Not In The Least Forbidding

Karlheinz Stockhausen has one of the more forbidding reputations among 20th century composers and doesn't get much radio play to encourage investigation of his work. One recent release that did garner some publicity and an attendant prom concert was the recording of the vocal work Stimmung by the Theatre Of Voices under the direction of Paul Hillier. Stimmung has the literal meaning of tuning but can also be used in the sense of tuning into one's soul. Stimme as the root syllable means voice. And the work is a purely vocal piece that features continual wordplay, some of it on spiritual themes with the names being intoned of various gods and dieties from numerous cultures. Other words chanted are days of the week in various languages. The whole offers a beguiling and intoxicating mix, hypnotic and stimulating all at the same time and not in the least a "difficult" listen. Or at least, only as difficult or challenging as the listener wishes to make it, the layers are multuple. Stockhausen doesn't seem to get lumped in with the minimalist school of composers but this piece does have that kind of repetitive feel and there are also obvious similarities to Berio's Sinfonia. The performance is committed and expert.

The Heart Of England

I didn't particularly feel it necessary to own a second disk if June Tabor's chamber folk style but ended up with this one, A Quiet Eye, because I wanted a recording of the Maggie Holland song A Place Called England and the Maggie Holland version was very difficult to obtain. It is a fine song trying to find a positive spin to this badly wounded nation and June Tabor renders a fine version along with her session musicians. The entire disk has what has been described as this chamber folk fell with tasteful jazzy and string accompaniments, largely the work of arranger and pianist Huw Warren. The songs are an eclectic selection too, including the WW2 standard I'll Be Seeing You, Richard Thompson's Waltzings's For Dreamers and even The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face alongside traditional folk songs such as The Gardener. The other standout track is the Bill Caddick song The writing Of Tipperary, segued into It's A Long Way To Tipperary itself. The effect is can be compared to that of The Band Played Waltzing Matilda by the Pogues, covering similar ground concerning WW1 and having the same devastating effect when the familiar tune comes in at the end. A contemporary version of a lieder recital.

Roots Of Spanish Guitar

I would not have thought that the technical challenges of recording solo guitar music were that great but this disk by baroque guitarist Gordon Ferries, entitled Marionas - The Guitar Music of Francisco Guerau, suffers from a very bright and over resonant church recording. The result is that it becomes wearing on the ears to listen to the whole disk at one sitting and is best dipped into and sampled in smaller doses. The other possible limitation of such a disk, that of a certain monotony and similarity in the pieces performed, is not a problem here. The music is an intoxicating mix of Spanish, dance and passion with the roots of some aspects of flamenco clearly evident and an Arabic and Sephardic influence noticeable among the more familiar baroque dance forms from northern Europe. Ferries has sublime technique and uses it in the service of the music to exploit all the timbre and expression of which the instrument is capable. The earlier caveat notwithstanding, this is an unusual and stimulating disk.

Not All Bombast !

The April edition of BBC Music magazine had a free cover disk of rarely performed Berlioz. Despite a printing error on the jewel case ( corrected within the actual magazine ) it was simple enough to discern that the first piece was the Symphonie Funebre et Triomphale, taken from a live 2009 Proms concert performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Thierry Fischer and with the highlighted solo trombone part of Donal Bannister. The lengthy first movement is a most impressive funeral march with unique use of heavy percussion emphasis. I did not previously know the piece at all and so can make no comparitive judgement on the performance but it seems a fine one to me. The Triomphale aspect of the work that is the finale appeals less to me, seeming to prefigure the pomp style of an Elgar. But it is a work I am glad to have heard. The other piece is equally substantial, Berlioz's Te Deum, also taken from a live Proms concert of 2009. The performers here are the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Susanna Malkki with notable solo contributions from organist Simon Preston and tenor Jorg Schneider. The chorus is enormous, comprising the BBC Symphony Chorus, the Crouch End Festival Chorus, the Choristers of St Paul's Cathedral and the Trinity Boy's Choir. Chorus masters were respectively Stephen Jackson, David Temple, Andrew Carwood and David Swinson. The orchestra is equally large with multiple forces in many areas and the whole seems an attempt to forge a link between sacred music and theatrical spectacle on a grand scale. Within it though are moments of calm and reflection, it is certainly not all bombast. Berlioz remains a composer with whom I am struggling to come to terms but I am finding more there gradually. I don't think I am alone on this journey for those who never "got" this composer immediately.

Variations OnThat Key Motif

It is probably fair to call this a historic recording since originally it was just released on two long playing vinyl albums in a limited edition of only 100 in 1964 and now makes a first appearance on disk. Passacaglia on DSCH for piano by Ronald Stevenson is certainly a gruelling test for any pianist and is possibly the longest continuous movement in the repertoire for solo piano, clocking in here as played by the composer at close on 75 minutes. It weaves continuous variations over an unvarying ground bass made up of the key Shostakovich DSCH motif. The motif will be immediately familiar to those who know the output of Shostakovich but Stevenson imparts so much of himself into this work which invites comparison with Shostakovich's own 24 preludes and fugues, as well as the more venerable Diabelli and Goldberg variations by Beethoven and Bach. Stevenson conjures an extraordinary range of colour and texture from the piano, it really can be said to mimic an orchestra and the piece runs a gamut from tempestuous to peaceful. Various techniques such as plucking and strumming the internal strings of the piano are used sparingly and in no way feel at all gimmmicky, everything here is in service of the music. Shostakovich received a bound copy of the score but sadly his reaction to the music doesn't appear to have been documented.

You Are Quite Correct Sir

It could be argued that Damn Right, I've Got The Blues, made several decades into an illustrious career, is the first real Buddy Guy album and perhaps to this day still the best. Although acknowledged by white blues rock musicians as a major influence and inspiration, record companies had been careless in their recording of him with too many time constraints and novelty crossover attempts. The often indisciplined and erratic live performances hadn't helped the cause either. But finally with this album, the resources were made available to record an extended and thought through project of undistilled Chicago blues in state of the art sound. There are the obligatory guest appearances from such as Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck and both contribute characteristic solos to the two tracks they appear on but the spotlight is firmly on Guy and his mainly white backing band who offer tight and funky support. Neil Hubbard's guitar contributions are more important than those of the two superstars since they underpin the sound and allow Buddy Guy the freedom to demonstrate his genius. The piano of Pete Wingfield and soulful organ of the erstwhile Wynder K Frog ( Mick Weaver ) are also important and Little Feat's Richie Hayward makes the ideal drummer. But the album is rightly and firmly Buddy Guy's. His underrated voice is allowed to show how heartfelt and interpretative it can be but the real joy is to have a document of the blistering electric guitar tradition of which he is now one of the last remaining true exponents.

I'd Prefer The Real Thing Thanks

The latest free cover disk with BBC Music magazine has the title Great American Classics and features pieces by Bernstein, Gershwin, Grofe and Ellington. On the whole it isn't really repertoire that grabs me. The Bernstein piece is Chichester Psalms with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, National Youth Choirs of Scotland and Great Britain, the Rodolfus choir, boy treble Sam Adams Nye and conductor Martin Brabbins. It is a performance from the BBC Proms of 2006. The work is a curious mix of the Jewish cantor tradition and Broadway with some more traditional sacred music gestures thrown in. It is followed by Gershwin's Second Rhapsody for piano and orchestra, played by soloist Peter Jablonski with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Eric Stern. Jablonski does the piece proud but it tends to come across as like the more famous Rhapsody in Blue but without the tunes. That rhapsody was orchestrated by Ferde Grofe since Gershwin was struggling with the time scale of the commission and Grofe is represented on this disk by his Mississippi Suite played by the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Keith Lockhart. This is really light music with risible native American pastiches and watered down jazz. The disk cloese with Duke Ellington's Harlem, again from a BBC Proms of 2008 and again with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales this time conducted by Kristjan Jarvi. An early attempt by Ellington to create orchestral jazz and gain credibility with classical audiences and players, I think he succeeded more later in his career. The piece works best when it is more or less full on jazz such as in the closing percussion section. This disk has been enthusiastically received in some quarters, it is simply the case that it is not the kind of thing that floats my boat.