Art for Two
Mario Ciaccio, saxophones.
Sauro Berti, clarinet/bass clarinet.
Naomi Fujiya, piano.
Escher School of Music Vocal Ensemble
Navona Records 6185
Total Time: 51:36
Recording: ****/****
Performance: ****/****
Arthur Gottschalk teaches at Rice University. His composition teachers include William Bolcom, Ross Lee Finney, and Leslie Bassett. Over the past few years his music has been widely performed and recorded and he was the featured composer this year at the Thailand International Composition Festival. The present release explores works for clarinet(s) and saxophone (alto and tenor) in various combinations as solos, duets, and with piano with musical references running the gamut from Jewish influences (Shalom) to jazz and a little Frank Zappa.
Two works are for tenor saxophone and clarinet. Benny, Zoot, and Teddy (play Richard and Lorenz, 2012) opens the album and also features piano. Here is just one of the examples of Gottschalk exploring and playing with the styles of jazz greats Benny Goodman, Zoot Sims, and Teddy Wilson. The musical style here has a delightful lighter quality with jazz riffs being explored with in florid motifs and some quite gorgeous lyrical moments. Also delightful are the little syncopated ideas and interesting rhythmic punctuations. The two solo instruments weave within each others lines while occasionally creating nice unison writing with piano. Along the way, classic jazz tropes are integrated into the musical texture. Two sonatas bookend the duo for tenor saxophone and bass clarinet, Oh, More or Less (2011). In this little work, the rapid passage work between the two instruments creates an often mesmerizing effect. The technical skill to pull this off is also something to be admired as the lines move as one.
Each wind soloist is featured in a sonata for first alto saxophone and then bass clarinet, respectively. The Sonata for alto saxophone and piano is a three-movement work that creates nice contrast from a moderate sonata-allegro opening (with a nice lyrical second idea), to the noir-ish “Waltz Nocturne” (which explores closer intervals against a florid solo line) and the virtuosic final movement, appropriately titled “Bravura!”. The music in this sonata here has a more modern quality, though the jazz-influences can certainly be felt and the writing maintains its accessibility. Admittedly, Mario Ciaccio makes these final technical passages seem effortless in a fabulous performance. Sauro Berti picks up the bass clarinet for a rare Sonata (2009) for this lower woodwind. The movement titles here reflect musical styles that are explored in the work. The music takes again a more modern harmonic style with a more integrated involvement and dialogue between the soloist and piano here in the opening movement. The lines are also a bit more angular as a contrast from the rapid runs that are used in alternation. In the central movement, the lower register of the bass clarinet is explored more with these almost Impressionist-like piano ideas that float in tighter chord structures as an ostinato almost against the solo line. The final movement brings us back to an avant-garde jazz style with its rhythms and integration of the piano and solo line. Additional sounds are also created by the players to add to the interesting rhythmic complexity. The harmonies here are deliciously woven against a boogie-woogie style accompaniment that appears and informs the work. The style creates a sense of improvisation as it moves along. The piece certainly demands a lot from its soloist but is a toe-tapping good time.
The final work on the album is for chorus with tenor saxophone and bass clarinet. Shalom (2015) uses an ancient Jewish hymn as the basis of the work. The choir is written in close intervals that cluster in and out of rich harmonies while the soloist winds wind around the choral lines. All of this unfolds in a moving, and at times, quite subdued work allowing for some contrast to the earlier pieces and closing the album in a more serene way.
For those interested in ways jazz informs classical art music, this will be a must-have disc. The pieces are all quite engaging and a lot of fun to listen to as well. The performances here are simply stunning as well.
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