March 18, 2013

  • Review: Marching to Carcassonne (Goehr)

     

    Goehr: Marching to Carcassonne; When Adam Fell; Pastorals
    Peter Serkin, piano. London Sinfonietta; BBC Symphony Orchestra/Oliver Knussen
    Naxos 8.573052
    Total Time:  63:06
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

     

    The Royal Manchester College of Music was the birthplace of a distinctly new musical composition approach that flowered in the 1960s and 1970s through the work of several composers of whom Birtwhistle and Maxwell Davies are perhaps the most widely known.  Alexander Goehr (1932-) studied there at the same time along with John Ogden and it is the former whose music makes its appearance here.  Goehr, a Berlin-born composer, would also later study with Oliver Messiaen.  Listener’s familiar with Messiaen’s music may hear similarities in the way Goehr’s textures and unique sonorities are explored in these pieces while also discovering an important 20th Century musical voice.     

    Two short works make up the first half of the release.  The first of these, When Adam Fell, Op. 89 (2011) is the newest work on the disc.  It features some interesting harmonic writing, fairly tonal with some stretching, in an at times almost pointillistic atmosphere.  The inspiration comes from a Bach chorale and more specifically the chromatic bass line Bach used in the chorale as the piece itself does not include a direct quotation.  The result is a series of falling intervallic ideas cast often in a variety of orchestral colors.

    The middle work, Pastorals, Op, 19, was completed in 1965.  Here Goehr takes his inspiration from the work of Giovanni Gabrielli in a piece that is an exploration of brass sounds and has an interesting use of four cymbals that becomes important in its second section.  As with the first work, the piece’s connection to Gabrielli is more philosophical than actual quotation music from the period.  The piece does tend to feature some massive harmonic constructions in climaxes that create a bit more dissonance than the opening work.  It certainly has many qualities one associates with non-serial music of the 1960s where perhaps we can see this “new approach” still being explored.  The work builds in intensity into its second section and suggest a choral fugue.

    The larger work on the disc is “serenade” for 12 instruments with piano solo.  The nine movements feature several forms that one associates with the Baroque (chaconne, passacaglia) and has an important opening march movement which will become important thematically in the piece.  We see Goehr exploring a more Mozart-ean orchestra (using 2 horns and string quartet for the march) and sound though in quote modern language; and there is an interesting connection device where each recurrence of the march is half the length of its previous appearance.  Other references include the use of a chord progression from Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire (in a movement bearing the title “Night” corresponding to the earlier work).  The music often shifts between small string or woodwind ensembles with a piano line that enters into the texture and tends to develop the material.  It is certainly beautifully realized by Peter Serkin.  The work does feel less connected though as a single work which is of course fine as a “serenade” structurally.  Its rather abrupt ending in the lengthier eleven-minute final movement seems to end midstream however and will take a few listens to determine whether one finds this satisfying.

    The way Goehr uses tonality and stretches sonorities to create interesting harmonies will be appealing to those interested in latter 20th century music.  The modern qualities of the music are assisted with a very dramatic sense.  The programming makes for an interesting overview of Goehr’s philosophical inspiration of earlier periods and music cast in new ways.  The “variation” essentially occurs in his own approach to using this material making for an intellectual leap that most audiences will not be able to make.  But the music’s dramatic power tends to overcome the need to “get” what is going on specifically and therein lies the appeal to what are essentially three “chamber” pieces and very personal musical expressions. 

    Oliver Knussen, as a composer and conductor, has had a long relationship and affinity for programming and presenting the work of modern composers and his performances are always well-thought out.  Both ensembles are also quite adept at providing top-notch interpretations of this music.  The Naxos release manages to capture the textures of these works with a drier overall sound lending them a bit more immediacy; the result of these all being recorded in concert.