Author Archives: Arcana

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About Arcana

My name is Ben Hogwood, editor of the Arcana music site (arcana.fm)

On Record – Kasper Bjørke – Puzzles (hfn music)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Kasper Bjørke is proving himself to be an extremely versatile songwriter and producer. His new album Puzzles, described as a love letter to early 2000s New York, is in direct contrast to two collaborative EPs recently released on Live at Robert Johnson and Mule Musiq, not to mention a second ambient album as Kasper Bjørke Quartet for Kompakt.

Puzzles is sprinkled with collaborations, too, as Bjørke looks to combine a love of disco with jazz, funk and conventional songwriting. The finished article, admits the press release, is ‘the album he was most proud of and wished he had made 20 years ago’.

What’s the music like?

Kasper Bjørke certainly is a puzzle – for just when you think you have him pinned down and cornered musically, the Danish producer pops up to add another string to his bow!

This is a thoroughly enjoyable album of really effective tribute and pastiche, yet it is done in such a way that none of the music sounds second hand or done as a poor imitation. Instead there are some quality songs and memorable hooks to savour.

Top of the pile is Corridor Of Dreams, the first track featuring Sísý Ey, Systur & Oilly Wallace, a track 1980s Bryan Ferry or Erasure would have been proud of, bearing a little similarity to the latter’s Blue Savannah and featuring a lush saxophone solo from Wallace. Equally smooth is Ugle (Drømmen Om Møn), where Wallace transfers his talent to the flute.

Bjørke’s disco beats are irresistible, whether he applies them to instrumentals or to some of the well-crafted songs. Conversations is most definitely one of those, Sísý Ey channelling her inner Stevie Nicks for a breezy chorus line.

The instrumentals work really well, too – with a special mention for the chunky synths and wiry bass of the excellent Club Paradisco.

Does it all work?

It does – Bjørke’s craft is impeccable.

Is it recommended?

Very much so. This is airy, springlike pop music with an electro tinge that makes the listener yearn for better weather ahead in the year. Here’s hoping!

For fans of… Fleetwood Mac, Empire of the Sun, Gus Gus

Listen and Buy

Published post no.2,160 – Friday 26 April 2024

On Record – Joe Bataan: Drug Story (Now Again)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

This is a vinyl and digital release of rare and unreleased material from Salsoul label co-founder Joe Bataan and several cohorts, mining the Ghetto Records vaults for material originally released in 1972. It includes an entire side of Bataan’s unreleased Drug Story, an extended track spanning a number of styles, traversing Latin funk, salsa and soul. Inspired by true events, it ranks among his most adventurous songs for a man described as ‘the poet laureate of El Barrio’.

In his own words on the press release, Bataan speaks of how “Ghetto Records was part of my journey, a stepping stone to everything else that I’ve done. I learned enough that it enabled me to get out of the box with my thinking, it showed me how to deal with adversity.”

What’s the music like?

Drug Story itself is an extraordinary piece of music, a suite in which Bataan stretches himself to tell a poignant story. The music responds in kind, initially slow but then flexing its muscles for a much more urgent soul soundtrack.

The other pieces are extremely complementary. Latin Soul Square Dance is superb, with sassy brass and brilliant lyrical couplets. There are two songs each from Eddie Lebron, The Edwards Generation and One’Sy Mack. Lebron’s My Vows To You shows off his vocal talents, while Sigue Tu Vida sashays irresistibly. Mack’s voice sounds great on Never Listen To Your Heart, and when paired with the string-laden part writing of A Part Of A Fool.

Does it all work?

It does indeed. The importance of Bataan’s contribution to soul and disco music tends to be overlooked, so it’s good to see him given top billing here.

Is it recommended?

Absolutely. Just the right mix of thought-provoking and spirit-lifting music here.

For fans of… Luther Vandross, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, Smoove & Turrell

Listen and Buy

You can explore options for purchasing at the Now Again Records website

Published post no.2,159 – Thursday 25 April 2024

On Record – Leon Bosch, Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine / Theodore Kuchar – Thomas de Hartmann: Orchestral Music Vol. 2 (Toccata Classics)

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Leon Bosch (double bass), Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine / Theodore Kuchar

Thomas de Hartmann
Symphonie-Poème no.1 Op.50 (1934)
Fantaisie-Concerto Op.65 (1942)

Toccata Classics TOCC0676 [81’49’’]
Producers and Engineers Andriy Mokrytskiy and Oleksii Grytsyshyn
Recorded 15-23 September at National Philharmonic Hall, Lviv

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

What’s the story?

Toccata Classics continues its exploration of orchestral music by Thomas de Hartmann with first recordings for two of his most characteristic works, idiomatically realized by the most fervent of present-day advocates and further confirming the intrinsic value of this composer.

What’s the music like?

De Hartmann heralded a return to original composition, after more than a decade focussed on his collaboration with philosopher Georges Gurdjieff, with the first of four pieces designated Symphonie-Poème. Those having heard the unfinished last of these (recorded on TOCC0633) may be taken aback by what they encounter – this 65-minute work drawing on such expansive symphonic precursors as Rachmaninoff’s Second and Glière’s Third, but with a formal logic and harmonic practice all its own. Not least in the imposing first movement, whose brooding introduction presages its synthesis of fantasia and fugue with an underpinning of sonata form to result in a construct as diverse in musical content as it feels cumulative in its overall design.

That the composer continued from here says much for his ambition, but the work does justify itself as a totality – whether in a Scherzo that unfolds as continually evolving structure rather than the usual ternary form, an Andante whose recourse to martial rhythm and Ukrainian folk -music gives it a distinctive colouring and emotional affect, then finale (interestingly marked Allegretto feroce) such as projects this covertly autobiographical statement defiantly into the ‘present’ through a trenchant rhythmic profile that builds inexorably toward the visceral close. Received with guarded admiration and not a little consternation at performances in Paris and Brussels in the mid-1930s, this is a major inter-war work as well warrants its belated revival.

So, too, does the Fantaisie-Concerto which de Hartmann wrote with the double-bass playing of Serge Koussevitzky vivid in his mind’s ear decades afterwards (the latter had long since turned to conducting, and it is not stated who premiered this piece). Drawing on elements of dance, the outer Allegros indicate those quizzical and capricious qualities which come to the fore in the composer’s later music, but the central Adagio leaves the most lasting impression. This ‘Romance 1830’ draws on an earlier setting of Vasily Zhukovsky, along with images of Glinka and his bass-playing servant, in what is a ‘song without words’ of no mean eloquence or evocative poise: qualities duly enhanced by the subtle understatement of its orchestration.

Does it all work?

Yes, though the larger work will likely take a few listens for its overall coherence to become manifest. That it does so is owing primarily to the conviction of de Hartmann’s thinking, but also to that of Theodore Kuchar in having the measure of this opulent score and conveying it to the musicians of the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra, who almost always sound unfazed by its demands. The concerto benefits from the expertise of Leon Bosch, affirming this as among a handful of pieces that establish the double bass as a concertante instrument in its own right.

Is it recommended?

Indeed – not least as the orchestral sound has been so sympathetically captured, detailed and spacious in equal measure, with informative notes by Elan Sicroff and Evan A. MacCarthy on life and work respectively. Cordially recommended, with the third instalment keenly awaited.

Listen & Buy

You can listen to sample tracks and purchase on the Toccata Classics website. For further information on the artists, click on the names for more on Leon Bosch, Theodore Kuchar and the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra Click on the name for more on composer Thomas de Hartmann

Published post no.2,158 – Wednesday 24 April 2024

On Record – April Fredrick, Thomas Humphreys, ESO Chorus, English Symphony Orchestra / Kenneth Woods: Sawyers – Mayflower on the Sea of Time (Nimbus)

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April Fredrick (soprano), Thomas Humphreys (baritone), ESO Chorus, English Symphony Orchestra / Kenneth Woods

Sawyers Mayflower on the Sea of Time (2018)

Nimbus NI6439 [58’57’’]
Producer and Engineer Tim Burton Engineer Matthew Swan
Live recording, 17 June 2023 at Worcester Cathedral

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

What’s the story?

Philip Sawyers’ Mayflower on the Sea of Time was to have been launched with performances in Worcester Cathedral four years ago, but the pandemic inevitably derailed this. Happily, the composer’s largest work so far was finally heard last June in the venue as originally intended.

What’s the music like?

Commissioned to mark the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower from Leiden to Plymouth, this is an oratorio in concept but equally a choral symphony in design. Its libretto, mainly by the artist Philip Groom, features set-pieces for various Old and New World figures largely for soprano and baritone alongside summative passages for chorus. Self-deprecating about his literary abilities, Groom yet achieves a viable balance between the characterization of individuals as part of a continuous and cumulative trajectory relating that of ‘the journey’.

There are four continuous parts: Persecution and Journey, a sonata design which informs the Pilgrims’ flight from religious persecution and their decision to cross the Atlantic; Arrival in the New World, a slow movement charting their arrival then tentative initial interaction with native cultures; Survival and Making our Community, a brief scherzo in which the Pilgrims’ industriousness and idealism all too soon becomes its own justification; and Our New World, a sizable rondo-finale whose looking to the future is framed by choruses of growing fervour.

Sawyers’ writing for the chorus is expert and resourceful, not least when this elides between a depiction of Pilgrims or Natives with that of a more abstract commentary, while solo sections allow his lyrical impulse free reign – not least towards the end of the second and fourth parts, closing with luminously ecstatic choruses that accentuate an essentially affirmative message. Worth noting is the poignant incorporation of a motet by Thomas Tomkins into its fourth part, which also sets lines by Walt Whitman with a tangible understanding of its expressive syntax.

Does it all work?

Almost always, and not least owing to the persuasiveness of this performance. April Frederick and Thomas Humphreys (the latter after a slightly strained start) can hardly be faulted in their commitment or insight, while the new-founded ESO Chorus evinces a power and immediacy abetted by Worcester Cathedral’s spacious acoustic to belie its modest forces. The ESO gives its collective all throughout, conveying the textural intricacy and the emotional heft of music whose overall formal integration is fully conveyed through Kenneth Woods’ astute direction.

The initial performances might have fallen through, but the associated educational project did go ahead and enabled several hundred youngsters to experience the piece at first hand. This is worth remembering given Mayflower should have a ready appeal for those who know little of the historical background or, indeed, contemporary music. That it can be rendered by around two-dozen singers ought to commend it to enterprising choral societies able to muster the 45 musicians, especially when Sawyers’ writing for both is often exacting but always practicable.

Is it recommended?

Very much so. The sound captures the resonance of its acoustic with no loss of definition, and there are detailed notes by composer, author and conductor. A pity the actual text could not be included, but that this can be scanned via a QR code is another incentive for younger listeners.

Listen & Buy

You can listen to sample tracks and purchase on the Wyastone website. For further information on the artists, click on the names for more on April Fredrick, Thomas Humphreys, the English Symphony Orchestra and their conductor Kenneth Woods. Click on the name for more on composer Philip Sawyers

Published post no.2,157 – Tuesday 23 April 2024

In appreciation – Sir Andrew Davis

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by Ben Hogwood

Yesterday we heard the sad news of the death of the British conductor Sir Andrew Davis, at the age of 80.

The warmth of the tributes made on social media to Sir Andrew are an indication of his standing as a highly respected conductor who was for many a friend as well as a fellow musician. As a live performer he excelled at the BBC Proms, becoming the festival’s musical figurehead in the 1990s as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, a post he held from 1989 until 2000. Yet he also made his mark overseas, through posts held with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (from 1975 until 1988) and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (from 2013).

The playlist below attempts to summarise his considerable contribution to recorded music – and in particular his many outstanding discs of British music. The reader is particularly directed towards an extensive and hugely rewarding series of Elgar for Chandos, but the list below includes early Berlioz, Delius, Elgar, a recent highlight of Stravinsky‘s Violin Concerto recorded with James Ehnes and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, and an outstanding version of Vaughan Williams‘ Symphony no.6, capturing a side of the composer seldom heard at the time of recording.

Published post no.2,156 – Monday 22 April 2024