Brandman: Cosmic Wheel of the Zodiac

Barbora Polaskova, mezzo soprano. Matej Chadima, baritone. Petr Ozana, piano.
Prague Mixed Chamber Choir/Jiri Petrdlik;
Navona Records 6160
Total Time:  64:20
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: (*)***/****

Australian composer Margaret Brandman is noted for her many years as an educator, composer, and performer with works in many genres.  Her music can be discovered on a number of recordings from the past few years as well.  The current release is a very postmodern one that explores how music’s quality can be subtly shaped by changes in the ensemble, namely from solo or duet songs, to choral settings of similar texts.  The astropoetry of Benita Rainer serves as the texts for this transversal through the zodiac exploring the unique characters of each astral sign.  The album is split into two sections focusing first on the solo song-like versions, and then presenting the choral versions.  The pieces tend to be mostly through-composed and explore a variety of harmonic modal and tonal realms.  The pieces are not in order of the zodiac itself.

The Gemini song, “In Two Minds”, has an almost folkish musical quality with hints of jazz; recurring later in “Virgo Delight” (an almost Sondheim-like setting).  The evocative flourishes here come more to the forefront in “The Water Dragon” (Scorpio) with an almost Impressionistic style against the warm lyrical vocal writing.  Traditional harmony pops in from time to time in often telling, emotional arrivals.  This tends to inform the Broadway-like inflections of “The Mountain Goat” (Capricorn) or the love song “Dance of Life” (Cancer).  The melodies here tend to beautifully romantic statements which are woven into a more traditional art song quality.  One hears the latter from time to time when a bit more chromaticism enters into the music in “The Ram in Spring” (Aries).  These opening songs thus set up the sort of tonal approach to the texts that Brandman will take.  The piano lines help provide some of the forward motion, tending to support the melodic line often when not providing connective tissue between phrases.  As the cycle plays, one begins to get a sense of some of the larger connections harmonically, and melodically that move through the zodiac with little shifts that help color the nature of that particular sign.

With the solo songs firmly implanted in the listener’s ear, the disc shifts into full choral arrangements.  The music has a deeper harmonic fullness as one might suspect.  Most telling are the closer harmonic clusters that lend the music an almost ethereal quality from time to time and add an extra level of dissonance to the music.  In this respect, the music tends to be closer to the likes of Whitacre or Laurindsen.  Certainly, there are some selections here that would be a welcome repertoire addition to college choral music.  The sliding, jazz harmonies and mostly modal or tonal melodic lines create an engaging listening experience.

Navona has together a beautiful little compact release that includes a beautiful booklet with the texts.  The recording is well balanced here as well.  The solo performances are quite beautiful with clarity of diction less pronounced than some may like.  This comes and goes which suggests a compositional more than a performance issue though.  Otherwise, both soloists present compelling, and often stunning tone in these often touching little pieces.  The chorus sometimes feels a bit tentative in the dissonant components of the score, but otherwise provide some beautiful moments as well.  Petr Ozana, who is the accompanist in both settings, proves to be the perfect collaborator.  The music here is beautiful and quite accessible.

 Woefully Arrayed

Vox Futura/Andrew Shenton
Thomas Tallis Society Choir/Philip Simms
Stanberry Singers/Paul John Stanberry
Navona Records 6113
Total Time:  69:50
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

From the late Renaissance and into the Baroque, one can see the gradual complexity of choral music blossom.  Composers began to experiment not just with the musical materials at hand, but with the physical placement of singers and instruments.  The Gabrielli’s are perhaps the more famous works to explore this new idea of polychoral writing.  One need look no further than the excellent essay by Hugh Keyte which appears in this new Navona release to further discover some historical perspective on this unique sound.  The release though does not bring us early examples of this music, but rather contemporary polychoral works by Jonathan David Little.  The Australian-born composer has received numerous accolades for his work, especially in the UK where he was the first Australian composer to receive the John Clementi Collard Fellowship from London’s Worshipful Company of Musicians—a most coveted award.

In this release, he has put together a collection demonstrating his use of polychoral techniques.  His harmonic language is an extension of those early modal qualities often recalling approaches by composers such as Lauridsen.  The title for the album is taken from a 2016 work that was composed for the National Boys’ Choir of Australia upon their 50^th anniversary.  Three different verses are split by the recurring refrain which often moves into some rather rich harmonic territory.  Each of these moments sort of bursts forth from the slowly-built verses in rather beautiful colors.  Little echoes between voices add to the stunning quality of the work that has this sense of coming into one central space only to go the far reaches of the space.  Carefully-managed dissonance also adds to the emotional depth of the piece.  The composer also has a suggested abridged version that starts at the third refrain and creates a piece that is roughly half of the overall 25-minute length.  This serves to bookend the album rather nicely.

Two selections from an as yet uncompleted mass setting (Missa Temperis Perditi) follow.  There is a “Kyrie” and “Gloria” setting recorded here.  In the former, a singular motif is transfigured across eight different vocal lines.  The treble line does go quite high in spots.  The sound here does share some kinship with the likes of say Thomas Tallis—no surprise that the chorus performing it here bears his name.  The “Gloria” opens with a rather archaic feel that certainly takes its cues from early Renaissance choral music with an incipit followed by gradually denser choral harmonies.  The piece here does sound like some long-lost work of the past.  The final harmonies are rather striking as the piece comes to a close.

The sacred pieces then give way to two secular works.  While the texts have changed, the style of the music continues in the slow, unfolding of lines that create their own harmonic connections along the way.  However, in Wasted and Worn, Op. 6, the music can divert into some more intense sections of rapid motion with dissonant clusters being the result.  A Shakespearean sonnet is the basis for That Time of Year which was performed last year by the BBC Singers at a workshop performance.  Here, Little creates some interesting slides in the lines that add a sense of regret in the music.  In this respect, the word painting and intriguing chromaticism bear some resemblance to the work of Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613).

The album is filled with this rather engaging music that uses unique modal approaches in music that sounds as if it is from the distant past.  The polychoral approaches are managed well in the recording and in fact, the well-thought-out booklet even describes placement of singers for each piece.  The overall production is rather stellar with excellent art work and overview of the style of music.  It is a most fascinating release.