Dawn Breaks
Jaana Karkkainen, piano.  Mirka Malmi, violin. Kyle Bruckmann, oboe.
Maija Hynninen, electronics.
Tuuli Lindberg, soprano. Hanna Kinnunen, flute.
Lily-Marlene Puusepp, electric harp.
Mikko Raasakka, clarinet/bass clarinet.
Anna Kuvaja, piano.
Ravello Records 8021
Total Time:  62:37
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

Finnish electro-acoustic composer Maija Hynninen (b. 1977) presents four of her unique explorations of sound and electronics on this new release.  The album features recordings made over the past nine years.  Hynninen explores how the sound, or timbre, of a particular instrument can provide a touchpoint for further elaboration an electronic manipulation.  Three pieces feature different solo instruments paired with intriguing soundscapes that tend to further dissolve and evolve the musical material in her work.

Jaana Karkkainen begins the album with winnowing (2010), a work for piano and electronics.  The piano material itself is cast in a more modern vein and for the first third of the piece we are hearing mostly this, but soon more contemporary effects begin to appear both made acoustically (such as strumming piano strings) and then more electronically.  Here Hynninen uses the sounds of flying birds and bird chirps that are floated between the channels of sound here.  The effect is quite striking.  In sicut aurora procedit: as the dawn breaks (2015), the solo instrument is violin.  The violin line incorporates an antiphon by Hildegard of Bingen as its source material which is then further expanded by a prerecorded vocal line (reminiscent of Crumb in the way these elements are combined).  Other recorded sounds also become part of the musical picture created here.  The music explores a slow appearance of motives and sounds in further demonstration of Hynnenin’s dramatic writing in a quite haunting piece.  For the final solo work, Freedom from Fear (2019), the oboe gives Hynnenin more opportunities to explore sound from incorporating additional key clicks and other sound material that can add to the rhythmic and expressive aspects of the music.  The line itself is shaped by a the Burmese politician Aung San Suu Kyi in a work that dramatically connects to the events of Burmese chaos in that country.

The five-movement Orlando-Fragments (2010) has a slightly expanded instrumental palette adding flute, electric harp, clarinet/bass clarinet, and piano in addition to the piano and electronic components.  The texts are by Henrikka Tavi and are based on scenes from Virgina Wolff’s novel Orlando.  Here Hynninen explores text setting in ways that allow the vocal line to be manipulated in ways that help also parallel the dramatic changes over time that are the focus of these texts.  The pure vocal tone created by Lindeberg is quite stunning and the sounds that surround it further enhance this quality.  The addition of solo instrumental lines are also another interesting touch as they mimic and interact with the voice.  The music here lies in similar avant-garde song cycles of Schoenberg and later Crumb, of which this is a natural successor to those types of approaches.

Throughout this release, one is struck by the almost cinematic dramatic shaping of this music.  Hynninen’s contemporary style allows for the music itself to often feel far more tonal which first draws the listener in before it then begins to spiral toward a more modern and atonal sense, often further enhanced by the addition of unusual performance techniques and the electronic integration of her material.  It is a rather fascinating journey for those intrigued by the way composers are exploring electronics and concert music.  Here, the music is aided by a sense of programmatic inspiration that helps guide the listener.

Playlist
andPlay:
Maya Bennardo, violin. Hannah Levinson, viola.
New Focus Recordings fcr233
Total Time:  48:04
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

Two former Oberlin Conservatory musicians come together to explore four very recent works for violin and viola from the over 25 pieces they have commissioned to date.  The combination of ranges for these two instruments informs each of the works recorded here.  For the most part, these are highly experimental works focusing on seemingly random sounds and effects.  The harshness of the pieces may put off some who prefer some tonal reference in their modern music.

First up is Crescita Plastica (2015) by Ashkan Behzadi gives us an immediate introduction to the sheer virtuosity of Bennardo and Levinson.  The piece feature some rather stark and intense musical gestures that zip through the upper registers of the instruments as often violent attacks insert themselves into the musical argument.  Contemporary effects that explore double stopping, ponticello, and even microtones are also on display.

David Bird’s Bezier (2013) continues this expansion of effects and sounds possible on the instruments with a variety of percussive effects exploring other means of sound creation.  The piece morphs into an exploration of trills and chirp-like sounds.  Apocrypha (2017) is one of his more recent works and will close out the album.  It adds electronic effects and sets up interactions between the acoustic sounds and the artificially-created ones.  This is a more compelling piece and might better have serves as an introduction to this avant-garde music.

The penultimate piece is Clara Iannotta’s Luna (2011).  Here the harmonics of the violin and viola are explored along with other techniques of glissandi and ponticello  effects.  These become integral gestures that help provide a formal structure to the music.  A drone effect on a harmonica adds an additional other-worldly quality.

These are each quite intense modern pieces not for the faint of heart.  The duo creates a real sense of intensity throughout the album.  Intonation is crucial to pieces like this and here this is attained impeccably.  The dramatic thrust of these pieces is also quite intriguing.  The sound of the album captures both instruments well and images them with just enough distance to provide some ambient support and distancing between the two.  Unfortunately, there is just a lot of resulting similarity here in a way that keeps any of these pieces from standing out fully on their own.  The concepts of the music are solid but could use some contrasting program to help them stand out more as collected here.  Fans of contemporary music in the New York area will certainly want to be on the lookout for andPlay’s local performances.