New music – Peter Broderick & Ensemble 0: Give It to the Sky: Arthur Russell’s Tower of Meaning Expanded

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A press release in full, detailing an exciting album coming in October:

This autumn, Erased Tapes are set to release ‘Give It to the Sky: Arthur Russell’s Tower of Meaning Expanded’ by composer and producer Peter Broderick and French 12-piece group Ensemble 0; a complete re-recording of Russell’s epic minimalist orchestral composition originally released in 1983.

Released 6th October, ‘Give It to the Sky’ also includes unreleased tracks by Russell which have been restored and re-recorded, resulting in an 80-minute reanimation that threads several lost songs into a meticulous and gorgeous rendering. The album was recorded live as a group in a small theatre in the Southwest of France with minimal overdubs.

Today, Peter & Ensemble 0 share the lead track ‘Tower of Meaning III’. Peter says of the song; “Tower of Meaning III’ is as good a place to start as any, and being the third track on the album, after a couple of short introductory pieces, I see it as the first piece on the record which dives deeply into the wonderful and mysterious world that is ‘Tower of Meaning’.”

For all its wonder and beauty, the musical output of the American cellist, composer, singer, and musical visionary also embodies irony, tragedy, and paradox. Russell famously recorded more than 1,000 hours of tape and left an otherwise-tremendous archive, now part of the New York Public Library. But before his death in 1992, Russell released just three albums under his own name. One of those was ‘Tower of Meaning’ (1983), a score commissioned for and then abandoned by a Robert Wilson production of Euripides’ Medea. Composer and pianist Philip Glass helped preserve the music, at least, subsequently releasing a somewhat-thin recording on his own label of just 320 LPs. 

A few years into his obsession with Russell’s work, Broderick paid $500 for one of those scant copies (it was remastered and reissued in 2006, followed by several subsequent editions). Still, he didn’t connect with that collector’s item the way he did with so much of Russell’s oeuvre. It felt a tad cold and distant, Russell’s usual tangle of intimacy and mystery perhaps lost in his frustrations with the process or maybe in the recording itself. Ensemble 0 founder Stéphane Garin realized he needed to pursue this project immediately after performing just a bit of the piece. In 2019, the group played a 25-minute chunk as a preamble to ‘Femenine’, the pulsing minimalist masterwork of Julius Eastman (a longtime Russell collaborator, Eastman conducted the initial recording of ‘Tower of Meaning’). He was struck by its splendor and subtle difficulty, the way that Russell shirked dissonance in favor of metric complexity. There was little else like it.

Garin was aware of Broderick’s stints interpreting Russell’s songs on stages and albums for the better part of a decade but also his work collaborating with Russell’s estate to restore previously unreleased tracks for the critically acclaimed album ‘Iowa Dream’ (2019). Broderick naturally did not hesitate when Ensemble 0 asked him to enlist, but he did offer a surprise: Rather than lace ‘Tower of Meaning’ with expected Russell standards, why not incorporate some of his cherished songs that had never found a home? 

Early in the process, Ensemble 0 made the decision that they would not seek out Russell’s original esoteric scores, which had already been used to stage ‘Tower of Meaning’ elsewhere. They liked the fact that the recording felt unfinished, allowing them to consider what was missing and how the ever-restless Russell might have modified it over time. Ensemble 0 saxophonist Julien Pontvianne toiled over this task, scrutinizing recordings that Russell had slowed with a tape machine in order to find the melodies and undergirding arrangements. 

‘Give It to the Sky’ is supple and dioramic. Pontvianne’s transcriptions add both muscle and nuance to the original recording, with a new low-end depth to balance the trebly tremble. Ensemble 0’s layers are as intricate as they are expertly rendered, the obfuscation of that rare Glass release replaced by a clarity that lets you peer inside this mesmeric music. New ideas appear, suggesting ‘Tower of Meaning’ as the scaffolding to something greater. 

Ensemble 0 weave in and out of Broderick’s additions. ‘Corky’, a poignant cowboy ballad that Russell never finished, appears, disappears, and reappears three times, the droning exhalations of ‘Tower of Meaning’ making it feel sweeter and sadder. Arriving just after the triumphant halfway mark, the title track is a sublime meditation on mere existence, about staring at some simple rural scene and marcelling at the miracle of being anywhere at all. It is an apt encapsulation of how this entire project feels – a glorious way to hear something that might have seemed familiar as if for the very first time. 

Russell was never much for definitive versions, of course. He was constantly rethinking the possibilities of a piece, of wondering what else it could do. ‘Give It to the Sky’ is a powerful affirmation of those principles, using Tower of Meaning’s framework to build outward and upward, to shape something that functions within Russell’s wondrous, paradoxical world. And ‘Give It to the Sky’ is also not intended to be some definitive last word. Broderick and Ensemble 0 speak already of the ways it may shift on stage, of where else it might lead. 

BBC Proms 2023 – Mariza sings Fado

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Prom 9 – Mariza with Luis Guerreiro (Portuguese guitar), Phelipe Ferreira (acoustic guitar), Adriano Alves ‘Dinga’ (bass guitar), João Freitas (percussion), João Frade (accordion), Strings of the London Contemporary Orchestra

Royal Albert Hall, London
Friday 21 July 2023

by Richard Whitehouse photos by Chris Christodoulou / BBC

The incidence of ‘world music’ at the Proms might be appreciably less than in its heyday of two decades ago, but a number of major figures still tread the boards at the Albert Hall and hearing Mariza this evening prompted a thought as to why she had not been invited before.

Maybe because Fado, of which she became the leading exponent on the death of its previous standard-bearer Amália almost a quarter-century ago, is still heard as provincial in its idiom and appeal. Emerging from urbanized Brazilian in the mid-19th century, it latterly took hold in Portugal as a means of opposing the authoritarian regimes in power until 1975 and retains its cultural potency today. With her Mozambiquan heritage and willingness to embrace other genres, Mariza has widened the stylistic remit of Fado but without diluting its essential ‘soul’.

An elegant and commanding but never overbearing presence on stage, she was joined tonight by a quintet of musicians whose intricate if discreet accompaniment was the perfect backdrop for this representative cross-section from her eight albums released over the past two decades. The smouldering pathos of What a strange way of living set the prevailing mood, followed by the pensiveness of There are Words that Kiss Us and the intimacy of Tear with its first hint of that vocalise Mariza unfurls to heighten the emotional ambit. The engaging Paper Carnations has a resonance for all who recall events of nearly 50 years ago, while Rain is the archetypal Fado number the world over. The underlying restlessness of Vain Wishes was complemented perfectly with the plaintiveness of Where Are You Going? from Mariza’s forthcoming album.

Thus far the set featured the strings of London Contemporary Orchestra, whose atmospheric arrangements evoked those by Wally Stott (later Angela Morley) for Scott Walker’s late ’60s albums. Their departure none the less abetted the immediacy of the music-making, witnessed by the impulsiveness of A Kiss of Longing and confiding warmth of I Wish, before the radiant poise of Spring brought the expected ovation. Hardly less enthusiastic was that accorded The Best of Me, its soaring aspiration furthered by the propulsive tread of Green Lemons then the rousing sentiments of Listen, Mr Wine when the singer’s rapport with her audience was made manifest. There was no lack of verve in the infectious White Rose, or in the headily rhythmic Black Boat with its breathtaking pause where one could have heard the proverbial pin drop.

A later than usual start and absence of an interval meant that this concert proceeded straight through 85 minutes, though neither musicians nor audience betrayed any sign of fatigue over its course. While the majority of a near-capacity house doubtless consisted of afficionados or enthusiasts, those unfamiliar with Mariza will surely have been encouraged to delve further into her music. As a starting-point, the studio album Fado Tradicional (2010) or live album Concerto em Lisboa (2006) are ideal for immersing oneself into what this music has to offer.

Tonight, however, the strings of the LCO emerged back on the stage to accompany Mariza and her ensemble in the incantatory O People from My Country – if not (yet) the Portuguese national anthem, then certainly a number such as encapsulates Fado at its soul-stirring best.

For more on the 2023 BBC Proms, visit the festival’s website at the BBC. Click on the names for more information on Mariza and the London Contemporary Orchestra

In appreciation: Coralie Hogwood

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by Ben Hogwood, editor

Here is a personal blog for Saturday 22 July – as on this day, my mother Coralie would have been 80 years old.

I owe my mum and dad a huge debt of gratitude, not just for bringing me up in the way they did but for playing music to me when I was young, and encouraging my love of classical music (they didn’t know about the prog rock and techno until a good deal later!)

As a thank you to Mum, who we still miss greatly, I have picked out some of her favourite classical pieces. She loved guitar music, and few pieces made her smile more than Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, with its bright first movement:

Another fresh-faced favourite was Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, a set work that she studied at ‘O’ level but one that stayed with her:

Scotland held a special place in Mum’s heart, and while her favourite places were Oban and Mull, one piece that never failed to move was the wonderful Farewell To Stromness by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies:

Happy birthday Mum – and thank you.

BBC Proms 2023 – María Dueñas, BBC Symphony Orchestra / Josep Pons – Falla, Lalo, Debussy & Ravel

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Prom 8 – María Dueñas (violin), BBC Symphony Orchestra / Josep Pons

De Falla La vida breve (1904-05) – Interlude and Dance
Lalo Symphonie espagnole, Op. 21 (1874)
Debussy Ibéria (1905-08)
Ravel Boléro (1928)

Royal Albert Hall, London
Thursday 20 July 2023

by Richard Whitehouse photos by Chris Christodoulou / BBC

The Proms went to town on Spanish music just over two decades ago, and if tonight’s concert featured only one piece by a Spanish composer, an aura of ‘Spanish-ness’ fairly pervaded this programme which likewise found the BBC Symphony Orchestra in excellent form throughout.

The piece in question was Interlude and Dance from de Falla’s opera La vida breve, once a regular fixture at these concerts and one which makes for an ideal encore or (as here) curtain-raiser according to context. Josep Pons duly brought out the drama of its initial pages, before heading into a rendition of the main section such as (rightly) predicated suavity over rhetoric, while not lacking for impetus as this music reached its effervescent close. Lasting little more than an hour, the opera ought to enjoy more frequent revival as part of a judicious double-bill.

Édouard Lalo is himself a composer worth revival, his Symphonie espagnole having regained something of its familiarity from half a century ago. Her tonal warmth and incisiveness made María Dueñas an ideal exponent, while her rapport with the orchestra accordingly underlined its concertante-like ingenuity. There was no lack of energy or pathos in the opening Allegro, the capering elegance of the Scherzando duly complementing the forcefulness of the ensuing Intermezzo before the Andante brought a finespun eloquence, itself offset by the final Rondo with its indelible main theme and never wanton virtuosity. Evidently a first-rate accompanist, Pons drew as subtle a response from the BBCSO here as in a rapt arrangement for violin and strings of Fauré’s song Après un Rêve which Dueñas offered as the entirely apposite encore.

Debussy allegedly spent just one day over the Spanish border, but his feel for that country’s musical essence in Ibéria could not be gainsaid. The unwieldly trilogy that is the orchestral Images often makes performance of this in itself a stand-alone triptych preferable, and Pons had its measure from the outset of Along the Streets and Pathways, with its characteristic alternation of decisiveness and hesitancy. Nor was there any lack of ecstatic languor in The Perfumes of the Night whose soulfulness only gradually became apparent – Pons making a rhythmically seamless transition into The Morning of a Festive Day with its vivid evoking of castanets and guitars, along with a folk-inflected élan as carried through to the headlong closing bars. Highlighting of detail never risked cohesiveness in this scintillating account.

Ravel’s Rhapsodie espagnole would have been an ideal work to conclude this concert, though few in the audience would surely have begrudged hearing Boléro in its place and Pons did not disappoint. At just over 15 minutes it was appreciably faster than the inexorable unfolding its composer most likely envisaged, but the combination of textural definition and astute placing of detail ensured this traversal enticed over the short term as keenly as it compelled across the whole. In what is a ‘concerto for orchestra’ without equal, it would seem invidious to single out individual contributions, but Alex Neal was unerring in his articulation of the side-drum ostinato, while Antoine Bedewi’s timpani steered those climactic stages through to a forceful but not overbearing denouement. If not the ultimate Boléro, this was certainly one to savour.

For more on the 2023 BBC Proms, visit the festival’s website at the BBC. Click on the names for more information on the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Josep Pons and María Dueñas

BBC Proms 2023 – Elena Urioste, BBC NoW / Tadaaki Otaka – Rachmaninoff / Respighi, Coleridge-Taylor & Beethoven

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Prom 7 – Elena Urioste (violin), BBC National Orchestra of Wales / Tadaaki Otaka

Rachmaninoff (orch. Respighi) Five Études-tableaux (1911-17, orch 1930) [Proms premiere]
Coleridge-Taylor Violin Concerto in G minor Op.80 (1911-12)
Beethoven Symphony no.5 in C minor Op.67 (1807-08)

Royal Albert Hall, London
Wednesday 19th July 2023 [7pm]

by Richard Whitehouse photos by Andy Paradise / BBC

Tadaaki Otaka’s years at the helm of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (1987-95) were a highpoint of the latter’s history, and it was good to see and hear the rapport between them now that he is Conductor Laureate being maintained throughout this evening’s programme.

Surprising that Respighi’s orchestration of five from Rachmaninoff’s sets of Études-tableaux had not been given at the Proms, but the respective 150th and 80th anniversaries of his birth and death provided an ideal opportunity. Otaka brought out the listless calm of The Sea and the Seagulls with its death-haunted aura, then conveyed the scintillating energy of The Fair. With its evocations of Orthodox chant and heady pealing of bells towards the close, Funeral March is the most imposing and Otaka gave it its due – not least by pointing up the deadpan humour of Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf which provides greatest possible contrast. The sheer effervescence of March made a fitting conclusion to a sequence that, while other orderings are possible (not least 2-1-4-3-5), is a viable and a cohesive entity in its own right.

The resurgence of interest in Samuel Coleridge-Taylor continued apace with a revival of his Violin Concerto, 111 years after its UK public premiere at these concerts. Its composer’s last major work, this is a work audibly in the Romantic tradition and while the initial Allegro gets off to a less than promising start with its blousy and over-emphatic first theme, the resource with which the soloist elaborates both this and the insouciant idea that follows is as engaging as the cadenza underpinned by drum-roll is arresting. The central Andante is the undoubted highlight, its warmly confiding main melody capable of unexpected plangency as it unfolds, then the final Allegro draws on the Afro-American inflections of Coleridge-Taylor’s heritage in a spirited discourse whose climax sees an opulent restatement of the work’s opening theme.

A testing assignment such as Elena Urioste (after last year’s Proms debut with Ethel Smyth’s Double Concerto) gave with no little panache, her vivid while modest tone heard to advantage in Tom Poster’s eloquent take on Harold Arlen’s Over the Rainbow that was given as encore.

A staple of the Proms since its very first season 128 years ago, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony comes so weighted with expectation as to make any performance in itself a provocative act. Eschewing astringency and portentousness, Otaka (rightly) rendered the initial movement as an elemental though unpredictable play on its indelible opening motif; the ensuing Andante pursuing an equally eventful course as its main theme evolves via a process of developing variation, the heroic and inquisitive held in unforced accord through to the decisive ending.

A pity that Otaka opted not to take the repeat in the Scherzo (rather than that of the finale) – its interplay between the ominous and the impetuous abetted by a transition of speculative intent. Here too there was never any risk of pomposity or overkill, Otaka steering this most visceral of symphonic finales through a development of bracing immediacy then on to a coda whose insistent C major reiterations were the outcome – no more and no less – of this movement’s innate potential. The undiminished relevance of this music was never for a moment in doubt.

For more on the 2023 BBC Proms, visit the festival’s website at the BBC. Click on the names for more information on the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Tadaaki Otaka and Elena Urioste