Berner Streichquartett / Wilhelm Bruck / Theodor Ross HELMUT LACHENMANN Gran Torso - Salut für Caudwell

GRAN TORSO - SALUT FÜR CAUDWELL

Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain / Daniel Kawka PIERRE BOULEZ Le Marteau sans Maître PHILIPPE MANOURY B-Partita

                                           LE MARTEAU SANS MAITRE - B-PARTITA

Annette Bik DOUBLE BACH

Annette Bik, violinist with the Klangforum Wien, is familiar with both early and contemporary music. On her first solo album, “Double Bach”, she presents a fascinating experiment: she asked leading contemporary composers to write a double of each movement of Johann Sebastian Bach’s famous “Partita in h-Moll”. The idea seemed even more compelling since Bach also added a variation, or double, to each movement of his suite. 

As listeners we are in the unique situation of being able to experience a Bach double double, a stroke of genius in the mirror of our times, a fascinating auditory document where the greatest virtuosity and immediate impact come together in a rare coalescence. In that moment, we feel what the Austrian publicist Armin Thurnher expresses so succinctly in the Liner Notes for this CD: “Bach is a complete cosmos for sceptics, Bach is the experience of infinity for mortals.”

GALINA USTWOLSKAJA Sinfonie Nr. 3 WOLFGANG RIHM Musik für Klarinette und Orchester BERND ALOIS ZIMMERMANN Photoptosis

This disc comprises three live performances from Munich’s Musica Viva Festival: the works by Ustvolskaya and Bernd Alois Zimmermann from the same concert in December 1998‚ the Rihm – a world première – from November 1999. The rather raw recorded sound reflects the constraints of these occasions‚ as do the rough edges of the orchestral playing‚ but the strong‚ and very strongly contrasted character of these compositions is arrestingly immediate. Zimmermann’s Photoptosis (1968) is the earliest piece‚ a reflection on the biblical phrase ‘and there was light’ which opens up an increasingly dazzling range of textures while – 1960s­style – incorporating a range of quotations and allusions on its way to a turbulently ecstatic conclusion.
Markus Stenz homes in on the music’s broad effects‚ and the result is far more than a mere revival. Photoptosis remains highly contemporary‚ and also offers the strongest possible contrast to the primitive yet forcefully characterised austerity of Ustvolskaya’s Symphony No 3 (1983).
Ustvolskaya’s music is unsparing in its refusal to elaborate‚ a quality which might earn it the label of ‘minimalist’ were the musical atmosphere less desolate. Named after the short‚ psalm­like poem which a reciter intones on two occasions during its 18­minute course‚ this plea to Jesus to ‘save us’ offers no spiritual consolation‚ but portrays a world from which salvation has been eternally withdrawn. The scoring is weird yet startlingly effective – five each of oboes‚ trumpets and double basses‚ a trombone and three tubas‚ various drums and a prominent piano – and‚ to me‚ the effect is the more unsettling for being utterly devoid of ambiguity.
Rihm’s music is rarely light­hearted‚ either‚ but this half­hour clarinet concerto‚ written in 1999‚ is constructed with skill and subtlety‚ the prevailing tone of lyric melancholy offset by more mercurial‚ agitated episodes. The tirelessly active solo line is challenged by the accompanying orchestra in various ways‚ creating a wordless drama that is all the more involving for Rihm’s characteristic tendency to evoke traditional shapes and modes of expression while leaving their precise provenance in doubt. Jörg Widmann is a charismatic soloist‚ and the evident tensions of the live occasion enhance the power of the experience on disc. All three compositions are guaranteed to get you thinking as well as listening. (Gramophone)

TOSHIO HOSOKAWA Vertical Time Study I - Sen V - In die Tiefe der Zeit - Melodia - Vertical Time Study III

In his series Vertical Time Study, Hosokawa seeks to "integrate Noh’s vertical structure of time into my own music. It is about how temporal elements, like wedges, disrupt the vertical, horizontal timeline at irregular intervals. These disruptions produce elements of tension … creating visible fissures in the structure of time and visible cracks in space. My aim is to examine the complexity and the depth of these sounds hidden in the moment." In his piece Sen V, Hosokawa tries to combine the "earth’s groaning" - his personal impression of Tibetan Shomyo (Buddhist monk chants) – with the sound of the accordion. The same instrument plays an important role in his 1994 piece In die Tiefe der Zeit, in which it acts as the female counterpart to the solo cello. Both instruments are embraced by the string section representing the universe. The part for accordion in Melodia, which represents Hosokawa’s attempt to portray the "flow of sounds in our souls", is inspired by the sound of the ancient Chinese Sheng. The special relationship with Buddhist ideas is the hallmark of Hosokawa’s oeuvre: "It is possible to attain the state of Buddha in a single note." (Proverb)

Johannes Stecher / Wiltener Sängerknaben ARVO PÄRT Babel

The origins of the Innsbruck-based Wilten Boys’ Choir stretch back to the 13th century. Their director since 1991 has been Johannes Stecher. He has nourished a carefully moulded – though distinctive – choral sound, notable for its vibrato-laden top treble line (which imparts just enough of a hint of fragility to be refreshing) coupled with super-smooth and firm tenor and bass registers. This 80th-birthday tribute to Arvo Pärt claims to be the first-ever disc of his vocal music performed by a boys’ choir, and includes two premiere recordings.

For some listeners, 57 minutes’ worth of Pärt may be too much to take in one sitting. Although much of the programme matches Philip Borg-Wheeler’s description of Pärt’s style as ‘unruffled tranquillity’, there are a few moments of unbuttoned ecstasy, for example in the Littlemore Tractus and the light-hearted, almost folksy Drei Hirtenkinder aus Fátima, composed as recently as 2014. The highlight of the disc is the affecting setting of By the Waters of Babylon. Its soaring phrases perfectly match the acoustics of the Tyrolean churches where these tracks were taped in 2013-14. The final outburst is truly spine-tingling.

On the other hand, The Deer’s Cry (sung in English) becomes rather wearisome. Another bonus is Stecher’s splendid organ-playing, for example in the ‘mashed-up’ distortion of elements fom Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor which concludes the 2011 version ofThe Beatitudes. As a curious appendix, the short Vater unser is sung by an uncredited treble soloist with a remarkably fruity quasi-contralto voice. A mixed result, therefore, which Pärt completists will, though, surely relish. (Gramophone)