On Record: s t a r g a z e – ONE (Transgressive Records)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

s t a r g a z e is both an innovative ensemble crossing borders between classical and modern music, and a typist’s nightmare! The group was founded in Berlin and Amsterdam, and prides itself on a flexible and collaborative musical approach.

Collaboration was certainly the name of the game with ONE, whereby five different composers from around the world wrote a piece remotely in lockdown-imposed isolation. The music was then arranged for and with the help of the s t a r g a z e group, who recorded it online, part by part.

What’s the music like?

Engaging. Greg Saunier’s Metaphor begins in reserved fashion, with serious intonations that grow into more colourful statements, the wind section of the orchestra taking the lead. The orchestration has a timbre suggesting the 1920s, though as it progresses the music becomes more animated and a little playful, before an extended chorale led by the piano.

Arone Dyer’s Voicecream is much less conservative in its output, with sweeping statements suggesting an orchestra on the edge, with melodic movements that are much more difficult to predict or trace. A series of punchy block chords takes over half way through, stalling the momentum but adding impressive gravitas to the music.

Vacancy, written by Tyondai Braxton, is a compelling conversation between very different viewpoints – one, a series of swirling motifs, another a more relaxed but authoritative series of chords, yet another voice given out in flurries of woodwind. Nik Colk Void’s Recollection Pulse #3 is similarly convincing, though uses much more minimal material in its percussion. Just the one chord, repeated in syncopation, pushes this music forward over bass notes that effectively stand for the strokes of the oars on a boat. Gradually and inevitably the piece moves forwards before grinding into the dust somewhat, reaching an eerie and evocative conclusion.

Finally Descend, from Aart Strootman, evolves under a haze of orchestral light, some beautiful colours extracted from relatively coarse string and wind textures. A drone-like effect is cast, but with largely consonant harmonies that transport the listener into a comforting cloud, growing ever denser as they progress and then relaxing to softer, wind-based colours and a gently oscillating coda.

Does it all work?

Yes. It is tempting to say that a bit of spontaneity is lost in the recording method, but great credit should go to musicians and composers alike for ensuring that more often than not the musicians and instruments feel like they were recorded in the same room.

Is it recommended?

Yes. An intriguing suite for sure – with music that successfully sits at a junction between modern classical and improvisation, evading categorisation with grace, poise and a welcome dash of humour.

Listen

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On Record: Various Artists – FAC 51 The Haçienda 1982 (Cherry Red)

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Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

This package is a treat for all those with a misty-eyed persuasion towards a certain legendary nightclub in Manchester. Opened by Rob Gretton and Tony Wilson under the auspices of Factory Records, The Haçienda turns 40 this year, and the anniversary has been marked by Cherry Red with a handsome 4CD set and book documenting the occasion.

The prime objective is to document the club’s open music policy, and this happens across a rich array of 65 tracks, covering almost every style capable of making people dance in 1982.

What’s the music like?

Extremely varied, and in the best possible way. There really is something for everyone here, and not just from 1982, though most of the selections are from then.

The open door policy is best illustrated from the choices that run from Suicide‘s peerless Dream Baby Dream right through to Dexys Midnight Runners‘ Come On Eileen. The latter is one of several massive hits of the time we get to hear as the compilation unfolds, with biggies from Shalamar, Simple Minds, ABC, Blancmange and Tears For Fears – as well as legendary articles from Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five (The Message), Sugarhill Gang (Apache) and Edwin Starr (War).

Slowing things down a bit, there is some wonderful downtempo stuff from Gregory Isaacs (Night Nurse) and the heart-melting Love Has Found Its Way from Dennis Brown. Moving slightly quicker are the funky asides of Chaz Jankel (Glad To Know You) and the excellent Fiat Lux (Feels Like Winter Again), not to mention 23 Skidoo‘s The Gospel Comes To New Guinea.

Meanwhile the darkness of the club is also in evidence, with some tunes destined for the shadowy corners to come alive. Falling into this category is much of the third disc, which begins with Iggy & The Stooges‘ I’m Sick Of You and develops with John Cooper Clarke‘s Night People, Stockholm Monsters and Josef K.

Does it all work?

It does – the wide range of music means that the broad canvas of music in Manchester at that time is fully represented. There is room for humour, too – the theme music for Thunderbirds making an appearance in its legendary original recording from The Barry Gray Orchestra!

Is it recommended?

Wholeheartedly – thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish, and a musical education to boot.

Buy

You can buy the compilation from the Cherry Red Records website

Orchestral pop – Al Stewart: Year Of The Cat

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Celebrating the role of orchestral instruments in pop songs, our eyes turn to Al Stewart‘s Year of the Cat.

Completed in 1976, the song pairs Stewart’s winsome vocals with Andrew Powell’s striking string arrangements, the scurrying cellos adding to the storytelling. Listen and enjoy!

Orchestral pop – Paul McCartney & Wings: Band on the Run

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Inspired by a chance encounter on the radio this morning, I was reminded just how many classic pop and rock songs have been made with the use of a full orchestra.

Paul McCartney & Wings‘ three-part medley Band On The Run is one of those, and is all the more remarkable for the speed in which the orchestral parts were written. With the original material recorded in Lagos, Nigeria, McCartney gave Tony Visconti a tight turnaround for his orchestral arrangements, thought to be as little as three days.

What we have here, though, is a vibrant mix of instruments, Visconti using a 60-piece orchestra of top-notch session players, bolstered with extra percussion. Have a listen below and listen closely for the orchestra – it only heightens your appreciation of what is already a classic song!

In Concert – Pavel Haas Quartet @ Wigmore Hall: Haydn, Prokofiev & Haas

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Pavel Haas Quartet [Veronika Jarůšková, Marek Zwiebel (violins), Karel Untermüller (viola), Peter Jarůšek (cello)

Haydn String Quartet in G major Op.76/1 (1979)
Prokofiev String Quartet no.2 in F major Op.92 (1941)
Haas String Quartet no.2 Op.7 ‘From The Monkey Mountains’ (1925)

Wigmore Hall, London
Thursday 24 November 2022

Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

The Pavel Haas Quartet often cause a stir on their visits to the Wigmore Hall, and this concert was no exception for the Czech ensemble.

Many of Haydn’s mature string quartets begin with a trio of chords effectively designed to hush the audience and guide their ears towards the performance getting underway. The first in his crowning set of six quartets published as Op.76 is no exception, though in this red blooded account the Pavel Haas Quartet pinned the audience back in their seats, such was the vigour with which this performance began.

There were some ragged edges to their interpretation, and less evidence of the genial Haydn that makes himself known with the conversational melody of the first movement. We did however get more exposure to his experimental side, through an interpretation pointing the music forward towards middle period Beethoven. The quickstep third movement, very much a scherzo rather than a minuet, pointed up Haydn’s daring harmonic excursions and dalliances, as did the finale, based mostly in the minor key and featuring a number of brisk about-turns. Stemming the tide was the second movement Adagio, a reverent account with a solemn air to its central section in particular.

There followed a superbly played account of Prokofiev’s String Quartet no.2. This attractive work is not often heard in concert, which is a shame for it has a good deal of spice and charm through its investment in folk tunes from the Northern Caucausian region, where the composer was evacuated in 1941. Encouraged by his new neighbours, Prokofiev achieved a very satisfying blend of the original tunes with spiky good humour and scrunched up harmonic dissonances, always in thrall to the highly melodic content.

The first movement revelled in the abundance of good tunes, bringing the Pavel Haas Quartet’s Slavonic instincts into play. The mood softened for a heartfelt cello solo from Peter Jarůšek, setting a thoughtful and delicately nostalgic tone for the Adagio. Here more time was taken for reflection, with a noticeable chill running through Prokofiev’s writing.

Within the folk references it is possible to discern the worrisome mood of the time, with World War Two underway. The third movement however felt like a show of resolution in the face of this threat, laced with humour that in this performance could have been exploited to greater effect. It was however a fine performance, with terrific ensemble playing.

The main event of the concert was undoubtedly a performance of music from the quartet’s namesake. Pavel Haas, born in Moravia, studied with Janáček between 1920 and 1922, completing his String Quartet no.2 three years later. Tragically in 1941 he was deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp, and died in Auschwitz three years later. Much of his work lay in neglect but has in the last thirty years enjoyed an extremely welcome renaissance, led by a number of enterprising recordings made in the 1990s, not least that of this work for Decca’s Entartete Musik imprint in the 1990s by the Hawthorne String Quartet. Since then the second quartet has gone on to gain a welcome foothold in the concert hall.

It would be difficult to contemplate a better performance than this one from the Pavel Haas Quartet. Led assertively by Veronika Jarůšková, they showed what an assured and imaginative piece it is, a travelogue giving the listener a tour of the sights and sounds of the famous Monkey Mountain range in Moravia.

The musical language is a curious but highly engaging hybrid of influences, drawing on the music of Dvořák and Smetana but in compressed melodic pockets of heightened intensity. Janáček, too, is an influential voice, but Haas’s unusual phrasing and distinctive rhythms make for a unique and enjoyable style.

The Pavel Haas Quartet enjoyed it greatly, the first two movements (Landscape and Coach, Coachman and Horse) enjoying the rarefied outdoor air and some crisply secured dance rhythms. The third movement, subtitled The Moon and I, was much colder to the touch, the muted strings taking time for introspection and creating some striking colours along the way. Their beautifully poised playing set up a riotous Wild Night finale where they were joined by percussionist Owen Gunnell (above), whose battery of instruments were expertly marshalled to bring the sounds of 1920s jazz into the fray.

The riotous closing pages brought the swaying Moravian dances and jazz rhythms to the foundations of the Wigmore Hall, brilliantly played and ideally balanced. So good was this section that the five performers gave us a quick reprisal as an encore, reminding us in the process of the fiercely original writing from a composer whose resurgence is to be greatly welcomed.