Switched On – Leon Vynehall: Rare, Forever (Ninja Tune)

Posted on May 31, 2021 by Arcana

leon-vynehall

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Thus is the first album of Leon Vynehall‘s thirties, a response to the nagging inner voice asking where he was going artistically. The response is predictably varied, a creative line in the sand showing off what a versatile producer he has become.

What’s the music like?

Because of the variety of music here, Rare, Forever hangs together extremely well as an album. There are strong undercurrents running through it too- Vynehall’s ear for richly coloured sounds is always apparent, as is a strong affinity with elements of rave from the late 1980s. These are revealed in the quicker tracks, but the atmospheric slower material is equally effective.

From the off, a strong melody winds upwards before cutting to loping beats as Ecce! Ego! takes shape. Mothra features probing electronic riffs, flickering against a white foamy backdrop. Alichea Vella Amor takes a thoughtful tenor sax solo and winds it around a metronomic backing, while on Snakeskin ∞ Has-Been the beats cut loose.

The ambitious beats and chopped up rhythms are a strong feature of the album as it gets into its stride. Worm (& Closer & Closer) is a particularly good track, with a dislocated vocal and big, wide open loops. An Exhale has splashes of colour over the bumpy beats, while Dumbo also hits a jagged groove, the rave elements up top. The air hangs thick and heavy for the elegiac Farewell! Magnus Gabbro, while All I See Is You, Velvet Brown gives us an atmospheric close.

Does it all work?

Yes. A very different album to his previous acclaimed long player Nothing Is Still, but one that shows Leon Vynehall has capacity to master a number of different styles and speeds. Nothing Is Still was achingly cinematic at times, but Rare, Forever has a wide range of approaches, and hits a powerful set of grooves as it progresses.

Is it recommended?

Very much so. Rare, Forever is a portrait of an artist at a fascinating point in his career. The multi-talented Leon Vynehall still has enormous potential, and it will be fascinating to see where it takes him next.

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On Record – Sarah Neufeld: Detritus (One Little Independent)

Posted on May 30, 2021 by Arcana

sarah-neufeld

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Violinist Sarah Neufeld adds to her solo canon with Detritus, her third album. It is a substantial piece of work dating back to 2015, when Neufeld met and collaborated with choreographer Peggy Baker. The two struck up an intense understanding, but the short time working together was ultimately unfulfilling. This led to a reunion in 2019, where Arcade Fire member and Bell Orchestre co-founder Neufeld effectively faced off in improvisation with Baker, and the seeds of Detritus were sown.

What’s the music like?

As striking as the cover art. This is a powerfully affecting piece of work in which the violin is only a part of the story. Although it is a lead character, Neufeld has plenty going on around the loops and cells of the stringed instrument, with wide open effects and textures and a substantial body of percussion, inspired and executed by Arcade Fire bandmate Jeremy Gara. Bell Orchestre‘s Pietro Amato brings rich horn textures, while flautist Stuart Bogie adds deep woodwind colour.

The violin is played with the poise of a dancer, with an airborne feeling to the instrument’s commentary on Stories. With Love And Blindness has impressive depth and again a tension between the slow moving vocals and the urgency of Neufeld’s melodic cells. The Top is propulsive, flickering figures dancing up and down. Tumble Down The Undecided is a very impressive piece of work, the violin dancing across the strings as long, noble notes go across the music like tracers, all to the accompaniment of rolling percussion and the swell of cymbals. Shed Your Dear Heart is also a substantial structure, with the violin looping constantly while rolling drums march forward, more than a little ominously.

Does it all work?

Yes – and the more you listen, especially on headphones, the more you appreciate the expert layering of parts and intersection of the musical motifs.

Is it recommended?

Yes, enthusiastically. It is great to have Miller and Jones committing their friendship to record in this way, and the musical chemistry between them is clear. Hopefully this will lead to further installments!

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Listening to Beethoven #158 – String Quartet in B flat major Op.18/6

Posted on May 29, 2021 by Arcana

Ship on the River Elbe in the Early Morning Mist, by Caspar David Friedrich (c1821)

String Quartet in B flat major Op.18/6 (1798-1800, Beethoven aged 29)

Dedication Count Johann Georg von Browne
Duration 28′

1. Allegro con brio
2. Adagio ma non troppo
3. Scherzo: Allegro
4. La Malinconia: Adagio – Allegretto quasi Allegro

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written by Ben Hogwood

Background and Critical Reception

The sixth and final quartet of Op.18/6 set was also the last to be finished. Many Beethoven writers see this as the most emotive work of the six, and also the one with most pointers towards future developments in the composer’s music.

Ludwig Finscher again, in his booklet notes for the Melos Quartet recordings on Deutsche Grammophon: ‘This quartet is without doubt the most mature and the most profound of the six in every conceivable respect: in its formal assurance, in the balance and contrast of the movements, and in the individual characterization of them.’

He describes the first movement as ‘relaxed yet disciplines, and the second as achieving a ‘sweet melancholy’, in contrast to the ‘black melancholy’ of the last. After a ‘tour de force’ scherzo comes the finale, ‘spirituality and intellectually the most demanding movement in the whole of Op.18’.

This movement has the heading La Malincolia, with the specific direction Questo pezzo si deve trattare colla più gran delicatezza (This piece is to be played with the greatest delicacy’)

Thoughts

Once again Beethoven starts a quartet with the music in a good mood. There is a slightly cheeky aspect to the first movement of this quartet as the first violin and cello enjoy sharing the catchy tune. The music chugs along with a smile on its face but there is a lot going on behind the scenes, each idea tautly argued and shared.

The slow movement is profound, Beethoven filling out the texture of the four movements, the string quartet sounding more ‘romantic’ as the thoughtful ideas take hold. The scherzo shows Beethoven’s desire to move away from the basic Minuet to employ rhythmic invention, with cross rhythms and syncopations at every turn, as well as the clever use of silence.

However it is with the last movement that Beethoven employs his most dramatic turn, and it is in music of quiet solitude rather than through any fireworks. The cold opening strains are unexpected, the mood of desolation and at complete odds with the conversational first movement. Now the quartet are in unison, as though the instruments dare not stray from the quartet line.

Then, suddenly, that mood is swept under the carpet as a resolute Allegretto asserts itself. Yet it proves difficult to forget the impact of what has gone before, and sure enough the Malincolia music returns. Eventually the two strains are directly at odds, and although the quartet ends vigorously, the impression it leaves is rather different.

Finscher has a theory for this. ‘Nor should the possibility be excluded that this depiction of melancholia, which brings Op.18 to its conclusion and can hardly be a mere whim, has something to do with the fact that at the very time of its composition Beethoven was being made aware of the first symptoms of deafness.’

Recordings used and Spotify links

Quatuor Mosaïques (Andrea Bischof, Erich Höbarth (violins), Anita Mitterer (viola), Christophe Coin (cello)
Melos Quartet (Wilhelm Melcher and Gerhard Voss (violins), Hermann Voss (viola), Peter Buck (cello) (Deutsche Grammophon)
Borodin String Quartet (Ruben Aharonian, Andrei Abramenkov (violins), Igor Naidin (viola), Valentin Berlinsky (cello) (Chandos)
Takács Quartet (Edward Dusinberre, Károly Schranz (violins), Roger Tapping (viola), Andras Fejér (Decca)
Jerusalem Quartet (Alexander Pavlovsky, Sergei Bresler (violins), Ori Kam (viola), Kyril Zlotnikov (cello) (Harmonia Mundi)
Tokyo String Quartet (Peter Oundjian, Kikuei Ikeda (violins), Kazuhide Isomura (viola), Sadao Harada (cello) (BMG)
Végh Quartet (Sándor Végh, Sándor Zöldy (violins), Georges Janzer (viola) & Paul Szabo (cello) (Valois)

You can chart the Arcana Beethoven playlist as it grows, with one recommended version of each piece we listen to. Catch up here!

Also written in 1800 Salieri Cesare in Farmacusa

Next up tbc

Listening to Beethoven #157 – String Quartet in A major Op.18/5

Posted on May 28, 2021 by Arcana

Morning Mist In The Mountains, by Caspar David Friedrich (1808)

String Quartet in C minor Op.18/4 (1798-1800, Beethoven aged 29)

Dedication Count Johann Georg von Browne
Duration 29′

1. Allegro ma non tanto
2. Andante scherzoso quasi allegretto
3. Menuetto: Allegro
4. Allegro – Prestissimo

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written by Ben Hogwood

Background and Critical Reception

As part of his preparation for entering into the world of the string quartet, Beethoven copied put two of Mozart’s quartets by hand. Both were part of the six works dedicated to Haydn in 1785 – in G major, K387, and in A major, K464.

This piece became the stimulus for Beethoven’s own A major quartet, published fifth in the Op.18 set. Each commentary explores the relationship between the two pieces, examining the influences and similarities.

Yet, as Ludwig Finscher writes, this is no dutiful homage. Beethoven creates his own inspiration, while also respecting tradition. ‘The thematic material and processes, the 6/8 time signature, and the relaxed, playful tone of the first movement are all typical of the ‘lighter’ works traditionally placed at the end of a quartet opus.’

He describes the A major quartet as being ‘in a different class’ to the previously published work in C minor. It places the Minuet second and the Andante third, for Finscher ‘a demanding slow movement, whose quality is especially evident in the glorious coda’. He also identifies a shift in emphasis towards the last movement in Beethoven’s writing, with ‘a thoroughly densely and imaginatively crafted sonata-form finale.’

Thoughts

This is a ‘sunny side up’ piece of music right from the start, the first violin irrepressible as it breaks into song. The mood prevails throughout the piece but especially in the first movement, where a bright outlook is achieved in spite of some dense part writing.

The Minuet is attractive too, with more of an emphasis on the dance, and an attractive contrasting trio section where the composer uses a drone. The sunny approach continued into the third movement, Beethoven resorting to a theme and variations format for the only time in the Op.18 set. His practice efforts for the piano really bear fruit here, in the winsome written-out trills of the third variation and the slow, hymn like fourth especially.

The finale is indeed dense and eventful, but again the mood is wholly positive. The quartet are busy throughout, Beethoven treating the four protagonists on an equal footing as they exchange ideas and thoughts. The end is softly voiced, the conversation coming to a natural rest.

Recordings used and Spotify links

There are some highly enjoyable versions here. The two I returned to most were from the Jerusalem and Tokyo quartets, each one bringing out the sunny nature of the work with its many and varied inventions.

You can chart the Arcana Beethoven playlist as it grows, with one recommended version of each piece we listen to. Catch up here!

Also written in 1800 Gyrowetz Divertissement Op.50

Next up String Quartet in B flat major Op.18/6

In concert – Lawrence Power, CBSO / Nicholas Collon: Stravinsky, Britten & Shostakovich

Posted on May 27, 2021 by Arcana

nicholas-collon

Lawrence Power (viola), City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Nicholas Collon (above)

Stravinsky Symphonies of Wind Instruments (1920, revised 1947)
Britten Lachrymae Op.48a (1950, orch. 1976)
Shostakovich Symphony no.5 in D minor Op.47 (1937)

Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Wednesday 26 May 2pm

Written by Richard Whitehouse

This second in the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s live concerts, heading out of lockdown, featured works from the first half of the last century – focussing on wind then strings, before bringing the whole orchestra into play for one of the defining symphonies from this period.

It was an astute move to open with Stravinsky’s Symphonies of Wind Instruments as, 14 days short of the centenary of its premiere to a bemused London public, the extent of its innovation and influence was there for all to hear. The performance was attuned to its bracing alternation of diverse musical types, and while the elongated platform layout might have caused passing uncertainties, Nicholas Collon made a virtue of its fluid continuity right through to the final chorale which ‘remembers’ Debussy with an emotion the more acute for its hieratic restraint.

It may have entered the repertoire but slowly, Britten’s Lachrymae is now well to the fore of the viola’s still limited concertante output and Lawrence Power gave a potent rendering of a piece conceived for William Primrose then orchestrated for Cecil Aronowitz. The evocative if sparse writing for strings is a reminder this was Britten’s final creative act, bringing out the ambiguous shadings of these variations on Dowland’s Flow my tears (played and sung at the outset by Power) which culminate with a rendering of the full song in all its grave elegance.

Speaking beforehand, Collon (who gave a perceptive account of the Ninth Symphony with the CBSO some years back) spoke of his pleasure in utilizing the extent of Symphony Hall’s platform to programme a work on the scale of Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony. Accordingly, this was a performance whose impact and intensity were evident from the outset; the opening movement unfolding gradually but with keen underlying intensity though its searching, then wistful main themes, to a surging development and climactic reprise before subsiding into a fateful coda. If the scherzo was less capricious than it often is, Collon’s trenchant handling of its outer sections exuded an acerbic charm – offset by the trio’s deadpan humour (with an airily whimsical solo from leader Jonathan Martindale), before a pay-off of ominous import.

The ensuing Largo is the work’s emotional heart in every sense, and this afternoon’s reading made the most of its fraught eloquence with some limpidly unforced string playing then, in the mesmeric central episode, woodwind soliloquys of a spectral remoteness. Nor was there any lack of gravitas as the movement reached a baleful culmination, and from where Collon oversaw a faultless transition through to those consoling final bars. Always difficult to bring off, the finale had the virtue of almost seamless progression through its high-octane opening stages then the musing introspection at its centre – Collon making light of some tricky tempo changes on the way to an apotheosis of unremitting focus. The tonal ambivalence between triumph and tragedy might have been more acute, but its inevitability was never in doubt.

An impressive way to conclude what was almost a full-length concert (and one these players had to repeat just three hours later). The CBSO returns next Wednesday with a less strenuous programme which will include a welcome outing for Mendelssohn’s Reformation Symphony.

For further information about the CBSO’s current series of concerts, head to the orchestra’s website

For further information about the next concert on Wednesday 2 June, click here

Arcana.fm

Putting a spark into classical music…

Switched On – Leon Vynehall: Rare, Forever (Ninja Tune)

On Record – Sarah Neufeld: Detritus (One Little Independent)

Listening to Beethoven #158 – String Quartet in B flat major Op.18/6

Listening to Beethoven #157 – String Quartet in A major Op.18/5

In concert – Lawrence Power, CBSO / Nicholas Collon: Stravinsky, Britten & Shostakovich

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