November 24, 2021

  • A Tapestry of Paccione & Reinterpreting Schubert

    Two new releases of piano music come at their subjects from quite different directions.

    Composer Paul Paccione's (b. 1952) music for solo piano is featured on this new Music for Piano  release from Navona (Navona 6376).  The three pieces here were all composed between 2012-2019 for Jenny Perron who performs them here.

    Tapestry Studies (2012) is a collection of nine etude-like pieces that explore different musical genres (habanera, invention, serenade, aubade--the morning equivalent of the evening serenade; and a march). It opens with a reflective, Satie-esque "First Things".  Paccione's musical language tends to be in a somewhat modal quality, though he does flirt with other whole tone and pentatonic scales.  The lyrical material tends to be in smaller cells that repeat in a minimalist way with the accompaniment also somewhat following in the same way.  The result are pieces that have a Post-Impressionist bent with a touch of Post-minimalist construction.  The final "Scribbling" picks the pace up a little bit to create a fast-paced technical exercise.

    In a far more meditative vein, the second work on the album, Book of Hours (2019), moves the listener musically through the common practice of reflection and prayer that occurs at each hour of the day.  The eight canonical hours are each given their own separate time here to provide illumination, or at least an entry point, to specific events in the life of the Virgin Mary.  Paccione's somewhat impressionistic style works quite well in these pieces.

    Unsent Letter (2015) is a sort of mini-encore honoring all those things we perhaps write out but for whatever neglect to send.

    These are quite beautiful pieces that make for accessible and relaxed listening.  Perron's approach connects well to the musical aesthetics here.  It would be great to hear her interpretations of Debussy or Satie as these are distant cousins to Paccione's music as on display in this release.  A gorgeous album of music that is highly recommended.

    At first glance, Pianist Hilary Demske's new album Journey for One: A Wintereisse Fantasy (Navona 6370) seems like it would be a straight-forward reading of Schubert's standard song cycle Wintereisse, Op 89 (1827).  The work is a setting of various poems by Wilhelm Muller.  The poetry informs Demske's interpretations of this music which has now been transformed, deconstructed, and/or redacted into a powerful new collection of solo piano pieces.  Schubert's romantic sensibilities are the framework for Demske's own departures that incorporate more dissonant harmonic approaches that can suddenly break into the music.  She also employs a variety of techniques that extend the sound of the piano (including aspects of strumming strings as one most striking early addition).  Percussion instruments are also incorporated from time to time as well.  The music thus takes on a semi-improvisatory quality that falls the whims of Demske's interpretation of the poetry as well as the source music as well.  Winterreise becomes a far more intense solo piano work as a result with the Romantic moments seeming to come crashing in to contemporary explosions of passion.  One thing this can do is give listeners pause to think about the poetry itself as an "introduction" to what follows.  The words now becoming inexpressible and only now viewed through Demske's lens.  One may want to have listened to Schubert's song cycle first with those texts in hand to gain a fuller appreciation of what she is attempting here in this new release which features stunning pianism.  

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