A Closer Listen
Fall is a wonderful time to catch modern composition artists on tour, from solo pianists to full orchestras. The spectrum of moods seems to score the colors of the season. As the leaves offer one last burst of color before the end of the year, this genre does the same.
This season sees the return of Sophie Hutchings, Christopher Tignor and Peter Broderick, as well as a posthumous work from Jóhann Jóhannsson. To sweeten the pot, fall also brings a suite for migration, a score to a shadow puppet show, a tribute to space dogs Belka & Strelka and an 11 1/2 hour movement!
Cover art: Lara Somogyi’s ! (orchestral expansion), covered in Strings & Things below.
Piano Plus
Alessandro Sgobbio‘s Piano Music 2 was the first autumn album we heard about this year, back in the waning days of spring. We think this deserves some requisite attention, so we’re putting it first in our preview. Each piece is dedicated to a person, place or topic, giving the French composer an extra sense of connection (September 22). Our very own Garreth Brooke (recording as Garreth Broke) is releasing an engaging EP on 1631 Recordings. Each track is a duet with a plant, a person or an A.I., as portrayed on the cover of Conversations, pictured right (September 29). Thomas Vanz‘ tender Colors of Invisible is being offered on “eco-coloured” vinyl; no two pieces are the same. The filmmaker-composer sets his sights on the stars without losing track of the ground below (Mesh, October 27).
Piano & Coffee Records is prepping two projects for early fall. First is Memory Reconstructions, a series of reworks from Jakob Lindhagen‘s Memory Constructions, including contributions from Blair Coron, Hior Chronik and Vargkvint (September 22); a week later, Hara Alonso returns to piano on Notions of Hope (September 29). Yann Tiersen heads in the opposite direction from Lindhagen by offering a solo piano version of his album Kerber, in the wake of a collection of remixes (Mute, September 15). The new movie Rudy is a far cry from the classic sports movie of the same name, this one more tender than arena-filled. Akira Kosemura provides a score of 31 miniatures (Schole, September 15).
Adding strings and indigenous vocals to the mix, Sophie Hutchings presents the expansive A World Outside, but fear not, her piano magic remains intact (Mercury KX, October 27). Hania Rani also adds vocals to Ghosts, a haunted October album that includes a collaboration with Ólafur Arnalds (Gondwana, October 6). Rumpistol completes his emotive piano trilogy with Going Inside, “created for inner journeys and psychedelic therapy.” The artist would be overjoyed if the album were used in an actual therapeutic setting, which we can imagine happening as the music is so rich in timbre, graced with the contributions of eight other musicians (Raske Plater, September 29). Olivia Belli‘s Intermundia is out this fall on Sony / XXIM, preceded by the sumptuous single Valadier. Streaming sensation Sofiane Pamart unveils the full-length Noche on October 20, inspired by Latin American locations (Le Tigre Noir).
Roger Eno returns on Deutsche Grammophon with the skies, they shift like chords. The album alternates between solo piano and fleshier combinations, with a bit of electronics thrown in. The only vocal track is “Strangely I Dreampt,” sung by Eno’s eldest daughter Cecily (October 13). One of our favorite pianists, Hauschka, returns with the colorful Philanthropy, an album whose titles along promote a more spiritual life (City Slang, October 20). After working with Ben McElroy, Dan Cook (A Spot on the Hill) was inspired to write Patterns, which looks for connections in music, visual art and humanity (Tenth wave, October 24). Stefano Guzzetti goes electronic as ONDA, but fear not; the piano is still the heart of Nami‘s danceable recordings (2020 Editions, September 1).
Alex Kozobolis has released a number of seasonal-themed EPs over the years, and they are now being collected as the seasons are not four. The set covers a single year, from autumn chill to winter blankets to spring and summer bloom, making it perfect to play no matter the month (October 13). Blurstem insists that Safe Travels, Old Friend is not a piano album, although it is; just don’t expect the instrument to be played like a normal piano. The ivory DNA is altered through pitch shifting and sampling (Bigo & Twigetti, September 22). Piano, crackle and tape loop mingle on Richard Sears‘ Appear to Fade, which was recorded in a single day (figureight, September 29). Edouard Ferlet‘s PIANOïD² is a jaunty experiment with a piano controlled by a computer. The jazz pianist shares time with technology, producing a hybrid result (Mélisse, November 3).
Strings and Things
Galya Bisengalieva was born in Kazakhstan before the collapse of the Soviet Union, but during the time when nuclear tests were being performed in the region. The area known as the Polygon was a center of Kazakh culture, deemed “uninhabited” by the government, where over a million people were exposed to radiation. The artist’s new album exposes this little-publicized atrocity with high emotion and a great deal of courage (One Little Independent, October 20).
Harpist Lara Somogyi brings new life to last year’s ! with an album of orchestral re-imaginings. More than just a remix album, it stands as a new work in its own right (Mercury KX, October 20). Bridget Kibbey has commissioned six international composers to contribute to Crossing the Ocean, an album for solo harp with a guest appearance from Dawn Upshaw (Pentatone, October 13). Remembering that Mary Lattimore also has a new album out this season (previewed in our Ambient section), this is sounding like a very good season for harpists. To this one might add the harp/cello/tape machine combo of Château Mordécoly, a “red wine inspired” session from duo Mordecoli (Ecka Mordecai and Valerio Tricoli) on A L T E R (September 1).
Violinist Elle Wilson offers Memory Islands, a set in which every song has a story. One is inspired by Robert Macfarlane’s Landmarks, another by her Navy veteran grandfather, another by the way the brain awakens from a coma (Bigo & Twigetti, September 29). Also on the same day, the label releases From the Deep, on which the string quartet Curve Ensemble performs pieces by a quintet of composers, including label founder Jim Perkins. Christopher Tignor enhances the sound of his violin with pedals and processing, sounding like a one-man ensemble. The Art of Surrender is percussive and dramatic, while continuing to hit the soaring heights (Western Vinyl, September 29). The News from Utopia is a solo violin album by Austin Wulliman inspired by Zadie Smith’s story “The Lazy River.” We hope that no violins were harmed in the process, although the cover seems to indicate otherwise (Bright Shiny Things, September 15).
How many cellos would you like? How about eight? On Strange Waves, the multitracked instrument is melded to field recordings from Irish seas, courtesy of Kate Ellis & Ed Bennett, producing a low-level drone (Ergodos, October 3). Hand Drawn Dracula is a pretty cool name for a record label, and the cover of Michael Peter Olson‘s Narrative of a Nervous System follows suit with an illustration of “cello anatomy” that might attract a vampire. The cello is fleshed out by other instruments, and bears an electronic tinge (October 27). Cello and electronics also form the core of Powders‘ Concede to Circumstance, which finds inspiration in both ambience and early Playstation games (Them There Records, September 22). The James Jones EP Murmurations is another organic-electronic hybrid, released as flocks begin the fall migration (September 1).
Liu Yiwei has been composing works for theatre and choreography for years, and compiles some of these works as Twilight Diaries. The album has a “ring structure,” which means the end wraps back around to the beginning, a cycle of sound (September 19). The Things We Pass Through Our Genes explores family dynamics through the lens of Hospice care and the composer’s experiences of seeing two grandfathers passing ten years apart. Adding electronics to string quartet, Jackson Greenberg also straddles the line between generations (cmntx, October 27).
We’ve already introduced part of the Lost Tribe Sound slate in our Ambient and Drone section; we continue now with two prime releases in Modern Composition. Some may recall Claire Deak from her collaboration with Tony Dupé a few years back, also on Lost Tribe Sound; this fall she makes her solo debut with the exquisite Sotto Voice. The album pays tribute to Baroque composers Francesca Caccini and Barbara Strozzi (October 6). A week later, the spotlight turns to From the Mouth of the Sun (Aaron Martin and Dag Rosenqvist), whose Valley of the Hummingbirds is the adapted score to a dance performance by Greek choreographers Danae & Dionysios (October 13). Both are part of the subscription series Maps to Where the Poison Goes.
From violin and piano to string quartet and snare, Samuel Adams‘ Current remains elegant throughout. The album also marks one of the last appearances of Spektral Quartet, who is already missed (Other Minds, September 8). When does “structured improvisation” turn into composition? The Pitch & Julia Reidy tackle the question on Neutral Star, a moody set that combines organic and electronic instrumentation (Miasmah, September 22). Triola may be billed as a string trio, but on Scapegoat they are joined by a cavalcade of like-minded guests. The album is conceived as an “imaginary opera,” buoyed by occasional voice and sound collage (Constructive, October 20). The uncommon bowed psaltery, a 32-string folk instrument on a triangular sound box, is showcased in Neutral Buoyant. Hear Nathan Davis now on Verse (Infrequent Seams, October 6).
We don’t get a lot of albums by shadow puppeteers. Okay, let’s be honest, we’ve only received one. Tristan Allen‘s Tin Iso and the Dawn is an outlier in all the right ways, pensive yet dramatic with a visual component (RVNG, October 20). Joel Styzens enlists cellist Sophie Webber, pianist Rob Clearfield and the ATLYS Quartet on Resonance, a rich set including a suite inspired by the Chicago Botanic Gardens. One can only hope that the music is played for the plants (September 29). We are already loving Joshua Van Tassel‘s The Recently Beautiful, a collection of “lullabies for adults,” written while the rest of the household was asleep. Piano and string quartet create a quiet bridge between the waking and dreaming worlds (Backward Music, November 17). The new album from Future Beat Alliance still has a beat here and there, but it’s mostly a turn to modern composition with a bent for film scores. Lower the Anchor is out September 1 on FBA Recordings.
Miriam Beam’s cover art for Josh Semans‘ To Will a Space into Being is reminiscent of “The Cabin in the Woods,” and is part of the project “These Places Do Not Exist.” The album is less scary, at times even warm, suffused with Juno, string quartet and ondes Martenot (Hidden Notes, September 15). Who can resist Belka & Strelka, the first dogs to circle the earth and return alive? In their album and concert film, brothers Brueder Selke score their journey through cello and electronics, inviting listeners to discover their story (November 24).
String quintet Sybarite5 has three new members, and showcases their newly refreshed sound on Collective Wisdom, which includes music from composers old and new, which range from Armenian folk songs to the Punch Brothers (Bright Shiny Things, October 20). Third Coast Percussion returns with world premieres from Missy Mazzoli, Tyondai Braxton and more. Original works are also included on Between Breaths, out September 8 on Cedille Records.
Orchestral
Daniel Bjarnason conducts the Iceland Symphony Orchestra on Prayer to the Dynamo, which highlights a world premiere from Jóhann Jóhannsson, coupled with suites from Sicario and The Theory of Everything. There’s probably not a lot of undiscovered or unreleased music from the composer, so it’s a treasure to be able to drink this in (Deutsche Grammofon, September 15). Also missed is cellist Arthur Russell, now three decades gone. Peter Broderick & Ensemble 0 revisit a classic on Give It to the Sky: Arthur Russell’s Tower of Meaning Expanded, a high-profile release that will introduce the composer to a whole new audience (Erased Tapes, October 6).
Gavin Bryars lends a guest spot on Norwich Under the Water, a thoughtful treatise on climate change that concentrates on the threat to Norwich, in danger of losing significant parts by the end of the decade on its way to being fully submerged. Bill Vine combines orchestral and electronic elements with field recordings and folk song, producing an evocative document that began as the score to a contemporary dance piece (Ryoanji Records, September 11). Duretti Column violist John Metcalfe returns in a big way on Tree, a widescreen concept album that imagines 24 hours in the life of a single tree. A 40-piece orchestra helps him to realize his vision (Real World, September 22).
NMC Recordings has a very cool slate lined up for October 27. Many Voices: Ensemble is a set of works commissioned to be played by very young musicians grades 2-6. We would challenge any listener to guess their age from these sounds; these are tomorrow’s performers today. In These Exceptional Times presents the best submissions sent to the Big Lockdown Music Survey, many of them vocal. While many of us are so done with COVID, this sonic document is filled with insight, humor and creativity. Maybe there was a silver lining to the pandemic after all? Composers’ Academy Volume 6 showcases the work of a trio of young composers, Arthur Keegan, Jamie Man ⽂珮玲, and Nneka Cummins, while Patricia Alessandrini‘s Leçons de ténèbres, performed by Riot Ensemble, is experimental, long in patience and heavy in mood.
zeitkratzer presents Reinhold Friedl: SCARLATTI, a new rendition of a 300-year-old piano sonata. Suffice it to say that it doesn’t sound like the original, but is equally riveting (Karlrecords, September 22). Baroque and electronic music collide on Temporal Gardening, a creative collaboration between Stephan Meidell & Bergen Barokk. With amplified percussion and movements named after mushrooms, anything goes (Aurora, September 15)! Visita returns with Opp. 9 & 13, mature music for multiple ensembles, concluding with “A Soirée For the Migratory Birds,” which pairs well with Murmurations above (September 15). Similarly complex is Alon Nechushtan‘s symphony Chasms-Omens-Shards-Spells, which draws upon ancient religions and includes tracks inspired by Borges, Bradbury and Ives (Naxos, September).
Good Lord Almighty, we’ve got an eleven-and-a-half-hour, 110 track release from Vinny Golia, and it’s only the second of three movements. Even to This Day … Music for Orchestra and Soloists Movement Two: Syncretism: For the Draw … even has that long title to match. Featuring 25 soloists and a blend of composition and improvisation, the album is a beast to comprehend; but amazingly, it’s also quite good (September 23).
Richard Allen
Thu Sep 07 00:01:29 GMT 2023