December 22, 2014

  • Important New Release of Marius Constant Works

     

    Constant: Turner; Brevissima, 103 regards dans l’eau
    Olivier Charlier, violin.  Riverside Symphony/George Rothman
    Riverside Symphony Records
    Total Time:  53:36
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

    Marius Constant (1925-2004) is perhaps best, if unfortunately only, known for his theme used in Rod Serling’s classic 1960s television series The Twilight Zone.  However, his serious concert music shows an amazingly creative and interesting aesthetic that provides a close parallel to the more familiar work of Henri Dutilleux, a contemporary and friend, and which also avoids the French avant-garde Boulez school of compositional style.  His music might seem a bit more eclectic and experimental at times, but it is as dramatic and engaging reflecting in its own way the aesthetic philosophy of his teacher Arthur Honegger.  Three works on this release present the composer in different stages of his musical development spanning 30 years.

    The first work on this program is from 1961.  It is a musical representation of the work of the great English painter J.M.W. Turner, often considered the first of the Impressionists.  Upon seeing this work, Constant was drawn to the painter as a human being exploring an elusive art.  In three brief movements, we hear first a musical representation of different elements, a more tormented central “portrait”, and a fairly intense, and often eerie exploration of different musical sounds.  Some will certainly hear an extension of what was tempered in the famous aforementioned theme.  This is a very dramatic and intense work that seems to explore the sort of wildness of art.

    The central work, Brevissima, was commissioned by Sergiu Commissiona and worked on in 1992.  It is a four-movement symphony, but at just over eleven minutes, is a study in compression of musical form and expectations.  The opening “Adagio” presents a soundworld that is quite close to that of Dutilleux’s work of this period.  The interesting melodic contours are taken down to micro levels and the final chord is a reminder of the opening.  Repeated listening will help extrapolate the use of sonata form here.  The skittish scherzo is quite intense with nervous energy and unusual lyric string lines that try to overcome the energy.  More fascinating is the culmination of the final movement’s funereal passacaglia which has some moments of very romantic rich harmonic writing.

    Constant’s violin concerto from 1981, 103 regards dans l’eau, reveals some of this aesthetic similarity with post-modern French composition.  The four-movement work features some extramusical associations that celebrate water though these ideas are given mostly within the score as guides for the performers.  What makes the work interesting is this give and take between more Impressionistic lines and bursts of intense, and very busy musical commentary.  The way cells of material are tossed throughout the orchestra is also very interesting as ideas are taken up from the soloist’s music bu the orchestra.  The accompanying textures also will layer ideas against the soloist in almost pointillistic ways.  It is worth comparing this work to Dutilleux’s violin concerto to hear how these two great composer’s styles developed along slightly similar lines, though with strikingly different results.  In Constant’s hands, music often flits along getting at a hustle and bustle with the soloist trying to pull it together and find meaning.  The result is quite fascinating and very cerebral at times.  Worth noting is how these ideas are provided a larger shape within these movements and as an overarching dramatic statement across the whole work.

    The New York-based Riverside Symphony has a growing reputation for bringing together young aspiring artists and a variety of programming of unknown works by often familiar composers.  Their recordings tend to gain a great deal of critical acclaim.  The release is on their own label.  Sonically, this is a stunning recording.  The textures of these pieces are crystal clear with fabulous performances allowing the music to be shaped and connected for listeners willing to engage these very interesting pieces.  It is certainly a must for those interested in how French music developed over the 20th Century and as an opportunity to see aesthetic differences between this orchestral aesthetic and others of the period.  Equally nice is a video that discusses the music and can be viewed via one’s computer.  There was a recording of the concerto on MusiFrance at one point coupled with a Tanguy concerto.  That performance was quite good, but Olivier Charlier’s work here is fabulous and captures the style and essence of this work well.