Michael Wittgraf: Manifold
Amanda DeBoer Bartlett, voice.
Jesse Langen, guitar; Michael Wittgraf, computer.
Ravello Records 7991
Total Time:  53:03
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

Michael Wittgraf teaches at the University of Grand Forks—North Dakota.  He is a bassoonist there with the symphony, but also performs as a keyboardist, saxophonist, and bassist in rock bands, and also as a performer on computer technology.  The latter is a primary entry point to his work in electronic music, some of which appears here.  Overall though, this is a collection of modern music for guitar, and in particular music written for the featured soloist here, Jesse Langen.  The album is bookended by solo works that have a mathematical undercurrent.

The album takes its title from the opening work for solo guitar, Manifold (1995).  Despite the pitch set construction of the work, the piece itself is a quite accessible modern work for guitar.  It opens with a fast-paced pattern that will become a component of the transformation Wittgraf explores.  The instrument is explored both for its melodic as well as percussive qualities (with knocks on the body of the instrument adding an interesting rhythmic component).  Aspects of dynamics, decay, and registers also play a part in this work.  Even with this cerebral construction, the music communicates a great sense of dramatic flow that effectively branches off in different directions.  Later, Summer and a Half (1993) bring us back to more traditional contemporary guitar writing.  It does features some rather interesting combinations of faster-paced ideas with a lower line moving under them.  Wittgraf likes to take small rhythmic cells here and then repeat them in small segments.  These get transformed as well across the register of the instrument, but also rhythmically in elongated or shortened statements.

One area of electronic music that continues to fascinate composers is this sense of improvisation that seems contrary to the highly-ordered world of computers.  And yet, the techniques at ones disposal allow for rather intriguing performance opportunities that have been highlighted on many Ravello and Navona releases through Parma Recordings.  For this release, Wittgraf has included two Improvisations that use guitar, voice, and a computer (in this instance using a Kyma 7 sound design workstation).  Two explorations of this occur from studio takes.  The first has more vocalizations and sounds.  The second explores manipulation of words and the sounds (Sprechstimme).  Both are interesting explorations of sound in this case archived but very unlikely not to be repeated in concert given the nature of the music itself.  These are, then, the most avant-garde and experimental pieces on the album.

The final two works bring us back to pieces exploring mathematical “themes”.  First is Topographic Timepieces (2012).  Here the ideas of time are further transformed electronically in this work that adds computer manipulation.  As heard in the acoustic explorations of sound envelopes, this work takes that to an extreme.  In Pythagorean Triple (1997), we get a further example of Wittgraf’s exploration of mathematical manipulation in sound.  Here he takes serial concepts and then creates 3-, 4-, and 5-note harmonies that are   subsequently organized to thus create the concept that lends itself to the name of the work.

The album is an intriguing opportunity to see how electronic manipulation and application can be used in contemporary music for guitar.  The solo guitar pieces themselves are quite engaging as our the more experimental pieces in this interesting collection of music.

 Samatureya

Frederic Hand, guitar.
Trio Virado (Amy Porter, flute; Joao Luiz, guitar; Juan-Miguel Hernandez, viola)
Brasil Guitar Duo (Joao Luiz and Douglas Lora, guitars)
Paula Robison, flute.
Panoramic Recordings 08
Total Time:  67:33
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

One of Frederic Hand’s fine 1980s albums, Jazzantiqua, was one of these delicious blends of medieval music and jazz.  The host of original melodies blended with interesting combinations in the ensembles was part of the growing transition to New Age styles that did not quite fall into classical or jazz categories.  His most famous recording is likely the arrangement of the theme used in the film Kramer vs. Kramer.  He would fo on to score television series a well.  Another album, Heart’s Song continued explorations of folk music and this blended jazz and ancient musical styles.  The title song from the latter album as well as “Samba” reappear in this new release featuring a variety of Frederic Hand’s original music for smaller ensembles and guitar.  The new album takes its title from one of the two multi-movement works on the album which also features eight additional shorter pieces.

The first larger work on the album is a Trio for flute, guitar, and viola written for guitarist Joao Luiz, a member of the Trio Virado who perform it here.  The two-movement work was originally recorded for the trio’s own debut recording on Soundset (Mangabeira).  The opening “Light Through the Trees” is akin to the way hand melds his stunning, lyrical melodies, into a texture that has an almost modal jazz quality to it with interesting additional meter shifts that add further rhythmic interest.  A bit more angular start kicks off “Samatureya” which eventually will settle in to a Brazilian samba, a transition that is so fluid that one barely notices the way this shift occurs.  It is all brought together by a recall of the opening movement.  The trio is another of those works that transcends genre with something for both classical, jazz, and world music lovers.  The other significant work is for flute and guitar.  The Maverick refers to the summer music festival at Woodstock, NY, for this commissioned piece written and premiered for the 2015 centennial season.  Hand and flautist Paula Robison premiered the work and perform this four-movement piece here.  Each movement reflects different aspects of the festival from its opening celebratory nature and a sense of “Gratitude” for the opportunities it presents.  The third movement, “In the Woods”, follows a couple in dialogue who begin rather calmly and move into a more intense and impassioned argument.  The final movement, “Mountain Song”, connects to more folkish elements.

Hand begins the album though with a “Chorale for Guitar Quartet” playing a solo adaptation here.  Most striking here, as in many of Hand’s works, is the way these simple, yet gorgeous melodies appear.  In “Heart’s Song”, an almost flamenco-like arpeggio gives way to a delicate melody that is equally touching as the harmony becomes darker, or even slightly dissonant as the ideas seem to move in an almost improvisatory way chasing one another in compelling, and accessible music.  The various musical influences on Hand’s music are displayed in some of the individual works that are in the center of the album.  “Samba” certainly recalls some of those great Verve releases of Bonfa, Gilberto, or Jobim.  A touching tribute to Bernstein appears in “For Lenny” which features melodic structure and harmonic shifts reminiscent of the composer’s song style.  The improvisatory style of Hand’s music comes to the forefront in About Time which allows for just that flexibility in performance coupled with mixed meters.  Another tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., rounds off the section in this moving 1968 work.  In the midst of these solo works performed by Hand, the Brasil Guitar Duo steps in for a fascinating exploration of motives and use of silence in “Still.”  How these evolve into melodic material is another of those fascinating components of Hand’s music that is like listening to the music being created as we listen.  Slight dissonance appears from time to time adding an extra emotional intensity.  This somewhat improvisational feel is what makes most of these pieces engaging.  The album concludes with a touching love song for Hand’s wife, Lesley.

If you have never experience Frederic Hand’s music, this is as good a release as one can hope for to do so now.  The music here is all quite accessible with its musical fingers in various classical guitar, jazz and folk guitar, and world musics.  The sound is quite warm with great presence.  Like many of Hand’s work of the 1980s, this is an album to treasure.