Before deciding on music as a career, she studied fine aris at the University of Arts and Design in Helsinki. She studied composition with Paavo Heininen at the Sibelius Academy from 1976 to 1981. During this time, she was active in the Korvat auki! (Ears open!) society founded in 1977 to promote contemporary music. The close professional relationship established between core members of the society was at least as important as the official activities of the society—for instance, organizing public discussions and concerts. Kaija Saariaho recalls: '...there was a circle of us with Esa-Pekka Salonen, Magnus Lindberg, Eero Hämeenniemi, Jouni Kaipainen. We were all active and interested. If someone found an interesting record, all of us would listen to it. We held seminars amongst ourselves and things like that!' The other composers are keen to point out that these intensive meetings often took place at Saariaho's home in Helsinki.

"It was largely due to the central composers in the Korvat auki! society that the 1980s became a decade of Modernism in Finnish music, with much better exposure than before given to Modernists of earlier generations too. One of the main concepts of the Korvat auki! composers was to open up windows to Europe - in the time-honoured manner of Modernists and reformers in Finland. In the case of Saariaho, this dimension became more real than for many others. As early as in summer 1980, she visited the famous summer courses of Darmstadt, and when she had completed her studies, she went to study with Brian Ferneyhough and Klaus Huber at the Freiburg Musikhochschule in 1981-82, receiving her diploma in 1983.

"Since 1982, Saariaho has lived permanently in Paris, a stone's throw away from IRCAM, the well-known contemporary music research centre where she works regularly. Despite her emigration and internationalization, Saariaho has maintained close ties to Finnish musical circles: various Finnish institutions have commissioned works from her, she has had composition concerts in Finland, and in the academic year 1997-98 she was guest Professor of Composition at the Sibelius Academy.

"In her early period in the late 1970s, Saariaho wrote several lyrical, delicate and melodically expressive vocal works. Her focus soon moved from melody to rich tonal colour and harmony, two mutually complementary elements that are closely related to one another. From the early 1980s onwards, Saariaho's music has been characterized by sound surfaces rich in detail, often hovering between pure tones and noise; delicately lyrical, evocative moods; and processes of change unfolding in slow, organic growth and evolution. There is no traditional harmonic structure, counterpoint or pulsating rhythm in works from this period.

"Towards the end of the 1980s, Saariaho's works began to acquire a more definite profile as the dream-like slowness of the earlier works began to subside. In the 1990s, her trend towards a more powerful mode of expression and more abrupt shifts has strengthened, and even melody has reappeared as a significant element in certain works. However, rich tonal colour and meticulously planned details remain important.

"In painting her original and individual landscapes in sound, Saariaho has often used state-of-the-art technology, for instance tape music, live electronics or computer assistance. Modern technology is often seen as the antithesis of delicate lyricism, but Saariaho's works demonstrate that this need not be the case. Saariaho has also worked with many top musicians of our time; for instance, her string quartet 'Nymphea' (1987) was written for the Kronos Quartet, while the orchestral works 'Du cristal' (1990) and '...O la fumée' (1990) were written for Esa-Pekka Salonen, the violin concerto 'Graal thédtre' (1994) for Gidon Kremer and the song cycle 'Château de I'âme' (1996) for soprano Dawn Upshaw.

"Saariaho's output includes orchestral, chamber, solo and vocal music. Often there is a tape involved. Saariaho has also written several works that have a dramatic or cross-discipline element, including the radiophonic work 'Stilleben' (1988), the dance work 'Maa' (Earth, 1991) commissioned by the Finnish National Ballet and choreographed by Carolyn Carlson, and various multimedia and film music projects. Her most extensive project to date is an opera commissioned by the Salzburg Festival for 2001, based on the real-life history of a 12th-century troubadour, Jaugre Rudel.

"'Verblendungen' ('Dazzlements'), commissioned by the Finnish Broadcasting Company (1982-84), was Saariaho's first extensive work after finishing her studies, a sort of transition ritual in becoming a full-blown artist. Like many of Saariaho's works, it found its origin in a visual idea, a thick brush-stroke thinning out gradually. In the music, this is reflected in the overall form, an enormous diminuendo beginning in an opening Big Bang and continuing throughout the work. In this sense, Verblendungen is a fine example of the slow processes of change typical of Saariaho's music in the early 1980s.

"'Verblendungen' is written for a 35-member orchestra, smaller than a normal symphony orchestra, and a tape prepared by Saariaho herself at the GRM Studio in Paris. The tape is based on two sounds played on a violin, a bowed sforzato and a pizzicato. This was the first time that Saariaho used a pre-prepared tape with live instrumentalists. The relationship between the musicians and the tape is an important dimension in the work, and it changes during the course of the work. At first, the orchestra is bright in sound and the tape is rough and noisy, but at the end the orchestra sounds electronic and the tape is crystal clear. However, the orchestra and tape intertwine to produce a rich and nuanced image in sound.

"Whereas 'Verblendungen' was sparked by a brush-stroke, 'Lichtbogen' for nine musicians and live electronics ('Light arcs', 1985-86), commissioned by the French Ministry of Culture, was prompted by the Northern lights. It is an extremely sensitive, finely tuned and vibrant piece that is fundamentally static yet is constantly moving and alive. Various colours and noise-like sounds shimmer and undulate in a ghostly, nebulous musical space.

"There is also a more theoretical aspect to 'Lichtbogen'. Saariaho used a computer in writing this work; this was the first time she used a computer with a purely instrumental work. The basic material consisted of harmonics played on a cello; when bow pressure is increased, the notes break up into noise. A computer analysis of this phenomenon generated the harmony and sound models that Saariaho then translated into music for the musicians to perform, complementing the sound spectrum with live electronics, i.e. electronic processing of sound in real time in concert.

"Like 'Lichtbogen', 'Io' (1986-87) for chamber orchestra, tape and live electronics was also inspired by the cosmic dimension of the starry sky. The title refers to one of the moons of Jupiter, although it is tempting to interpret it as the Italian word for 'I'. 'Io' was commissioned by IRCAM for its 10th anniversary concert at the Centre Pompidou.

"In terms of musical material, Saariaho again started off small, with an analysis of individual sound phenomena, in this case noise-like sounds produced on a double bass and a flute. She then transposed the models she had worked out onto a new level, a larger scale. 'Io' is a synthesis of musical approaches in the sense that it has a tape like 'Verblendungen' but also live electronics like 'Lichtbogen'. The tape has quite an independent role in places, and it even has a three-minute 'solo' towards the end. In terms of expression, 'Io' heralded a shift towards a more many-sided and complex texture.

"Kaija Saariaho has said that one of the crucial insights underlying the radiophonic work 'Stilleben' ('Still life', 1987-88) came to her while sitting in a train. As darkness falls, the landscape outside fades from view and the passenger's face begins to show in the window. This poetic experience points two ways with regard to 'Stilleben': firstly, to the gradual processes of change so important to many of Saariaho's works; and secondly, to the fundamental themes of 'Stilleben'. According to Saariaho, 'Stilleben' is about travelling, distance and communication between people separated from one another or from their homeland. It is easy to imagine that there is something very autobiographical in this theme for Saariaho, a Finn living in Paris and doing a lot of travelling.

"'Stilleben' was commissioned by the Finnish Broadcasting Company. It received a prize in the radiophonic works category in the Prix Italia competition in 1988, and in the following year it received the Ars Electronica prize. A 'radiophonic' work is a special kind of taped work that, as the name says, is designed to be played on radio, not in concert. Its means vary, but usually it is something between a radio play and electronic music.

"True to the nature of radiophonic works, 'Stilleben' contains a variety of material: speech in three languages (Finnish, German, French), singing, instrumental music (including extracts from 'Lichtbogen'), various concrete sounds for example from metro stations, and various types of acoustics. The texts are from letters by Franz Kafka discussing the effect of separation on communication; Saariaho has also used the poetry of Paul Eluard and artist Wassily Kandinsky. Saariaho approaches this rich and varied material more as a composer than as a storyteller. In fact, the work does not come across as a clear plot structure; rather it involves associations awakened by various situations and moods, a sort of poetry in sound that has themes and content but not precisely defined meanings.

"'Jardin secret' ('Secret garden') is a curiosity-provoking title that seems to evoke the composer's innermost thoughts. Saariaho has given this title to three works in which she has explored various parameters of music through the same basic model, using a computer. The first work of these is purely for tape (1984-85). The next to be completed was 'Jardin secret II' for harpsichord and tape. The concluding work, written for string quartet and live electronics, is 'Nymphea' (1987), sub-titled 'Jardin Secret III'.

"'Jardin secret II' is different from Saariaho's earlier compositions. It is energetic and rhythmic to the point of being chopping, The harpsichord part is restricted to a few effective basic gestures: trills, tremolos, chord ostinatos and short sharp figures. Saariaho has edited the tape using harpsichord sounds and human heavy breathing. 'Jardin Secret II' is an important work in that it helped open up a newer, more serious approach in the composer's musical thinking.

"'Petals' (1988) for cello and live electronics is a sort of associate member in the 'Jardin secret' series. The material in the work derives largely from the string quartet 'Nymphea' ('Jardin secret III'). The titles also allude to the same sort of sphere, Nymphea meaning 'waterlily'. In discussing 'Petals', we must also mention the contribution of cellist Anssi Karttunen, one of Saariaho's favourite musicians who provided the inspiration for the work and to whom it is dedicated. Saariaho has described the musical concept of 'Petals' thus: 'Petals is about contrasting elements, which here consist of pale colour on one hand and events whose kinetic energy is clearly based on rhythmic and melodic gestures on the other. These more precisely sketched shapes go through a number of changes and finally blend into the less dynamic yet intensive colour tapestry of the opening.'" (Kimmo Korhonen, tr. Jaakko Mäntyjärvi. From the liner notes.)

 

Performers: Avanti! Chamber Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Kaija Saariaho, Jukka Tiensuu, Anssi Karttunen, Endymion Ensemble, John Witfield

1.1. Verblendungen

1.2. Lichtbogen

1.3. Io

1.4. Stilleben

2.1. Jardin Secret II

2.2. Petals

2.3. Lichtbogen

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Milton Babbitt - Piano Concerto; The Head of the Bed

"Milton Babbitt, born in 1916, has spent most of his career as composer, theorist, and teacher at Princeton University, where he followed his teacher, Roger Sessions, as William Shubael Conant Professor of Music. He has also been for several years a member of the composition faculty at the Juilliard School. His influence has been wide-ranging; his students include both Donald Martino and Stephen Sondheim. The recipient of many awards during his career, Babbitt has most recently been named a MacArthur Fellow: in 1986 he was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. 

 

"The two works heard on this recording bring together a number of strands in the complex web of Milton Babbitt’s compositional concerns. 'The Head of the Bed' (1981), commissioned by the Chamber Music Society of Baltimore and composed for Phyllis Bryn-Julson, embodies both Babbitt's interest in chamber music and his long-standing affinity for the female voice, previously exemplified by 'Du' (1951), 'Vision and Prayer' (1961), 'Philomel' (1963-64), 'Phonemena' (1969-70; 1974), and 'A Solo Requiem' (1976-77). The 'Concerto for Piano and Orchestra', written in 1985 for Alan Feinberg and the American Composers Orchestra, conjoins his massive, intricate vision of the orchestra with the pianistic virtuosity of 'Tableaux' (1972), 'Reflections' (1974), 'Time Cycle' (1978, 1982), and 'Canonical Form' (1983). Both compositions manifest the juxtaposition of brilliant virtuosity against a voluptuous setting characteristic of so many of his works for solo protagonist. 

 

"Although both works are structurally complex—among Babbitt's most elaborate extensions of Arnold Schoenberg's breakthrough—each in its own way dramatizes the expressive flexibility and power provided by twelve-tone musical syntax. 

 

"While Babbitt is perhaps best known for his chamber and vocal music, these loom over his oeuvre a series of vast monuments for orchestra, alas but dimly perceived due to their infrequent performance and the absence of professional recordings. (ed. note: This is the first of Babbitt’s orchestral works ever to be recorded.) The Piano Concerto is the most recent of Babbitt’s orchestral works, which include 'Relata I' and 'II' (1965, 1968), 'Correspondences' (1967) for string orchestra and electronic tape, the as yet unperformed 'Concerti' (1974-76) for solo violin, orchestra, and electronic tape, and 'Ars Combinatoria' (1981). In all of these works Babbitt treats a orchestra as a resource for a wide variety of timbres through a full range of dynamics and registers; the interaction of these factors with the solo piano is the crux of the Concerto. Throughout the composition the orchestra is divided ito four distinct registers, each of which projects varying versions of a multiply interpreted underlying structure, The various sections of the work are demarcated by the change of ensembles of registers in the orcheste: running through fifteen combinations of soles, duos, trios, and tutti. The piano, in contrast, remains constantly active throughout its range, and responds to the orchestra’s changes by changing the nature of its own material, now complementing the orchestra’s music, now reflecting it in a distorted manner. Although the surface of the music is mercurial, a gradual overall dramatic progression unfolds through the shifting orchestral registers. The Concerto opens with the piano pitted against the lowest register of the orchestra, followed shortly by the highest register; for the first third of the plece no more than two registers are present in the orchestra, and the lowest register is withheld after its initial appearance until the midpoint of the work. From then on, the lowest register is nearly always present, and more registers are active simultaneously. The gradual accretion of orchestral presence eventually forces the soloist into silence before its full majesty in the penulumate section. The piano reenters, however, casting the orchestra into its highest and lowest ranges to open its own ae ar passage to the close. 

 

"'The Head of the Bed' is both synthesis and synopsis of Babbitt's vocal and chamber music. The work is a setting of a poem in fifteen stanzas by the American poet John Hollander, who also wrote the text for 'Philomel' (NW 307). The composition evokes a number of Babbitt's earlier works both in large-scale design and in detail, While the vocal writing and text echo several previous vocal compositions, the nature and treatment of the ensemble have their reots in his 'Composition for Four Instruments' (1947-48). The present work and the earlier piece employ the same ensemble of instruments, and both contain fifteen sections, each distinguished by a different grouping of instruments (analogous to the play of orchestral registers in the Concerto). In 'The Head of the Bed' the fifteen sections correspond to the fifteen stanzas of the poem. The further subdivision of each stanza into fifteen lines allows Babbitt to create a subtle echo between the composition of the vocal part for each section and the overall deployment of the instrumental groupings. The disposition of motive and register in the vocal line also invokes a fundamental compositional strategy of the 'Composition for Four Instruments', reflecting the encompassing compositional vision that has informed Babbitt’s music throughout his career." (Andrew Mead. From the liner notes.)

 

Performers: American Composers Orchestra, Charles Wuorinen, Alan Feinberg, Parnassus Ensemble, Anthony Korf, Judith Bettina

1. Piano Concerto

2. The Head Of The Bed

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Vern Gosdin - Chiseled In Stone

Country powerhouse Vern Gosdin excels here with a cast iron set of heart-rending ballads and thoughtful, sensitive story-songs. The late singer was a big, wholesome man with the heart to match. A man with the power to make you tap your foot or hang your head as he saw fit. All this, and what an album cover—it hollers artistic confidence and self respect.

A1. Do You Believe Me Now
A2. Tight As Twin Fiddles
A3. Is It Raining At Your House
A4. Set 'Em Up Joe
A5. There Ain't Nothing Wrong (Just Ain't Nothing Right)
B1. Chiseled In Stone
B2. Who You Gonna Blame It On This Time
B3. It's Not Over, Yet
B4. Nobody Calls From Vegas Just To Say Hello
B5. I Guess I Had Your Leavin' Coming

mp3/256kbps

Putrefier - Cog Dominance

Early outing by Bristol-based Mark Durgan's Putrefier project is very much at home on the seminal UK industrial label Broken Flag. Swirling, mesmerising and low end-heavy (perhaps the recording), the heavy use of reverb closing out the A side is particularly interesting.

A1. Untitled
A2. Untitled
A3. Untitled
B1. Untitled
B2. Untitled

mp3, 320kbps