Thursday, August 13, 2009

Cyclic Defrost Magazine

Cyclic Defrost Magazine

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Michael Nyman – Nyman / Greenaway Revisited (Michael Nyman Records)

Posted: 13 Aug 2009 04:37 AM PDT

Michael Nyman is a curious minimalist: the British composer’s music veers off in wildly different directions to that of his New York contemporaries. He’ll likely remain most famous for his pretty, pithy score for The Piano, but the blustery work he did for divisive British filmmaker Peter Greenaway is far more interesting, lively, and inspired, such that if you’re going to buy any Nyman disc make it this set of Greenaway scores.

Filled with repetitive horn blasts, strings sneaking up like spies, and a moody melodicism that verges on camp, Nyman’s music would overwhelm most images; fortunately Greenaway’s almost sickening opulence offers the ideal visual compliment. That said, it more than stands up on its own. The dirty, grinding saxes – dominated by earthy baritones and tenors, not the noodly soprano of Terry Riley – give these works a grounding that most minimalism lacks, Nyman marking his loops like drawing in mud. The three pieces from ‘The Draughtman’s Contract’ best illustrate this, careening sax riffs meshing with high piccolo tweets while a hammered piano marks time. For ‘A Zed and Two Noughts’, the tighter loops and forlorn plod of ‘Time Lapse’ mirrors the structural complexities of Greenaway’s tale of decay, amputation and obsession. By ‘Prospero’s Books’ Nyman is playing with greater freedom, inviting more dissonance and abandon from his melodic lines, but throughout it’s all closely alinged with what would become techno: elements dancing and riffing around a steady, unwavering 4/4 pulse. These pieces are best heard live, so catch Nyman’s band while he tours Australia.

Joshua Meggitt

Grazyna Bacewicz – Violin Concertos 1, 3 and 7 (Chandos)

Posted: 13 Aug 2009 04:37 AM PDT

The work of Polish composer Grazyna Bacewicz remains little known outside of Eastern Europe, where is both popular and critically acclaimed, but interest is developing. Situated somewhere between the raw experimentalism of Lutoslawski and the lushness of Szymanowski, these three violin concertos (she wrote seven), expertly performed by Polish violinist Joanna Kurkowicz, offer an excellent introduction to her music. We begin at the end, with Concerto No. 7 of 1965, the most dissonant and exciting of the pieces here, a thrilling, dense web of sounds based on a form of ’sonorism’ (composing with tone colours) similar to that of Lutoslawski and early Penderecki. Bacewicz has the violin tug at a loose harmonic centre, creating fissures through which Kurkowicz pulls and teases, wrestling with the orchestra until it succumbs to her wishes, raucously. Interestingly this piece was adored in Belgium, where it received an award of the Belgian Government and Gold Medal at the Queen Elizabeth of Belgium International Competition for Composers.

Bacewicz was herself a professional violinist, and the more straightforward Violin Concertos No. 1 (1937) and 3 (1948) were both written for her to perform. The first explores French-influenced neoclassical modes reminiscent of Szymanowski, while No. 3 evokes the spiky rhythms of Bartok; both present novel dialogues for the soloist and orchestra to pursue. We also get her Overture of 1943, a sprightly war-time work, but this CD is really all about the stunning Concerto No. 7.

Joshua Meggitt

at 5:53 PM