Dowland Without Any Dowland

Another ECM new series release which gives a contemporary improvisatory spin on early music, this time from the Dowland Project on a disk called Care-Charming Sleep. The Dowland Project here consist of the voice of John Potter, Stephen Stubbs on chitarrone and baroque guitar, John Surman on soprano saxophone and bass clarinet, Maya Homburger on baroque violin and Barry Guy on double bass. Oddly, there isn't any Dowland on this particular disk which features songs and madrigals by Monteverdi, Purcell, Robert Johnson ( not the blues ! ), John Wilbye, Cipriano de Rore, Benedetto Ferrari, Giovanni Felice Sances, Riccardo Rognoni and Cherubino Busatti. Potter sings the songs straight and gives fine performances that bring out the melancholy of the lyrics. The players improvise in totally apposite ways and remain faithful to the spirit of the original music. Surman has long learned to rein in his jazz sensibilities when appropriate and just occasionally Guy begins to "swing" a little. Homburger duets convincingly with Surman on a couple of occasions and otherwise plays with real period authenticity. A disk to which I'll return often and for now, the final disk on this amble through my record collection. It's taken just over a year and I am now going to forsake the "next off the shelf" philosophy and be a little more selective about which disks I want to revisit and when. As and when any new disks are acquired I'll post about them here, so the blog isn't defunct just yet !

21st Century Baroque

This is another of those disks occupying the area between early music and world music with some jazz tinges thrown in. On ECM new series, it is by Rolf Lislevand and called Nouve Musiche. As the sleeve note states, this is music from early baroque sources adapted and arranged by Lislevand. Lislevand himself plays archlute, baroque guitar and theorbo and he is joined by Arianna Savall on triple harp and vocals, Pedro Estevan on percussion, Bjorn Kjellemyr on double bass, Guido Morini on organ and clavichord, Marco Anbrosini on nyckelharpa and Thor-Harald Johnson on chitarrone. That instrumentation will give some idea of the sound world but the recording is very contemporary with the various pieces running together in a continuous improvisatory segue. The sources are from Italy, Spain and England from such as Kapsberger, Frescobaldi, and Piccinini. The modern influences brought to bear on the source material are predominantly Spanish and Latin American with the occasional celtic touch. Certainly not a disk for purists, those with an adventurous state of mind whose tastes are more eclectic will find much to enjoy. Lislevand's playing is certainly richly virtuosic and he is supported admirably by his colleagues. If you like L'Arpeggiata you will enjoy this.

Baroque Violin Par Excellence

Violinist John Holloway is responsible for this wonderful disk, the centrepiece of which is Johann Heinrich Schmelzer's Unarum Fidium. A work for solo violin, it is in the form of six sonatas and is elegiac, meditative, serene and improvisatory. It has virtuoso aspects in common with the Italian violinist - composers of the 17th century and it sets the scene for the later arrival of Biber. For this recording, Holloway has experimented with the addition of a basso continuo sound which has harpsichord and organ played simultaneously by two players who each realise the figured bass to the full capability of their instruments. The organ part is played here by Aloysia Assenbaum, while longtime Holloway musical partner Lars Ulrik Mortensen takes the harpsichord part. The Schmelzer work is bookended by two complementary pieces. Opening the disk is a Chiacona for solo violin by Antonio Bertali, an brilliantly exuberant dance piece with dazzling playing from Holloway and the extremely odd device of a pop music style fade at the end; Manfred Eicher's idea maybe, the disk is given a distinctively reverberant ECM recording. The disk closes with an anonymous piece in sonata form for Scordatura Violin and Basso Continuo that is unattributed but may well be by Biber. A superb disk all round.

Feelgood With A Capital "F"

The three musicians featured on this album called Stories are all named individually with no collective band name, implying that this collaboration may be a one off. It certainly produces joyous celebratory music that draws from the many musical sources to be found in Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean region, with traces of jazz, blues and soul. From Madagascar, Regis Gizavo plays accordian and contributes vocals as does Zimbabwean guitarist Louis Mhlanga. The third musician is French drummer and percussionist David Mirandon. Gizavo and Mirandon are a long established duo act and the sparkling jazz tinged runs of Mhlanga's guitar add many colours to the sunny mood of the music. The accordion reminds me a little of cajun and zydeco music from Louisiana but Gizavo has wider influences than that and makes a very big sound with the bass runs on the instrument making up for the lack of a bass player in the ensemble. The problems of the Africa are many and well documented but this music reflects another side of the continent with joyful good humour and irresistible rhythms. The problems are not ignored in the lyrics but there are no direct translations, only brief synopses of what each song is about. If you want a feelgood album, this might well be it.

Idealism And Mysticism

John Tavener is a composer that is open to criticism with his "holy minimalist" approach and the similarity of much of his output in terms of both style and content. Maybe it is just the result of a cynical age when any sincere expression of faith is suspect. Tavener doesn't help himself in that respect with his changes of position through various stages of mysticism. Whatever, I think I now have about all the Tavener music that I will ever need unless there is a radical change from him. This final disk to consider is a recording of Lament For Jerusalem performed by the Choir of London and Orchestra conducted by Jeremy Summerly with soprano Angharad Gruffydd Jones and countertenor Peter Crawford. Tavener describes this piece as a mystical love song comprising of Christian, Judaic and Islamic texts sung in Greek and English. It is both a lament for the loss of peace in the holy city but also an affirmationof the power of love to bring together all who seek God from whatever tradition they come. Idealistic to be sure but a point of view worth promoting. Although Tavener has shifted away slightly from his Orthodox Christian stance, there is still a Byzantine feel to the musical content which the choir and soloists are at pains to bring out. If you know anything of Tavener, you will know what to expect from this and if that appeals, it is a recommendable version.

An End Or A Beginning ?

A disk of 17th century chamber music by Matthew Locke called The Broken Consort in a performance by The Parley of Instruments directed by Peter Holman. Locke became chief composer for the Restoration court of Charles II by which time court composers were expected to provide entertainment over and above sacred music. It is possible to imagine this music burbling gently in the background as worthies eat or converse about matters of state but it is also music which repays careful listening in a modern context, whether live or on disk. Locke writes these fantasias with the novel use of a slow introduction, followed by an air and a dance movement. Works in miniature, the six Broken Consort suites here are augmented by performances of four suites of Duos for Bass Viols and a Fantasia and Courant. The Parley of Instruments here consists of two Renaissance violins, two bass viols, three theorbos and Holman himself on chamber organ. Unfortunately for Locke, his music was too sophisticated for the taste of Charles II who preferred music he could beat time to in a militaristic manner. Locke's music is sometimes thought of as a not fully formed version of the idiom later perfected by Purcell, whereas it might be kinder to look back and consider it as a culmination of the style begun by Byrd a century before.

Championing A Maverick

It is a little ironic that one of the final ventures of the Warner Classics label, before Warner pulled the plug and abandoned any new recordings, was the exploration of little known 20th century British composer John Foulds. Championed by conductor Sakari Oramo, two disks were released of which this is the second. Oramo conducts the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in five pieces, the most substantial of which is Dynamic Triptych for piano and orchestra, a kind of piano concerto played here by Peter Donohue. Foulds was a maverick character who lived a colourful much travelled life and suffered an untimely death from cholera as a result of his travels in India. His works covered a wide range from an interest in orientalism, to a feeling for British folk music, to a more bland and accessible kind of light music. Dynamic Triptych is recognisably a work of the first half of the 20th century. Written in 1931, it is coming out of the same sound world as a Shostakovich or Prokofiev might have inhabited. Donohue plays with verve and committment. April - England is more akin to contemporaries like Bax and Moeran with a melodic, dare I say pastoral, feel. Music - Pictures Group III is one of those works coming from the light music direction and as such sounds more dated and anchored to a particular time and place. Two short pieces close the disk, The Song Of Ram Dass which aims at an Indian style but ends up more in the Rimsky-Korsakov / Borodin area of orientalism ( none the worse for that ) and Keltic Lament which could almost be a traditional Scottish folk tune. A very interesting character but once the novelty of the rediscovery has worn off, I think the consensus must still be that he is ultimately a minor figure.

A Pivotal Figure In Russian Music

Putting together an all star group to perform chamber music isn't a guarantee of success but it works wonderfully on this disk of Taneyev Chamber Music. The disk is the idea of Mikhail Pletnev who plays piano throughout on the two works featured, the Quintet for Piano, 2 Violins, Viola and Cello and the Trio for Piano Violin and Cello. The violinists are Vadim Repin and Ilya Gringolts ( it is Repin who also plays on the trio ) while Nobuko Imai plays viola and Lynn Harrell cello. Pletnev makes a strong case for Taneyev's pivotal role in Russian music, calling him the greatest polyphonist after Bach no less and noting his pupils included Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev and Scriabin. Both of these chamber pieces are very long works ( as a point of trivia, I think it clocks in comfortably as the longest single disk I have at over 82 minutes when received wisdom is that the capacity of one cd is 80 minutes ) The piano trio could be said to be Brahmsian in concept and realisation but it is still an individual and arresting work. The Quintet is the masterpiece on offer here, however, an eloquent and original work. Based around a massive sonata structure, it retains coherance and grandeur with an almost Brucknerian sense of architecture. The unusual combination of instruments places it outside of the realm of most permanent performing ensembles, so thanks are due to Pletnev for putting this project together. It's also pleasing the DG can still occasionally get behind a less obviously commercial proposition and one that was rewarded with award winning status.

Tales Of Empire

Mandekalou II - The Art and Soul of the Mande Griots is a second volume follow up to the initial disk about which I have already posted. This second album is in exactly the same vein and could almost have been a double album with volume one, so I don't have much to add to what I wote in the previous post. It maybe worth a little quote from the booklet to remind of the context; "Mandekalou vol 2 is an ode to the legendary Mande Empire which stretched from Mauritania to the Ivory Coast, a symbol of the past glory of medieval Africa. Every day the Djelis have to learn more about their past and Mandekalou enables them to relive it 700 years on." The music is again totally acoustic with hypnotic guitar, kora and balafon combining over rhthmic percussion and setting the stage for the declamatory and dramatic singing style of the griots which could almost be likened to operatic recitative. A sizeable cast of members from famous griot clans such as Camara, Kante, Diabate and Sissoko contribute to a project that has proved to be most rewarding. The orchestra, for such it is, is conducted and led by guitarist Djelimady Tounkara who is perhaps the starriest name on offer in what is essentially an egalitarian enterprise.

A Worthy Tie In To A Fine TV Series

The current BBC Music magazine cover disk is an excellent release, titled Renaissance Choral Music and featuring works by Allegri, Palestrina, Anerio and Byrd in performances by The Sixteen conducted by Harry Christophers, Stile Antico and the Rose Consort of Viols recorded at the York Early Music Festival. I presume that the disk has also been selected to tie in with the superb BBC4 television series Sacred Music that covered Papal Rome and Tudor England as well as the Notre Dame school and Bach. The disk kicks off with Allegri's Miserere, the famous and much disputed piece. It seems clear that the version now commonly performed bears little resemblance to anything Allegri originally wrote but it remains an affecting piece of music whatever the legitimacy of it. The Sixteen sing it here and the solo top C's, proved to be a modern addition, are handled with aplomb. It is good that there are other pieces by Allegri on the disk that are certainly all his own work. These are also sung by the Sixteen, as are the Magnificat by Anerio and the Gloria from the Missa Papae Marcelli by Palestrina, all examples of the Roman papal style of the 16th cenury. There are three selections by Byrd sung here by Stile Antico and these are combined with three instrumental In Nomines played by the Rose Consort of Viols. All playing and singing of the highest quality and worthy of a commercial release.

The Spirit Of 67

Resplendent in its' remarkably garish psychedelic cover, the album The 5000 Spirits Ot The Layers Of The Onion by the Incredible String Band epitomises 1967 and the first Summer of Love. Originally a trio and later expanded to include various family members, this album is the one which simply features most concentratedly the two talents which were the core of ISB, Mike Heron and Robin Williamson. I still remember reading the review in Melody Maker that persuaded me to buy the album, in which it was called a "folk Sgt Pepper". Not a particularly apposite description, although two other Beatle connections do occur to me. Like Lennon and McCartney, it is easy to tell which is a Mike Heron song and which a Robin Williamson song. And like those two Beatles, the influence of girlfriends on the progress of the band was disruptive to say the least. Heron's contributions tend to be more light hearted and whimsical, with talking clouds and hedgehogs, and a largely positive outlook on life. The songs of Williamson are more serious and darker but the yin and yang of the two together works wonderfully. Both have strong distinctive folk oriented voices and are excellent acoustic guitarists. The ever reliable Danny Thompson provides double bass underpinnings ( how many recordings has he made ? it must number in the thousand surely ? ) and both Heron and Williamson are proficient enough on such as oud, flute and sitar to provide touches of exotica which again are very 1967. A lovely album that was followed by two or three more recommendable releases before it all went a bit weird thanks to adherence to Scientology.

See If You Can Play These Friedemann

The complete 48 preludes and fugues of the Well Tempered Clavier by Bach, performed over three cds in this box set by Vladimir Ashkenazy. At nearly four hours of music, this isn't really something to be devoured at one setting. Indeed it may be argued that the settings, written as teaching aids for for Bach's first born son Friedemann, weren't designed to be listened to as performance pieces at all. They progress through all the major and minor keys of the keyboard and are played here by Ashkenazy on a modern concert grand. As ever, arguments range as to whether they might be better heard on a clavichord, harpsichord or fortepiano but there is plenty of interest in having a conventional modern piano put through its' paces. And although ostensibly "only" teaching aids, there is much magical writing among the ingenious variations and it is also possible that Bach expanded the latter part of the book ( that known as book two ) with a wider auduence than Friedemann in mind. Having said that, as a modern day listening experience, it is more sober and heavy going than such as the Goldbergs or concertos. Ashkenazy's performance is on the sober side too but considered and contemplative and not without its' merits.

More Music Theatre Than Opera ?

This disk is a recording of a new opera by Osvaldo Golijov titled Ainadamar. It is set in the time of the Spanish Civil War and tels of the friendship between the poet Federico Garcia Lorca and Margarita Xirgu and the murder of the former by Franco's men. The part of Xirgu dominates the action and is sung by Golijov's "muse", soprano Dawn Upshaw. Other parts are sung by Kelley O'Connor, Jessica Rivera, Jesus Montoya, Eduardo Chama, Sean Mayer, Robb Asklof, Anne-Carolyn Bird and Sindhu Chandrasekaran with support from the Women of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus. Robert Spano conducts the atlanta Symphony Orchestra but much of the musical content is also provided by Gonzalo Grau on latin percussion, Adam Del Monte on flamenco guitar, other guitar parts by William Kanensiger and Andrew York plus electronic sampling from Jeremy Flower and Gustavo Santaolalla. Golijov is touted in some quarters ( mainly in the US ) as the saviour of classical music and has therefore become somewhat controversial. I feel that claim is nonsense but also feel that his recent works are interesting and worthwhile pieces of music theatre. I would in fact prefer to use that term rather than opera, the latter term possibly only being applied for marketing purposes and because of the presence of Upshaw. But her singing is again far removed from the classical mainstream with her voice often being pushed into more theatrically dramatic folk and ethnic areas while retainig its' undoubted quality. The music has much guitar and trumpet colourings with obvious Spanish connotations and there is a powerful libretto concerning art, love, war and politics with the final fatal denouement softened by a closing call to liberty. Despite the serious content, rahter than being called an opera, I feel the contemporary music content places it more alongside that bastardised form the "rock opera" or even a 21st century successor to the works of Bernstein in music theatre. Further elements reminded me of John Adams's El Nino.

Nostalgia, Disillusion And Defiance

Following on in the honourable tradition of such as Bruce Springsteen and Steve Earle is current Americana artist James McMurtry. This album, Childish Things, is another that portrays life in the badlands of the US, the "white trash" areas that fall through the cracks of the national consciousness. There is also a duality about the album, many tracks have a nostalgic feel looking back to childhood and a seemingly better time when the family values of such places still held strong. Songs like See The Elephant, Memorial Day and Holiday are in this vein. They are contrasted with songs about the current state of decay and despair, nowhere more tellingly than in the searing keystone track on the album We Can't Make It Here Any More, where making it is used in the sense both of manufacturing and of surviving the day to day. This is played in a talking blues style with biting guitar, relentless beat and lyrics which both describe the hardship and castigate those responsible. There are also a couple of more personal relationship songs. Musically, McMurtry takes the lead with his vocal, guitar and keyboard work, backed by solid rhythm accompaniments and understated modern production values. The settings meld country, folk and blues influences in a familiar but effective way. He has a warm distinctive voice, not great but suited to the material and falling somewhere between Leonard Cohen and Lou Reed. A fine example of how music that can vaguely be termed "rock" can survive into a kind of maturity.

A Humanist Take On The Holy Spirit

More sacred choral music from the 16th century on this double cd of Penitential Psalms by Orlando Lassus. The performers are an English ensemble called Henry's Eight directed by Jonathan Brown. As the name would imply, this is an eight voice male choir of contertenors, tenors and basses. There isn't much information about the choir in the booklet notes and they don't seem to be currently active ( this recording was originally made in 1997 although this release of it dates from 2006 ). Despite the relative anonymity, they provide fine interpretations on thies two disks. Lassus was born in what is now Belgium but like many of his contemporaries he led a somewhat nomadic existence finding work and inspiration where he could in various courts and church settings. What made his music individual at this time was the close attention that he paid to the text and how he tried to mould the music in such a way that it expressed the thoughts and emotions of that text in sound. The penitential psalms are texts begging for understanding and forgiveness from God as well as offering praise and these are serious works that nonetheless still manage to show the indefatigability of the human spirit even when humbling itself. A minor complaint is that both these disks "jump" towards the end of the final track on one of my two cd players, a not uncommon fault with Hyperion pressings in my experience.

Multi-National Influences

From the early days of the period instrument movement, this reissue disk by the Parley of Instruments directed by Roy Goodman and Peter Holman presents music by Georg Muffat from his first published work Armonico Tributo dating from Salzburg in 1682. The works in question are five sonatas for small ensembles of strings and continuo, the latter provided by either harpsichord or organ. Although in the second rank of baroque composers, Muffat's work is well worthy of investigation. Generally considered as a German composer, he was in fact born in Savoy near Mont Blanc and had spells under the influence of both French ( Lully and Couperin ) and Italian music ( Corelli ). His sojourn in Salzburg coincided with that of Biber and if there was any kind of contest or rivalry it was won by Biber but again, Muffat was sufficiently well thought of to continue to get work and commissions from various other German courts. Performance and interpretation of this repertoire have moved on since the early eighties when this was recorded but this recording was highly thought of at the time and it is still an enjoyable experience and a worthwhile representation of Muffat's contribution.

Songs From the Badlands

A collection of songs from the badlands of the USA, redolent of trailer parks and long lonely windswept roads as opposed to an urban city landscape. I came across this album towards the end of my interest in any new rock music, probably from one of the last times that I bought a magazine like Mojo. Although dating from 1991, it was still "new" and "relevant" in my mind and so it was a bit of a shock last year to hear of the death through cancer of the by then middle aged Chris Whitley. This album, Living With The Law, may well have been his debut and I didn't keep up with his career which never made a major breakthrough to a mass market but which seemed to have developed a solid cult following through to the end. It's a very atmospheric album, recorded in New Orleans and with that echoey Daniel Lanois style sound world typical of the era, although Lanois' only direct involvement was to play guitar on one track. Whitley plays distinctive National steel guitar as well as regular electric. The steel guitar settings are expert and the electric sounds rely more on atmosphere and effects than on clusters of notes. The whole disk could be the sound track to some low budget alternative movie set on the Louisiana Texas border, undoubtedly bluesy without being in any way a blues album. Despite having lost track of his subsequent career, I think Living With The Law remained a career high and one to be proud of.

Not Showing Its' Age

There are many recommendable cycles of Beethoven Piano Sonatas, both historic, contemporary and ongoing but since I don't have the luxury of time to sample all of them I have settled for now on this disk which highlights three of the more popular ones. A budget re-release of re-mastered vintage recordings, the pianist is Arthur Rubinstein and the sonatas played are the Pathetique, Moonlight, Appasionata and Les Adieux. These feature some familiar melodies of course and are favourites for the "bleeding chunks" treatment on commercial classical music stations but they make much more sense heard in the context of the complete work. The re-mastering is tastefully done and it is hard to guess the age of the recordings from the sound quality provided. Rubinstein's playing is of the kind that defined these works in the first half of the last century and nowadays, more "out there" approaches are tried to give individuality or quirkiness or historic validity. But there is something comforting about these mainstream interpretations which are nonetheless full of intellectual rigour. I may investigate the sonatas further in the future but for now, this disk is a good representative selection for my collection.

For The Glory Of God

This is a double cd of the complete 1610 publication of Monteverdi's Vespers, including the six part Magnificat and Missa In Illo Tempore. The performers are the Choir of the King's Consort and the King's Consort conducted by Robert King with solid solo contributions from sopranos Carolyn Sampson and Rebecca Outram, tenor James Gilchrist and bass Peter Harvey among others. This was also the final disk released by the King's Consort under Robert King before his spectacular fall from grace in the court case which I will not go into again here. Regardless of how you might feel about that, the performance here is very fine and the performing edition put together by King makes sense. Monteverdi's pieces are a sacred bridge between the madrigals and fledgling operas, with elements of both in them but nevertheless being clearly devoted to the glory of God in the magnificent sound that they make. Native Italian choirs have recently been reclaiming Monteverdi and releasing what may be more earthy and idiomatic versions with more grit to both the singing and playing but the English choir and players here make perfectly valid alternative points with an undeniable beauty of sound. These are works that are perfectly able to take a variety of interpretations.

Not A Palace In India

I know that Muddy Waters was really McKinley Morganfield, Howlin' Wolf was Chester Burnette, Sonny Boy Williamson was Rice Miller and so on. But I've no idea what the real name of the artist known as Taj Mahal is. The answer's probably out there on the net but it is of no importance. TM ( it seems a bit odd to refer to him as "Mahal" ) has had a long and distinguished career and has gone well beyond the realm of pure blues to dabble in many other forms of "world music" in various collaborations. But to me, this early album is a distillation of his art and has never been beaten. The Natch'l Blues only has nine tracks ( although three outtakes are included as bonus items on this cd ) but each is a superbly crafted gem. The feel is mainly thay of country blues, which remains intact and authentic despite there being a small electric band setting with very tasteful contributions on guitar from Jesse Edwin Davis and keyboard guesting from Al Kooper. TM provides national steel bodied guitar to give that country blues feel and stellar harmonica work, as well as strong characterful vocals. The final two tracks on the original album veer away from pure country into more of a Stax / Otis Redding feel, with the anguished You Don't Miss Your Water proving that TM can be a soul shouter of some note. She Caught The Katy, Corrinna; there are many wonderful tracks on this album which if anything has grown in stature over the years because when it was first released it stuck out slightly against the heavy blues rock of various guitar heroes in vogue at the time. It is those records that now seem the more dated.

New Kids On The Block

This BBC Music mag cover disk brings me back to the point where I began this blog just under a year ago, completing the backlog and just leaving the new issues to come to be considered in their turn. This one goes under the title French Chamber Classics and is one of those featuring BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists. The disk begins with Debussy's Syrinx, a short virtuosic piece for solo flute played here by Sharon Bezaly and occupying the same sound world as the Prelude De L'Apres-Midi. Bezaly is the coming voice of the flute in classical music and negotiates the piece wonderfully. Next up is Franck's Sonata for Violin and Piano in A major played by violinist Alina Ibragimova and pianist Cedric Tiberghien. One of my favourite chamber pieces, full of melody and invention and again the young performers are up to the task of presenting it in its' best light. Written as a wedding present for Ysaye, the glowing finale is an appropriate gift to a great violinist at a time of happiness. The least successful works on the disk follow, tenor Andrew Kennedy ( accompanied by pianist Julius Drake who is just a little too mature for the Young Artists scheme but makes a guest appearance ) singing songs by Faure. Kennedy is in good voice and the songs are passionate but his French isn't yet that of a native and he doesn't seem so comfortable as he is in English repertoire. The disk concludes with Tiberghien again, solo this time playing Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit. Based on lurid prose poems about a seductive nymph, a corpse swinging on a gibbet and a malevolent dwarf, the three piano pieces are full of impressionistic and occasional pre-echoes of jazz and it is obviously repertoire that tiberghien has grown up with.

Sacred Links

Probably the best disk that I have of choral music by Arvo Part and the second by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, this time directed by Paul Hillier and with the participation of Christopher Bowers-Broadbent on organ on some tracks. This selection is titled Da Pacem and is a collection of motets. It can be listened to strictly as chill out music, there is certainly a feeling of peaceas the title would imply but it is also more deeply spiritual and even those who find Part's "holy minimalism" too simplistic can't doubt his sincerity. If anything the choir is in even better voice under Hillier, I would love to hear them in work other than that from their fellow Baltic composers. Listening to this disk having just been exposed to the BBC tv documentary series on sacred music, I was struck by the connection between Part and early practioners in the Notre Dame and even English Tudor styles. That same sense of the transcendent is there and I don't see why in this cynical age it should be felt that such writing is inappropriate or even opportunistic. These Estonian recordings are the ones of Part that I will frequently be returning to, at least as far as his vocal music is concerned.

It's A Chicken, Boy

Another album of contemporary blues from the southern USA by Guy Davis entitled Skunkmello. Nothing to do with drugs, Skunkmello refers to a legendary chicken thief from around 1900 and the fact that he was eventually hanged for his misdeeds somehow looses its' tragic nature when aligned with the delightfully silly track Skunkmello's Dance of the Chickens, with fiercely plucked banjo giving the best chicken impersonation this side of Rameau. The album is in the main free of any electronic gimmickry while retaining fine modern production values. Musically, the album alternates between classy blues band settings with the help of musicians such as guitarist John Platania and keyboard player Mark Naftalin and country blues stylings that feature Davis alone or with sparse acoustic rhythm section. The band songs are fine but the albums distinction revolves more around the older country blues type tracks which develop something of a theme around such diverse topics as soul food and the tyranny of slavery days. Plenty of double entendres too. Davis has a warm if not outstanding voice and his banjo picking and blues harmonica playing is exemplary. The bonus track, Uncle Tom Is Dead, features a conversation between Davis and a cynical youth who dismisses blues as a dead old man's music. While the track is reasonably light hearted, let's hope at least a few black kids might realise the cultural legacy that it in fact holds.

Darkness Into Light

I'm very happy to have this BBC Music mag cover disk of works by Shumann. The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martyn Brabbins play the Piano Concerto with pianist Lars Vogt and the BBC Philharmonic under Gianandrea Noseda perform Symphony No 2. As is often the case with Schumann, there are many subtexts and background stories to the Piano Concerto concerning his mental health and wife Clara. The first movement was written prior to a periodic bout of severe depression and the other two movements during subsequent recovery. A mix between intimacy and display, it is a deservedly popular piece and Vogt is an emerging soloist who gives a fine live performance. Schumann's symphonies have a reputation for not quite being of the first rank and for his struggle to "do" orchestration but to my inexpert ears these opinions are unduly harsh. Symphony No 2 has a repeated motif that I find powerful rather than overdone and written as it was during another bout of despair, it is another example of the classic Beethovenian symphonic concept of a journey from darkness back into light. The playing of the BBC Phil confirm their current status as the BBC's top band, with Noseda proving an inspiring principle conductor.

King Of The Oratorio

Another of the recordings of Handel oratorios made by Paul McCreesh and the Gabrieli Consort and Players, a three disk set of Theodora this time.These are very fine recordings and the cast is as usual of high quality. The title role is sung by Susan Gritton, while other roles are taken by Susan Bickley, Robin Blaze, Paul Agnew, Neal Davies and Angus Smith. The work is a story of early Christian persecution in Rome and the stance of death before dishonour taken by the heroine. It is also quite a convoluted story involving Roman converts, near escape and ultimate sacrifice. As usual, Handel has written some ravishing music, although because of the sheer length of the work there is an element of recycling going on too. McCreesh interestingly includes an alternative take of part two scene two which is included as a bonus at the end of disk two. The period informed playing of the Gabrielis is a perfect backing for the drama, the chorus is excellenbt and all the soloists acquit themselves very well. Susan Gritton conveys the piety of her role without making it bloodless and Robin Blaze and the convert who seeks to rescue her makes the most of his countertenor showcases. With the current climate amongst the "majors" in classical music recording, it is to be hoped that McCreesh and the Gabrielis are able to continue with their various ventures.

Back Porch Session

I posted way back about a two disk "best of" compilation that I have of Bruce Springsteen. I was also persuaded to buy the fairly recent We Shall Overcome - The Seeger Sessions, where a largely acoustic outfit performs back porch style a number of vaguely folky songs somewhat associated with the career of Pete Seeger. The overall feel of the album ( and certainly of the live gigs that accompanied its' release ) is that of a good time party, with plenty of opportunity to sing along and dance around to extended choruses and instrumental breaks. The band is a mix of folk elements ( violin, mandolin etc ) and a kind of Dixieland horn section. Springsteen's voice has become gruffer with age but is well suited to most of the tracks, only becoming more exposed in the slower numbers like We Shall Overcome itself and Shenandoah where he needs the support of several back up singers to carry them off. These are also the least successful songs on the disk, those that work best being the extended singalongs like Pay Me My Money Down and Oh Mary Don't You Weep. There's also a slight incongruity to the upbeat settings being applied to some less than upbeat lyrics ( My Oklahoma Home, Erie Canal, John Henry and Mrs McGrath ) but all in all it's a worthwhile venture. Possibly just a one off, since Springsteen is now back reunited yet again with the E Street Band for another round of stadium touring with a new album.

Got These Already

Very little to say about this BBC Music mag other than to note it, since the repertoire duplication that it contains is total. Music by Respighi, Fountains Of Rome and Pines Of Rome played by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Tadaaki Otaka and The Birds performed by the BBC Philharmonic under Patrick Thomas. All respectable live concert performances from a few years back.