Mobili: Music for Viola and Piano from Chile
Georgina Isabel Rossi, viola.  Silvie Cheng, piano.
New Focus FCR268
Total Time:  69:02
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

Mobili takes its title from a significant work by Juan Orrego-Salas (1919-2019) that anchors this collection of music for viola by Chilean composers.  Violist Georgina Isabel Rossi’s program is a blend of works from the 1960s and the 21^st Century exploring work by six composers.  Rossi is a Chilean-born performer who has performed throughout the Americas and is currently a member of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra.  She is joined here by Silvie Cheng who is known for her championing of new music and has recorded with her brother on the audite label.

The program is organized with the opening five works being shorter pieces and the larger multi-movement work serving as the conclusion with a brief encore-like piece to wrap things off.  Two pieces by Rafael Diaz (b.1962) open the album.  The first of these, Habra alguien que en sus manos sostenga este caer? (2009), is for amplified viola and uses a prayer-like folk melody from the Andes’ indigenous Pewenche people.  The arc of the piece is related to the “sonorities” of prayer and opens with a ascending cry that will shift to a more lyrical, contemplative section.  The outlines of the viola line suggest landscapes and there are musical gestures to also indicate bird calls.  The Chilean landscape also informs Diaz’s In the Depths of My Distance Your House Emerges (2013).  The composer’s ethnomusicological exploration of indigenous music is also present in this work.

The earliest work on the album is Carlos Botto’s (1923-2004) Fantaisie, Op, 15 (1962).  His work is among those combining modernist tendencies and references to more traditional forms and genres, of which this work is a fine example.  The open piano harmonies provide a careful underpinning of the almost romantic-like emotion of the solo line that moves into more intense segments as the motives of the piece are unpacked and explored in the work which has an excellent dramatic engagement whose episodic nature allows for a variety of challenges to overcome.  Federico Heinlein (1912-1999) counts among his teachers Nadia Boulanger.  His output focuses on poetic settings with the instrumental works often referencing poetry.  That is the case for his Duo “Do Not Go Gentle” (1985) which takes inspiration from a Dylan Thomas poem.  There are some really beautiful, folk-like romantic lines that provide a warm, emotional core to this music.   Tololo (2011) wraps up this first part of the program.  Originally for viola and string orchestra, this David Cortes (b. 1985) work takes its inspiration from the home of an important observatory on Mount Tololo.  The music follows the imagination of seeing through a telescope with its ability to see far and zoom in for new detail.

Mobili, Op. 63 is a four-movement work by Orrego-Salas (1967).  The first movement has a sparse piano accompaniment and focuses on a long, lyrical line that grows slowly upward.  The piano tends to provide signposts and will then revisit the material from the solo line, expanding the harmonic tension.  “Discontinuo” is a contrasting movement of jagged and angular writing.  Interaction between the soloist becomes heightened here adding to a sense of unease that keeps things on edge.  In “Ricorrente”, seems to blend a seeking out and have a veiled reference to ricercare, with its somewhat staggered commentary between the soloist and piano.  The motivic idea introduced is expanded and explored between the two which sometimes come together.  The longest movement of the four, it seems to also hold a stronger emotional core which is mined well here by Rossi.  Things are wrapped up with a brilliant “Perpetuo” movement to provide more technical and virtuosic challenges.

As a bonus track, the program concludes with a transcription of the song El Sampredrino (1968) by the composer often called the Argentinean Schubert, Carlos Guastavino (1912-2000).  His music fits into the more folk-inspired styles (a la Ginastera) with nods to the post-romantics.  It makes for a touching conclusion.

While the music here tends toward more modernist contemporary qualities, the expressiveness of these pieces is captured beautifully by Rossi who navigates these moments of lyricism with beautiful playing.  Her articulation for the rapid passage moments also works to aid the dramatic contrasts of the pieces on this program.  The careful placement of these works also gradually expands the tonal palette so that the ear adjusts to the open, modern harmonies.  When the music introduces a more romantic-tinged line, they stand out in stunning contrast to the quartal/quintal harmonic piano accompaniment which is handled equally well by Cheng.  Perhaps it is the warm tone of the viola which also makes this album further inviting and certainly worth a look for those interested in expanding their musical world.  Sound quality is excellent with a perfect balance of soloist and piano, both imaged well in the sonic picture.  The piano has a nice warm quality with just enough ambience to warm things up and keep them from being to dry.  This is due as much to the excellent performances that are captured in this fine release.

Benedict Sheehan: Liturgy
Timothy Parsons, counter-tenor. Michael Hawes, baritone.
Jason Thomas, bass.
Saint Tikhon Choir/Benedict Sheehan
Capella Records CR421
Total Time:  75:33
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

One of the instructive ways to appreciate the music of Russian composers (especially those of the 19^th Century), is to expose oneself to the Russian Orthodox musical traditions.  It is in this music that one hears a distinctive harmonic sound and richness that can be discerned as informing the fabric of the works of composers like Tchaikovsky, the Mighty 5, Gretchaninoff, and Rachmaninoff.  The latter’s Vespers (All-Night Vigil, Op. 37) is perhaps one of the most significant and well-known examples of a composer’s exploring the liturgical music of a Russian Orthodox ceremony.  Enter American composer Benedict Sheehan who was commissioned by the Patriarch Tikhon Russian-American Music Institute to create an entirely new liturgical setting in 2015.  The result is the present recording of the resulting Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (2018).

Part of the approach Sheehan was encouraged to take was to develop a liturgy that honored the Russian heritage of the church, but which also took into consideration the needs of English-speaking worship.  The work is a blend of liturgical components (litanies, various antiphons and hymns, an “Our Father”, communion, blessing) and psalm settings (Sheehan adapted Psalms 145 and 148).  There are references to ancient Znamenny and Valaam chants as well.  As the liturgy opens in its typical call and response with its single chant-like line.  The choir then responds in its rich harmonic style.  Listeners familiar with the work of composers like Morten Lauridsen will discern a kindred choral style in this music that connects spiritual power and beauty.  Reducing this to simple spiritual minimalist writing though will not do the work justice.  There are moments that hint at pentatonic lines which adds an ethereal quality to the texts.  It actually will become an additional unifying feature of the entire liturgy.  Full choral writing also takes a firm page from contemporary American choral writing, though arguably there are many times where how the cadences are arrived at that belie their more Russian heritage.  This is a quite fascinating blend.  Even in parts of the first antiphon there is even a slight folkish feel as it moves into its final moments.  The greatest difficulty for such a massive work is to find the right blend of textural changes and harmonic approaches so that the music can stay fresh.  Sheehan does this by alternating the litany segments in more traditional call-and-response with choral writing that moves from open blocks of sound into multiple subtle, shifting lines—a sort of gentle polyphony.  This then comes back together for homophonic textures of rich harmony.  By shifting which voices become the lead of a line, he is able to provide additional variety.  Of course, something to keep in mind is that other things occur occasionally in worship that provide that extra space needed.  He manages to help continue the line of musical structure throughout to help connect to what has come before and move us forward to where we are in the liturgy as a whole.

To say that this is a gorgeous performance feels a bit sacrilegious, and yet that is indeed one way to describe the stunning music and choral work.  There is a sense too that the music can be easily adapted for most local choirs—may they be inspired to aspire to the heights reached here.  Certainly there are any variety of segments that would work fine as standalone choral pieces.  The release of Sheehan’s liturgical setting could perhaps not come at a better time as we all are separated, unable to gather in our places of worship, or have this weekly communal opportunity to connect to the divine.  While the liturgical tradition may not be one’s own, that should not be a deterrent to anyone.  There is music here to touch the soul and might very well make some weep with the memories of their own worshipping communities.  There is that additional interior promise of hope and joy, mixed with appropriate reverence, that can also help listeners connect to the divine.

The release is accompanied by a Blu-Ray disc that features the music in its Liturgical premiere from October, 2019 (lasting a little over 2 hours)—a fine visual to help add additional context to the music for those less familiar with the tradition.  Also included there is the World Premiere of the “Cherubic Hymn” which as a sort of sneak preview of what was to come (performed in May of 2019) and the “Communion Hymn”.  The sonic capacity of the performance is thoroughly enhanced with several audio options that provide a surround sound option to fully immerse yourself in this experience.  Regardless of one’s faith expression, this music on its own has the power to heal your soul and transform you from the present moment.