October 19, 2018

  • Blending Bach and Persian Modality

     

    Kamyar Mohajer: Pictures of the Hidden
    The Ives Collective
    San Francisco Wind Ensemble
    Raeeka Shehabi-Yaghmai, soprano. Karolina Rojhan, piano.
    Alexander String Quartet
    Navona Records 6180
    Total Time:  62:21
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

    Composer Kamyar Mohajer embraces aspects of his personal and musical influences in this new album of chamber music.  His Persian roots appear through applications of modal musical qualities and exploration of and the poetry of Hafez (1325-1390).  His composition teachers have included Behzad Ranjbaran and Giancarlo Aquilanti.  A song cycle and a string quartet are the primary larger works on this new Navona release.

    Three smaller pieces give us a flavor for Mohajer’s writing for strings, winds, and piano, respectively.  Prelude (2013) is an intimate work for string trio and takes its inspiration from Bach.  The work is a microcosm of how the Persian melodic contours and harmonies are intertwined with the three independent lines that weave through the work.  The woodwind quintet, Reng (2008, rev. 2017) is another way to transfer these different lines across a slightly broader palette.  Here they come together for some larger harmonic punctuations while the florid line flits along in this fun little dance-like piece.  Motifs are tossed between the different instruments with a variety of their own momentary interjections causing the whole group to respond and interact.  The album concludes with a Ballade in C (2013) which brings us a sense of the romantic tradition in more dissonant modern dress coupled with modal harmony.  It is a denser work than the others in this collection but no less fascinating a journey.

    The album gets its title from the bookended poem used in Five Songs, Based on Poetry of Hafez (2014).  Here one gets a real sense of the ancient lullabies of Mohajer’s childhood that he reflects upon in the accompanying notes.  The work is set up with three poems used to create a sense of structure where the outer two movements are halves of the same poem and the central, third movement, its own textual focus.  The piano tends to add slight backdrops at first.  The style seems to blend a little Bach with modernist and Eastern modal qualities.  It tends to be almost like the transitional reflection on the vocal line with a style that is tied to 19th-Century Art Song.  This helps lend the vocal writing a further ancient quality that moves toward a more modern feel at its center.  All told, it is a fascinating set of songs.

    The string quartet (2012) is a four-movement work.  The opening “Andante” has a real emotionally-wrought thematic idea that has an almost reflective sadness.  There is some quite stunning writing here in a tonal language.  A more angular line opens the second movement with its folk-like modal qualities connecting to the composer’s heritage as well.  Things then take off in what is the scherzo movement of the larger structure with a style that has a slight Shostakovich edge.  The third movement “Adagio” returns us to this emotionally intense, and intimate reflection which seems to glance back to a happier time.  The long line has a warm quality with interesting turns that add interest as the harmony too shifts in subtle, unexpected ways.  The tempo picks up slightly with a faster-paced accompaniment that lies in contrast to the rich, beautiful thematic idea that soars over the top.  The fire-y last movement explore more fully the accompanimental rhythmic motifs that appeared earlier in a fascinating blend of rhythmic accents and modal writing that together has an almost post-Bartok quality.  When all is said and done this is a strong addition to the quartet literature.

    Across these five pieces, one gets a sense for Mohajer’s embracing of his own musical tastes and influences which all come together in often dramatic fashion.  These are pieces that land in the modernist styles of today with strong thematic development and music that communicates great emotional depth and excitement.  The string quartet, woodwind quintet, and song cycle are the strong works on this album which makes this something to explore for those interested in 21st Century music.