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About Arcana

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

On Record – Primrose Piano Quartet, New Music Players – Ed Hughes: Music for the South Downs (Métier)

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Primrose Piano Quartet [Susanne Stanzeleit (violin), Dorothea Vogel (viola) Andrew Fuller (cello) John Thwaites (piano)]; New Music Players / Ed Hughes

Ed Hughes
Chroma (1997)
Flint (2019)
Nonet (2020)
Lunar (2021)
The Woods So Wild (2020-21)

Métier msv28623 [68’32”]
Producer / Engineer David Marshalsea

Recorded 18 March 2021 at St John’s Smith Square, 28 October and 4 December 2021 at Attenborough Centre for Creative Arts, University of Sussex

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

What’s the story?

Métier continues its coverage of music by Ed Hughes (b1968) with a release of works partly inspired by and even permeated with the qualities of the South Downs, making for a cohesive selection whose five constituents are tellingly thrown into relief by having been so arranged.

What’s the music like?

Ed (formally Edward Dudley) Hughes has been an enriching presence on the UK new music scene since the BBC broadcast of his orchestral piece Crimson Flames marked him out as a name to watch over three decades ago. He has assembled a sizable as well as diverse body of work across a broad range of genres, one which reveals a notable awareness of the evolution of Western music not just over this past century but across what might reasonably be termed the ‘humanist’ tradition which stretches back through the Enlightenment to the Renaissance.

The present sequence opens with Flint that evokes the Sussex landscape in terms of natural cliff formations and man-made quarries. The three movements are pointedly distinct – often angular gestures of the first being contrasted with the restrained fervour of its successor (in which a local song once collected by George Butterworth threads it way across the content), before the third highlights solo violin for a texture whose shifting emphases add appreciably to its expressive impetus. Although written to complement a film by Sam Moore (which can be seen via Hughes’s website), Nonet is musically self-sufficient – whether in the undulating variety of incident in its initial ‘Con moto’, the sense of being side-tracked and even waylaid in the central ‘Tranquil’, or a gradual feeling of emergence then arrival in the final ‘Flowing’.

Very different in its concept is the Lunar diptych – inspired by Isamu Noguchi sculptures and juxtaposing the darkly translucent harmonies of ‘Lunar 1’ with the agile luminescent gestures of ‘Lunar 2’. The earliest work here, Chroma is also the most abstract in terms of content that derives meaning from its interplay of outward volatility with underlying calm; a process made manifest in the distinction between string quartet and string ensemble over much of its course. Finally, The Woods So Wild turns to the medium of piano quartet and a song from the Tudor era whose plangent modality is brought to bear on the animated melodic weave of its opening movement as on the harmonic eloquence of its central intermezzo – duly heading into a finale whose rhythmic intricacy does not prevent the song coming through affirmatively at the close.

Does it all work?

It does indeed. Without drawing attention to itself in technical terms, Hughes’s music has an understated virtuosity such as adds greatly to the attraction of those pieces featured here. The performances are audibly attuned to this music, whether those by the Primrose Piano Quartet (arguably the finest such ensemble in the UK) or New Music Players which Hughes founded over three decades ago. Nor does the sound, recorded at two different venues, leave anything to be desired in clarity and perspective. The composer has provided informative annotations.

Is it recommended?

Very much so. There are four earlier releases of Ed Hughes from Métier and those who have acquired some or all of these will want this new one too. Those new to his music will find the latest selection an appealing way into this composer and, as such, to be warmly recommended.

For further information on this release, and to purchase, visit the Divine Art website, and for more on Ed Hughes click here. Click on the artist names for more on the Primrose Piano Quartet and the New Music Players, and click here for the South Downs National Park website.

In Memoriam Queen Elizabeth II

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Listening to Elgar’s Cello Concerto and remembering, in gratitude. RIP Queen Elizabeth II, and thank you for your life of service and example to the people of the United Kingdom.

On Record: Steven Beck – George Walker: Five Piano Sonatas (Bridge)

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george-walker

Steven Beck (piano)

George Walker
Piano Sonatas: no.1 (1953, rev. 1991); no.2 (1956); no.3 (1975, rev. 1996); no.4 (1984); no.5 (2003)

Bridge 9554 [53’13”]

Producer Steven Beck
Engineer Ryan Streber

Recorded 4 & 14 February 2021 at Oktaven Audio, Mount Vernon, NY

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

What’s the story?

Bridge continues its wide-ranging coverage of American music with this release featuring all five of the piano sonatas by George Walker (1922-2018), a composer who is now coming into his own on this side of the Atlantic and through, one trusts, the intrinsic quality of his music.

What’s the music like?

Although he achieved success in the USA, with commissions from several leading orchestras and a Pulitzer Prize in 1996 (making him its first black recipient), Walker was little known in the UK until recently – other than Natalie Hinderas’s account of his Piano Concerto in CBS’s ground-breaking Black Composers Series from the 1970s and occasional revival of his Lyric for strings (the most played such piece in America after Barber’s Adagio). That the current Proms season featured no less than three of his works is hopefully in itself a positive sign.

With its antecedents in Copland and Piston, the First Sonata appeared at a time of incipient change for American music – its three movements classically conceived but never adhering to formal archetypes; witness the flexible handling of sonata principles in the initial Allegro, followed by the contrasted sequence of six variations on a winsome folk tune, then dextrous contrapuntal texture and cumulative impetus of the rondo which comprises its final Allegro. Barely three years later, the Second Sonata sounds as if it might be responding to Sessions’s ‘transitional’ music of not long before – its initial movement’s theme the basis of 10 gnomic variations, followed by a Presto as brief as it is virtuosic, then an Adagio circumspect in its restiveness, and an Allegretto ensuring a degree of finality for all its harmonic ambivalence.

Almost two decades on and the Third Sonata postdates Walker’s most intensive involvement with serialism, but it does not eschew innovation – whether in the constantly metamorphosed shapes of the opening Phantoms, distanced yet ominous emotional resonance of the central Bell, or those myriad textural contrasts which build considerable momentum in the closing Choral and Fughetta. In the Fourth Sonata, number of movements may be further reduced but the emotional range is further extended – the forceful if never unyielding rhetoric of its Maestoso ideally complemented with the formal and expressive disjunction of its Tranquillo. Outwardly a concert study, the Fifth Sonata has as emotional impact out of all proportion to its brevity while leaving little doubt as to Walker’s creative prowess during his ninth decade.

Does it all work?

Almost always. As dates of composition suggest, these sonatas afford a viable (not inclusive) overview of Walker’s evolution – responding to the aesthetic changes in post-war American music methodically and resourcefully, without detriment to his creative integrity. It helps that Steven Beck is as audibly attuned to this music as to that by other US composers – rendering these pieces with precision and commitment, but the recording might have had a degree more warmth to complement its unfailing clarity. Succinctly informative notes from Ethan Iverson.

Is it recommended?

It is. All these sonatas have previous been recorded (notably as part of the extensive coverage on the Albany label), but this release is a clear first choice for anyone coming to them afresh. Hopefully Bridge will record further Walker – maybe an integral cycle of his five Sinfonias?

For further information on this release, visit the Bridge Records website, and for more on George Walker click here. You can read more about Steven Beck on his website

Switched On – Sascha Funke: Treets EP (Kompakt)

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Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Berlin-based DJ Sascha Funke marks his return to the Kompakt label with a five-track EP, his first release for them since 2014. In that time he has been very busy, recording for a multitude of labels, while continuing to flit between genres, a musical butterfly who rarely alights in the same area for too long.

And yet, as the press release for Treets states, his style is very distinctive, bringing in snatches of electro pop and rave to new and vibrant rhythms.

What’s the music like?

The title track is more than a bit odd, a straight break beat given a very odd, disembodied vocal to play with – but then a bass line and riff straight from the 1980s are teleported in, and everything makes sense. E-Plus mines similar territory for its source material, but now the sounds are nocturnal and give off a foreboding atmosphere.

Alles Paletti is another story, a beauty with richly layered textures producing golden colours over a solid, two-step rhythm that keeps it zipping along. Haus More enjoys textures of a similar warmth, though the riff itself has a bit of a wary profile, more monotone and watchful.

Finally Treets (The Other Version) is stripped back, more percussive and industrial, striking out for the corners of the room it’s in – and with that weird vocal back to create some sinister shivers again.

Does it all work?

It does. Funke gets a good blend of challenging his listener and giving them free rein on the dancefloor, an effective combination that gives the EP a solid sense of continuity.

Is it recommended?

Yes – followers of the producer will not hesitate, and it’s a good way back in to Sasche Funke’s music if you haven’t heard any of his more recent productions. On this evidence, he remains on good form.

Listen

Buy

In Appreciation – Lars Vogt

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by Ben Hogwood

Yesterday we learned of the incredibly sad news that the pianist Lars Vogt had died, at the age of 51.

The warmth and appreciation of tributes paid to him from fellow artists yesterday evening testify to his warm personality, strength of character and great musicianship. Lars was diagnosed with cancer early in 2021, but even in his chemotherapy found that playing the piano channelled the most positive energy and feeling. Here, for instance, is a wonderful performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto no.24 given as part of the Parnu Festival with the Estonian Festival Orchestra and Paavo Järvi.

Lars was an extremely versatile artist, either as a soloist, chamber musician or conductor. Regular partners included violinist Christian Tetzlaff and cellist Truls Mørk, while he took part in a formidable piano trio with Christian and cellist Tanja Tetzlaff. He also proved himself a conductor of some note from the keyboard, directing the Royal Northern Sinfonia from the piano in recordings of the concertos of Beethoven and Brahms, and the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris in the concertos of Mendelssohn.

His orchestral partners spoke of him with great warmth, and certainly his time in Newcastle with the Royal Northern Sinfonia was characterised by energetic, creative music making and seasonal planning. My own memories of solo performance run back to a spellbinding account of the Goldberg Variations at Wigmore Hall:

Wigmore Mondays – Lars Vogt plays the Bach Goldberg Variations

As a concerto soloist I also recall a memorable account of Brahms’ Piano Concerto no.2 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Jiří Bělohlávek at the Proms:

https://www.classicalsource.com/prom/a-prom-from-1958/

At the same festival, I also recall a full-blooded account of the Bartók Violin Sonata no.1 with Christian Tetzlaff:

https://www.classicalsource.com/prom/proms-2011-christian-tetzlaff-lars-vogt/

As a recording artist, Vogt enjoyed many peaks, mostly in the company of the Ondine label. The playlist below brings together just a section of these recordings, in the knowledge that a couple more are yet to be released.

He will be greatly missed, and we send condolences to all his family and friends. His lasting gift to us is in the form of recordings we will treasure greatly: