Classical Explorations — May 2024

Caroline Shaw
The Observatory
The Observatory was inspired by a visit to the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. It is full of gripping drama right from the outset. It’s bold opening has a feel of the curtain coming up on a great Classical symphony, yet the harmonies give a sinister, film-like feel befitting Bernard Herrmann. There are references to Strauss’ Don Juan, Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2, Brahms’ Symphony No. 1, and as the composer says “arpeggiated chimes used to summon audiences to their seats at orchestra concerts”. The ever-shifting rhythmic invention is decoration to those opening chords which reappear throughout. The writing is highly original and refreshing with so much intricate detail. Shaw describes the material as “appearing in diminution and augmentation simultaneously, like objects in orbit at different phases. There is foreground and background.” It’s almost as if the listener is walking along a corridor and hearing music bursting from different rooms. It rather reminds me of Milhaud’s Le Bœuf Sur Le Toit but with the heat turned up several notches! The score is brilliantly realised by the wonderful playing from the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Dalia Stasevska.

Paule Maurice
Tableaux de Provence pour saxophone et orchestra
Little-known today, Paule Charlotte Marie Jeanne Maurice was a French composer, born in Paris. This saxophone work is probably her most famous composition, written between 1948 and 1955 for the saxophone virtuoso, Marcel Mule. It was the playing of the French saxophonist Louis Hognon which caught my attention this month. What an absolutely captivating sound! Well centred, rich with super controlled vibrato which is varied and colours the phrasing exactly.

Francis Poulenc
Trois mouvements perpétuels FP 14b: i. Assez modéré
I make no apology for including another Poulenc track this month – I just can’t get enough of him! This time we hear the first in a set of works for piano written in 1918. In Poulenc’s usual style of fusing gorgeous free flowing melodies with flippancy, we hear three movements which end without a definite resolution. A leaf out of Eric Satie’s book perhaps – but not in 1918 – the two of them were not talking after a falling out! Poulenc made this version for nine instruments in 1925, adding another layer of delicate colour. The warmth of tone from the Manchester Camerata under John Andrews is wonderful and exactly the ticket for this new release!

Cindy McTee
Soundings – iii. Waves
Cindy McTee is an American composer and educator working in many universities including the University of North Texas where there is of course the exemplary North Texas Wind Symphony. It is no surprise that there are several brilliant works for wind orchestra including Soundings. What is particularly impressive to me in this movement is the unique soundworld which is created. If you didn’t know the scoring, you could easily think there were synthesisers or electronics included. The music grows in a wonderfully organic way with long winding melodies above a canvas of sound like clattering waves. The dynamic shaping from the North Texas Wind Symphony is beautifully graded. Muted trumpets add a smoky, jazzy and relaxed feel to the initial wind solos.

Charles d'Argentil
Missa pro Defunctis – Pie Jesu
Another little-known composer, Charles d'Argentil, who worked in the prestigious Papal Chapel in Rome, was a key figure in the French Renaissance, as well as in the establishment of musical settings of the Requiem for papal ceremonies. This setting of the Pie Jesu is immediately captivating. The sonorous sound of Ensemble Gilles Binchois is so inviting, rich and beautifully blended. Such a lovely contrast to my other choices.

Cheryl Frances-Hoad
Taking Your Leave
Last month I featured the young and talent fusion organist Reductio and to follow on that theme, here is a performance by Anna Lapwood who has taken social media by storm with well over 1 million followers – 750,000 of those on TikTok alone. Talking to a colleague of mine recently in the organ world, he said that without doubt Anna is having the most prolific effect on young girls taking up the organ – helped by her trending hashtag #PlayLikeAGirl This is brilliant news at a time when things are very tough in the music industry. The piece is part of a set entitled Two Organ Voluntaries, written by Cheryl Frances-Hoad in 2016 as a collaborative work for cathedral choir, children's choir and organ inspired by the structure and themes of Choral Evensong with poet Lucy Sheerman and artist Bettina Furnee. The wizardry of Anna Lapwood is illustrated wonderfully here as we hear the pipes of Ely Cathedral. Scalic passages are built and developed through the ranks. This culminates in the strongest reeds on the instrument: tuba on the manuals and bombarde in the pedals. It almost feels like sensory overload at those moments. These arresting sections are so beautifully and tenderly contrasted with gentle and legato melodies, punctuated here and there with chirping bird song.

Johann Paul von Westhoff
Sonata for Violin and Continuo – iii.  Imitazione delle Campane (Arr. Badzura)
Not being a string player myself, I’ll admit to not knowing Johann Paul von Westhoff. It’s always nice to make acquaintances with composers who worked to develop particular disciplines and who would otherwise be forgotten by history. One the highest ranked violinists of his day, Westhoff composed some of the earliest known music for solo violin. He worked as musician and composer as a member of Dresden's Hofkapelle (1674–1697) and at the Weimar court (1699–1705), and was also active as a teacher of contemporary languages. This wonderful concerto is presented here by violinist Daniel Hope on an album entitled Spheres on Deutsche Grammophon. It’s an energetic performance, making use of modern violin techniques sound. Its also beautifully produced and mastered.

Marcel Poot
Symphony No.7 – iii. Allegro Impetuoso
The Belgian composer, Marcel Poot, was one of the most striking musical figures of his time, with a spicy compositional style that exemplified his zest for life. His cycle of seven symphonies, the earliest of which show the influence of Ravel, Stravinsky and jazz, reveal a clear preference for Classical balance and non-programmatic form. Predominantly tonal, the symphonies are notable for their rhythmic energy, colourful orchestration and lyricism. Having discovered Poot for the first time this month, I have really enjoyed listening to all the symphonies – such a lot of colour and rhythm. I particularly liked this final movement from the 7th Symphony and wanted to share it with you!

Geoffrey Gordon
Puck
This very new release of Geoffrey Gordon’s music on the Orchid Classics label caught my attention. Energetic and powerful, this piece is bound up in Shakespeare’s world through an epic tone poem of the wise and mischievous elf, Puck. Fleeting and transitory flickers in the upper instruments are contrasted with thumping percussion, supported by strong and powerful brass statements. Bell-like harmonies that create one soundworld are then quickly ushered away into quickly articulated figures. This is really exciting rhythmic orchestral writing. In fact, the whole album Mythologies and Mad Songs is a brilliant release of new and interesting music. Expertly performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and beautifully produced audio. I’m going to have this album on loop a while yet.   

Joaquín Rodrigo
Concierto Pastoral – ii. Adagio
The loss of his sight heightened Rodrigo’s remaining senses and helped him compose a body of captivating works that made him a Spanish hero. It was Rodrigo who discovered a way of bringing Spanish music fully into the 20th century without resorting to Modernist techniques. His solution was to channel his remarkable facility for melody and piquant orchestral timbres into traditional musical forms – in particular the concerto. Concierto Pastoral was written for the virtuoso James Galway. It’s haunting melody is irresistible and so evocative of Spain. I particularly like the calls followed by echoes both through the compositional techniques but also with Galway’s enviable technique and wonderful musicianship.

Frank Bridge
String Quartet in E Minor ‘Bologna’ – ii. Adagio Molto
Frank Bridge was one of the unsung innovators of British Music: his early works – steeped in Edwardian romanticism – gave way to an enigmatic and individual language inflected by the forms and harmonies of the European modernists. His music is still comparatively little known and unfashionable. He was a student at the Royal College of Music, renowned for its 'establishment' figures like Vaughan Williams and Bliss. Both composers had their wild and unconventional phases, but both ultimately were adopted as men of the establishment, which was never the case with Bridge. Bridge’s early works follow in the late-Romantic tradition bearing a kinship with Fauré; later Bridge comes close to Delius. The string quartet was written for a competition organized by the Accademia Filarmonica, Bologna. Of the 67 quartets submitted only Bridge's received a 'mention d'honneur'. This is music of great intensity and if you aren’t familiar with it, spend some time doing so, there is fantastic winding narrative with nicely judged cadences at the climactic points.

Valentyn Silvestrov
Postludium for Piano and Orchestra
Arguably Ukraine’s most famous living composer, Valentyn Silvestrov is currently a refugee in Germany as Russia’s war against Ukraine has intensified. At 84, he is still musically active with performances of his works all over Europe including recently with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. In an interview with the New York Times, he was reported as saying “I don’t know how we lived to see this”. Born in Kyiv in 1937, Silvestrov made his name in the 1960s with avant-garde scores that challenged Soviet aesthetic norms by hovering between austere modernism and eclectic polystylism. Silvestrov chafed at the Soviet government’s restrictions and demands. After protesting during an official gathering in Kyiv in 1970, he was expelled from the Ukrainian Union of Composers. He was allowed to rejoin three years later, but the punishment contributed to a change already percolating in his writing, as he shifted from noisy scores to soft, intimate ones. Postludium for Piano and Orchestra is a serious piece with plenty of dissonance yet there is yearning and comforting sighs in the abyss. As the piece progresses, the music becomes more tonal, calm and reflective.

Franz Schubert
Fantasie in F minor, D.940 (Op. 103) – iii. Scherzo. Allegro vivace
I like to end my list of choices with something light and refreshing – and what better than an album preview released just today! Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy have released a slick scherzo, tastefully performed. You’ll have a to wait a little longer to hear the entire album.