Detour; Side Street #1: The Bad Plus - Made Possible

I love these guys! I'm listening to their new recording: Made Possible. They are so creative and I am always enthralled by their music making.

Pound for Pound - Quiet groove in 4. Simple melody in the piano. A quiet joy permeates the beginning of this track; a song of gratefulness. Melody is repeated with small counter melodies. Becoming more complex but still expressing a clear line of thankfulness. At the end simple chords ending this beautiful song.

Seven Minute Mind - And here come the irregular rhythms! Super groovy bass line with added repeated notes and polyrhythms abounding. There is an exhilaration to this music and a kind of craziness!

Re-Elect That - Poly-everything; key (what key!), tempo, rhythm. This is one of those tracks that almost sounds like they're playing without listening to each other ..... almost. After a rather subdued drum solo (in volume, not activity), they all come together a kind of strange Latin sounding, hand clapping dance.

Wolf Out - Well, this was a miss for me. Can you say monotonous? The amazing drumming of Dave King can't even save this one. There's too much repetition of a descending bass line and, for the most part, an uninteresting piano.

Sing For A Silver Dollar - This is much better. Nice pauses in the melody and square rhythm are very effective (what's going to happen next?). Middle section has spacy electric sounds with spare bass plucking and some drumming. Then back to the material of the beginning. Nice.

For My Eyes Only - Tempo is slow; stately comes to mind. Great middle section with the bass pizzicato tremolo-ing while the piano plays simple arpeggios. Really nice.

I want to Feel Good Pt. 2 - Listening to this upbeat number I do feel good! Love the way pianist Ethan Iverson goes out of key and then come right back. Wow! Around 1:40 a great change of tonality and feel (very modern jazz), then, of course, back to A section with some variation. Fantastic!

In Stiches - The first 12 minutes of this 14+ minute track is a slow crescendo on all counts. It starts off very spare, with no discernible pulse, lots of silence and then slowly builds in complexity to a furious extended climax before falling away and ending with a very groovy, fairly fast coda; all players coming together and then fading out with a syncopated bass line.

Victoria - A smoky ballad starting with a beautiful melancholy solo piano. Then Reid Anderson on bass taking a solo. Followed by all three playing in their inimitable free fashion. The major chord at the end comes as a surpise after such misty and reflective harmonies.

In sum; there's some really great stuff here and I will be coming back to Made Possible repeatedly. The Bad Plus continue to challenge the listener with their irregular rhythms, their tonality, and their improvisatory sound. They also entrance with their lyricism and astound with their virtuosity. They are all top flight players and I hope to see them live someday

Week 4(?) - Scriabin: Piano Preludes part II

I'm back! I know it's not really week 4 anymore but as I'm still planning to do 52 weeks worth of listening I've decided to keep the numbering going, I'll just have to go a little over an actual year.

I just listened to eight different pianists play the Op.74 preludes. There are five preludes in all, of short duration and without a key designation. The whole set lasts about seven and a half minutes. Hear are Scriabin's descriptors: I. Douloureux, déchirant (Pain, tearing) II. Very Slow, contemplative III. Allegro drammatico IV. Slow, vague, undecided V. Fier, belliqueux (Proud, warlike). I really can't do better in describing this music. It is music that pushes and pulls violently, that floats unanchored, that does not resolve or if it does, it does so uncomfortably. What a change in Scriabin's harmonic language from his early preludes! There are hints of this coming change in some of the earlier preludes but there are only two opuses of the preludes that don't designate a key; Op.67 and Op. 74.

The pianists I listened to were Chitose Okashiro, Lucille Chung, Emil Gilels, Evgeny Zarafiants, John Ogdon, Maria Lettberg, Roger Woodward and Vladimir Feltsman. As always, it is fascinating to hear different interpretations. I think for this music to really work and ignite the pianist must have a freedom of rhythm and be willing to push and pull and pause more so than he or she might do in another composers music. Gilels and Okashiro excel at this. Their rhythmic freedom plus wonderful voicing really make this music come alive. Of all the pianists they are my favorites. Odgon and Lettberg are also very fine. Chung's playing is too square for me and Zarafiants takes an approach more toward the middle. I found Feltsman rather unimaginative. This leaves Woodard, who I found perverse! His playing is clunky, with no feeling of the mystery, heat and passion that Okashiro and Gilels bring to the music. 

I did listen to all the preludes and some of the highlights from that listening, weeks ago, were Kissin playing Op.15, Olli Mustonen playing Op. 16, and Okashiro playing Op.37, 39 & Op.59 No.2.

Week 4 - Scriabin: Piano Preludes part I

What a modern miracle is technology! Sitting in my car outside a public library with my laptop connected to their Wi-Fi I just finished listening, on Spotify, to Mikhail Pletnev playing the 24 Preludes Op. 11 (1888 - 1896) of Alexander Scriabin (1872 - 1915) . What exquisite miniatures these are! They follow the same key structure as Chopin's 24 preludes (major key, then relative minor, then around the circle of fifths) but by and large are much shorter in duration. Whereas some of Chopin's preludes can stand on their own as individual works I felt that these preludes could not, and needed to be played as a group to be really appreciated. They are like 24 superlative pencil sketches that taken as a whole make up a wonderful work of art. While listening I was struck by how close some of the preludes were to the world of Chopin and Schumann while others where akin to the impressionism of early Debussy, all the while throwing in the distinctive harmonies that identify the music as coming out of Russia.

Yesterday I listened to two other preludes, Op.2 No.2 in B Major, and Op.9 No.1 in C sharp minor for left hand. The Op.2 No.2 is short with a gentle character and would be a great mystery piece for a 'Who's the Composer' game; my money would be on a lot of people thinking it was Schumann: no hints of Russia to my ears. The beautiful left hand prelude gives the illusion of two hands being used as there are three distinct events happening throughout; a melodic line, chordal accompaniment and a bass line. The pianist for these two preludes was Evgeny Zafariants on Naxos.

I then began listening to the Op. 11 preludes, comparing Zafariant's recording to Pletnev's and very quickly realized that Pletnev's way of phrasing, using rubato, pedal use, and dynamic voicing made the music come alive in a way that Zafariant's more restrained accounts did not. I find it continually fascinating that the printed music can be realized so differently from artist to artist. I dipped into other pianists for the first 3 preludes; Arthur Pizzaro, Elena Kuschnerova, and Niklas Sivelov. Sivelov tempos were extreme: Pizzaro, who I've heard live and enjoyed, was too fragmented with the line of the first prelude; Kuschnerova's playing, on the other hand, is something I will give another listen to.

I plan on listening to the rest of the preludes (there are a lot!). He wrote them throughout his life and listening to them will reveal his musical evolution. 

Week Three - Karlheinz Stockhausen: Stimmung, Part II

I just listened to the Singcircle version of Stockhausen's Stimmung, recorded on Hyperian records. First of all let me say that anyone interested in modern music should listen to this. It's an amazing work whether you like it or not. The virtuosity and stamina that the singers would need to perform this piece is immense, not to say anything of all the preparation needed individually and as a group.

My listening experience was varied; the first 20 minutes or so (the whole piece lasts about 1:05 in this version) I was totally focused and enjoying all the varied rhythmic phonetic patterns, words and 'magic names'. Then my attention started to wander. There are sections in the middle where only one note is sounding and the rhythmic variety is gone. I tried to refocus but was finding it difficult; after all the work is basically only one chord with not all the notes sounding all the time, though I need to say that there are a couple of sections were the chord is put aside and non-chord note(s) are sung. I would be curious to see what the 'model'(see previous blog) is for those sections. The last 15 to 20 minutes I was ready for the piece to end. There was a moment that I laughed out loud though; there is a model where the the words 'Thursday, Donnerstag and others are sung and then suddenly, after a short pause all the singers on their respective notes of the Bb 9 chord sing in rhythic unison the word 'Barbershop'. Of course a 9 chord being an instantly recognizable barbershop chord! So I laughed but ... still wanted the piece to end!

I will, of course, give Stimmung more listening, though probably not any time soon. There are certain compositions that might be called concept pieces or head pieces. In other words they don't arise from a kinetic/emotional/spiritual impulse of the composer but rather arise from a conceptual idea. Stimmung strikes me as being that kind of work. I know that distinction is not so cut and dried and I don't want to oversimplify (yes, I know that I am) but while listening my body and emotions were pretty quiet while my mind was at first interested and then not so interested.

Thanks for reading and as always would love to hear your thoughts about anything I write! Feel free to disagree!

Week Three - Karlheinz Stockhausen: Stimmung, Part I

Okay, I might have bit off more than I can chew. I have a busy week and Stimmung is a long piece, an hour or more, and each performance is different. I have two recordings: the Songcircle version and the Paul Hillier & Theatre of Voices version. I will try to get to both and perhaps also the Collegium vocale Köln version on YouTube! But first, a short explanation of how this piece is put together.

Stimmung = 'tuning', 'being in tune with', 

1. Six amplified singers. (SSATTB)
2. Only 6 notes throughout (Bb, F, Bb, D, Ab, C). A Bb 9 chord.

3. The Score consists of four elements, a ‘formal plan’, six pages of syllabic models, six pages of magic names, and a page of poetry.
4. The ‘formal plan’ maps out 51 sections of unfixed duration that specify which harmonic of the low B flat is to be sung.
5. Each section had a lead singer which the other singers, if singing, slowly get in sync with, at which time the next section begins.
6. Singers highlight certain harmonics of their note by following the model chosen.
7. The models are rhythmic phonetic patterns, sometimes with words (see below).
8. In 29 sections 'magic names', gods and goddesses from around the world, are called out.
9. The erotic love poems, by Stockhausen, are spoken at various times.

Here's an example of one of the syllabic model pages:

In Part 2 of this blog I will listen and give my reaction to all of this!! Until then, wish me listening luck!

Week Two - Gerald Finzi: Dies Natalis

Dies Natalis is a challenge. Not because of the music which is quite good and inventive but because of the texts written by Thomas Treherne (1637? -1674). I feel that to really appreciate this piece one must live with the text for a while as one would with poetry. I have only read the text as I listened for the first time and feel that I need more time to linger over it, to absorb it senza the music and only then to listen again.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now I'm ready!


1. Intrada - This is without voice and seems to me to be a preparation for the first poem to come in the next movement.  It shifts back and forth between being pensively lyrical and peacefully lyrical with a small climax about 3/4ths the way in. It's interesting that Finzi feels a need for this purely instrumental movement before coming to the fascinating and not always understandable prose and poetry of Traherne. Perhaps he is trying to shift the listeners state of consciousness to be more receptive to what is to come. There is no break between movements.

2. Rhapsody - There are some really stunning moments here. The text is three paragraphs from Traherne's Centuries of Meditations. It's not easy to understand who is speaking here. It begins with the line "Will you see the infancy of this sublime and celestial greatness?". The title, Dies Natalis, is Latin for "Natal Day" or "Day of Birth" but certainly, while much of it seems to be the voice of an infant, this is not only or even mostly coming from the perspective of a human infant. Consider this line, opening the second paragraph, "The corn was orient and immortal wheat, which never should be reaped nor was ever sown." Surely we are being addressed by a consciousness that, while being new to the world, is also paradoxically deeply ensconced in eternity; the last line of paragraph three; "Everything was at rest, free and immortal." Finzi's word painting is wonderful, and his setting of the first two lines of the second paragraph is magical, using long sustained chords to evoke the sense of being outside of time; "I thought it stood from everlasting to everlasting."

3. The Rapture - Here's the poem:

-->

Sweet Infancy!
O heavenly fire! O sacred Light!
How fair and bright!
How great am I
Whom the whole world doth magnify!

O heavenly Joy!
O great and sacred blessedness
Which I possess!
So great a joy
Who did into my arms convey?

From God above
Being sent, the gift doth me enflame,
To praise His Name.
The stars do move,
The sun doth shine, to show His Love.

O how divine
Am I! To all this sacred wealth
This life and health,
Who rais'd? Who mine
Did make the same! What hand divine!

This is an intensely joyful rapture, beginning with violins trilling excitedly then playing an burst of notes which lead back to the trill. The tenor comes in and the first stanza rings out with the strings moving things along with bass pizzacato and moving notes in the upper strings. The third stanza starts more reflectively but soon returns to the music of the first two stanzas. The really stunning moment happens after the third stanza when the orchestra builds and then stops unresolved for a moment of silence ... then resolves to a single note melting into a minor chord and the singer declaims "O how divine I am!" The last two lines are unaccompanied except for an abrupt, dramatic chord and then while "divine" is being held the strings enter with the same trill passage that began the movement. It all ends with a blazing major chord; arpeggios, then tremelos, then stuck all at once. Rapture indeed!

4. Wonder is a gentle, for the most part rather quiet, movement with lush string writing and long melodic lines. The poem has three stanzas but the music is through composed. In the poem there is very much the idea that all things are Divine. "How bright are all things here!" in the first stanza, and ending the poem, "I nothing in the world did know/But 'twas Divine." The musical climax is at the word "Divine", Finzi pointing out here, as he does elsewhere, the importance of this idea. The music is always flowing, shifting with interlocking lines and modulations, until the very end, taking this  listener on a beautiful journey of wonder.

5.  The Salutation

-->

These little limbs, these eyes and hands which here I find,

This panting heart wherewith my life begins;

Where have ye been? Behind what curtain were ye from me hid so long?

Where was, in what abyss, my new-made tongue?

When silent I, so many thousand, thousand years

Beneath the dust did in a chaos lie, how could I smiles, or tears,

Or lips, or hands, or eyes, or ears perceive?

Welcome, ye treasures which I now receive.

From dust I rise and out of nothing now awake,

These brighter regions which salute my eyes,

A gift from God I take, the earth, the seas, the light, the lofty skies,

The sun and stars are mine: if these I prize.

A stranger here, strange things doth meet, strange glory see,

Strange treasures lodged in this fair world appear,

Strange, all, and new to me: But that they mine should be who nothing was,

That strangest is of all; yet brought to pass.

There is a saying, I know not where it comes from, that God made the universe and especially humankind so that He/She could know himself/herself. This poem can be seen as fitting in with that idea. Who's talking in this poem? "When silent I, so many thousand, thousand years/Beneath the dust did in chaos lie," Who is this silent I that now is awakened in "These little limbs"? "From dust I rise and out of nothing now awake,". The poem gives no answer except to say that what is happening is Strange; strange that this 'silent I' should now perceive smiles, tears, lips, hands, or ears. We moderns all know that the stuff of our bodies were created in the stars. Could it be that Traherne intuited this in his own way; that the dust of stars becomes us? Really fascinating!
As for the music, it's wonderful. What more can I say? It's a beautiful, stately movement with a walking pizzicato bass throughout much of it. It is full of grace and ends simply and softly which seems to me to be the perfect ending to this marvelous work.

I listened to two recordings: James Gilchrist with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, David Hill conductor: and Wilfred Brown with the English Chamber Orchestra, Christopher Finzi conductor. Both very fine.

Here's a couple of interesting links about the meaning of  Dies Natalis and of Treherne's writings in general.
http://www.operatoday.com/content/2012/11/finzi_dies_nata.php
http://www.mum.edu/msvs/trahernepart1.html

-->

Week Two - Gerald Finzi: Now Let Us Garlands Bring

Gerald Finzi (1901 - 1956) is a composer I'm only marginally familiar with, having played a few of his chamber works and songs, so I'm really looking forward to getting to know more of his work.
First off, Let Us Garlands Bring: Five Shakespeare Songs Op. 18, for baritone and piano or baritone and strings. The two recordings I'm listening to is Stephen Varcoe and the City of London Sinfonia conducted by Richard Hickox and Roderick Williams partnered with pianist Iain Burnside.

1. Come Away, Death. A terribly beautiful setting; stately with muted melancholy. Both performances are very well done but what a difference tempo makes! Varcoe takes this faster, at 2:59, whereas Williams is at 3:30. The slower performance with piano seems to me to be much more effective in expressing the sadness and resignation of the text, plus there is a sense of intimacy that the string version misses. I do not have the score and would be very interested to know what Finzi marks for the tempo.

2. Who is Silvia? is a total change of character from the proceeding song; joyful and in love! Both performances convey the happiness and celebratory meaning of the text. Finzi's setting is imaginative, using syncopation and modulation to great effect. I especially enjoy that the piano/strings are full partners in expressing the text, no mere accompaniments here!

3. Fear No More the Heat o' the Sun is a profound setting of a profound text.

Fear no more the heat o' the sun,

        Nor the furious winter's rages;

Thou thy worldly task hast done,

        Home art done, and ta'en thy wages:

Golden lads and girls all must,

As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.

Fear no more the frown o' the great;

        Thou art past the tyrant's stroke;

Care no more to clothe and eat;

        To thee the reed is as the oak:

The Sceptre, Learning, Physic, must

All follow this, and come to dust.

Fear no more the lightning-flash,

Nor the'all-dreaded thunder-stone;

Fear not slander, censure rash;

Thou hast finished joy and moan:

All lovers young, all lovers must

Consign to thee, and come to dust.

No exorciser harm thee!

Nor no witchcraft charm thee!

Ghost unlaid forbear thee!

Nothing ill come near thee!

Quiet consummation have,

And renownèd by thy grave!

I have listened to this song now three times and have been brought to tears twice. Why just twice? Once again the choice of tempo is so important regarding the effect on the listener! Varcoe takes 4:19 while Williams takes 5:43! That's a huge difference! This time the Varcoe is the performance that I prefer. The music moves along in a slow triple meter but never loses it's forward momentum while the Williams plods along and is in danger of falling apart. It could be also that the strings, with their ability to sustain notes, serve to hold things together better than the decaying notes of the piano, but the choice of tempo here is the main factor. Regardless of all that, this is a great song which I find profoundly moving.

4. O Mistress Mine is fabulously set by Finzi. Starting off all merry and carefree, using detached notes for 'Trip no further pretty sweeting', but then listen to what he does for 'Journeys end in lovers' meeting/Every wise man's son doth know', slowing down, going to a minor V chord (usually would be major) on 'lovers' meeting' and then suspending the rhythmic flow for 'Every wise man's son doth know', in essence questioning musically the assumption of those two lines of text, like when a person says something but you know they mean something else. Then it's back to carefree for a few lines until 'What's to come is still unsure:' where some slightly menacing dissonances make an appearance. Finzi sets the last two lines 'Then come kiss me, sweet and twenty/Youth's a stuff will not endure' with the same music as the first verse, giving them an extra poignancy. In sum: A happy song with a twist or two of wistfullness. Both versions are beautifully done.

5. It was a Lover and His Lass is another wonderful setting. More keys changes than in the previous songs and, just as in O Mistress Mine, highlighting the importance of a line by slowing way down and setting it off from the others; 'How that life was but a flower'. Also you can hear 'When birds do sing, hey ding a ding a ding' in the strings/piano. 

So to sum up, though these songs were originally composed separately and were only later put together as a group to celebrate Vaughan Williams 70th birthday, I think they work wonderfully well together, juxtaposing as they do Death, Love and the fleetingness of Youth. I'm really looking forward to listening to more of Finzi's music. I only have today and tomorrow before week three starts (been busy!) but because of a major snowstorm outside I should have some time to listen to more! Now, you go listen too!!