I
through-listened to this CD, although I did take a few breaks for a mince pie
and a cup of tea. I consider that it is a ‘concept’ album, so popular with
progressive rock enthusiasts in the 1970s. By this, I mean an album where the
sum is greater than the several parts.
The opening track, Seikilos Epitaph is,
according to the liner notes, the ‘world’s oldest surviving complete musical
composition.’ The Greek text (lyrics) and the musical notation are engraved on
a marble tombstone discovered in 1883 in the ancient city of Tralles, which is
near to the modern Turkish city of Aydin. Apparently, the hymn is dedicated to
Seikilos’ wife or son:
As long as you live, shine,
Let nothing grieve you beyond measure
For your life is short,
And time will claim its toll.
Fortunately, Rody Van Gemert includes a short
essay on the ‘ancient’ tuning systems. This is not necessary to an appreciation
of the music, but does add a technical understanding to the recital.
This Epitaph is reprised in the final track in a
different tuning.
The First Delphic Hymn to Apollo was composed
around 128 BCE. The liner notes explain that the ‘score’ was ‘found inscribed
on slab of marble in May 1893, located in the ruins of the Treasury of the
Athenians at Delphi’. It is the earliest surviving musical composition that can
be attributed to a composer by name, Athenios, son of Athenios. It has
been arranged for guitar by Graham Lynch, who explains that ‘the re-working…was
an imaginative attempt to connect with this melody and re-create it for modern
ears. Although I arranged the piece, the final recording owes much to Rody’s
[the guitarist] inventive use of timbre.’
I am not sure that it does much for me. Perhaps
something has been lost in the past 2056 odd years.
As noted in the above track-listing, several of
these works are composed or arranged by Graham Lynch. It is not necessary to
provide biographical details as these are given on his excellent webpage as
well as a two-page bio in the present CD’s liner notes. I have noted elsewhere
that the key thing to bear in mind when listening to Lynch’s music is that he
has developed an eclectic style which ranges from literarily, Ancient Music as
presented on this CD to contemporary ‘art’ music as well as pop-infused
compositions, jazz and a love for the ‘tango.’
Graham Lynch has defined his Greek pieces as
follows: ‘I am not trying to relate to a historical Greece, but to the vivid
ancient Greece of my imagination. And what stands behind all this music is not
just that we understand the past as facts and events, but that by necessity we
recreate it in a way that breathes meaning and life into our present day.’
Sing, Memory is an impressive work by any standards. It is
timeless in the sense that Messiaen can be timeless – in other words the
listener is not aware of the ticking of the clock. The music
imagines that Daphne, after ‘her transformation into a tree, reviews episodes
from her life with cool detachment, regret, and outbursts of passion.’ It is
composed for guitar and harpsichord.
Lynch’s Daphne Prelude, written for
solo guitar. This was a precursor of Sing, Memory. It is short,
meditative and quite simply beautiful.
More dynamic, is the Apollo Toccate which
is an impressive work lasting more than 17 minutes. It is conceived in nine
sections, which can be performed in any order. The musical influences here are
Venetian lute music and Baroque Toccatas. The listener is aware of the work’s
continuity as well as an almost infinite variety. I understand that the Toccate is
a fiendishly difficult work for the soloist to perform. It may well explain why
it has not gained a place in the guitarists’ repertoire. Listening to this
magical work, that seems infused with the myth of Apollo, reflecting both the
sparkle of the sun and the god’s relation to the Muses, poetry and
music. I feel that it is one of the most impressive pieces I have
encountered for solo guitar. It is a masterpiece.
The final contribution by Graham Lynch are
the Three Aegean Pieces. The first, ‘Cythera’, was
inspired by Poulenc’s ‘L'Embarquement pour
Cythère’ (after the painting by Watteau). This is not ‘cod’
Poulenc, but certainly there is no doubt as the source of
inspiration. The second piece, ‘Geranos’, is based on an ancient
Greek dance. Unsurprisingly, Lynch has used the rhythms of his favourite dance
form – the tango. The final number, ‘The Song of Seikilos’ nods to Ravel. Some
of that composer’s early piano pieces were written ‘in the
manner of’ other composers, such as Borodin and Faure. As far as I can tell,
Lynch has used an ancient Greek melody and has harmonised it in several
different ways. Lynch suggests that this creates as ‘music that steps outside
of time.
I know virtually nothing about the American
‘hobo’ musician Harry Partch (1901-74) save that he was an ‘experimental’
composer who made use of microtonal scales and tunings. Microtonal meaning the
‘notes’ in the gaps between the semitones and tones of the ‘well-tempered’
scale. He also devised several ‘new’ instruments. The present work, Two
Studies on Ancient Greek Scales has been arranged by Rody Van Gemert.
The liner notes explain that Partch did not attempt to reconstruct ancient
Greek music, but used the scales as a springboard for his imagination. The work
was originally scored for bass marimba and a harmonic canon, which is an
instrument in the zither family. The two pieces make use of the Olympos
Pentatonic and the Archytas Enharmonic scales. Listeners need not puzzle over
the theoretical underpinning of this music. It is quite simply impressive.
Maurice Ravel provided the piano accompaniments
for the delightful Five Greek Folk-songs between 1904 and
1906. They were originally performed in the Greek language, but were later
translated into French by Ravel’s friend Michel Calvocoressi. It was the
composer’s first foray into the art of arranging folk tunes and were originally
conceived for a music lecture. They were collected by Calvocoressi on the
island of Chios. The texts of the songs deal with love and courtship. The
present arrangement for harpsichord and guitar was made by Graham
Lynch. They make attractive numbers, but I must admit to preferring
Ravel’s original, sung by Nora Gubisch or Gerard Souzay with piano
accompaniment.
Canadian-Finnish composer Matthew
Whittall has provided the score for the large-scale essay for harpsichord and
guitar, The Wine-Dark Sea. The composer explains that the mythology
of Greece and the Orient were important formative factors in his upbringing,
giving him a sense of belonging. The present work reveals ‘the iconic,
archetypal ‘Mother Sea’ and its numberless shades of blue, the quality of the
sunlight, the smell of flowers and herbs in the air. These are the impressions
informing The Wine-Dark Sea, a dreamlike postcard written after the
fact, through a haze of memory.’
It is a remarkable work for a
‘northerner’ that captures the play of light, the mystery and the magic of that
celebrated sea-scape. Along with Graham Lynch’s Apollo
Toccate, this is (for me) the most impressive works on this highly
imaginative CD.
It almost seems redundant to insist
that the performance on this exceptional CD is perfect, impressive, stunning,
expressive, balanced and beautiful. The sound quality is ideal. The liner notes
provide all the information needed to appreciate the imaginative music on the
CD.
The
entire package makes a perfect ‘Concept Album’ that reveals ‘the heart of the
music on this disc…’ as a hugely successful ‘attempt to understand music as a
living continuum.’
Track Listing:
Ancient Greece: Musical Inspirations
Seikilos Epitaph (tuning: Ptolemy’s even
diatonic)]
Graham LYNCH (b.1957) Sing, Memory
Harry PARTCH (1901-74) Two Studies on Ancient Greek Scales (arr.
R. V. Gemert): Olympos’ Pentatonic, Archytas’ Enharmonic
Graham LYNCH: Three Aegean Pieces: Cythera (à la manière de Poulenc),
Geranos, Song of Seikilos (à la manière de Ravel)
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937) Five Greek Songs (arr. G. Lynch): Song for the
bride, Yonder, at the church, What gallant can compare with me, Song of the
girls gathering pistachios, Very merrily!
ATHENIOS SON OF ATHENIOS: First Delphic Hymn to Apollo (arr. G. Lynch)
Graham LYNCH: Apollo, Toccate
Matthew WHITTALL (b.1975) The Wine-dark sea IV
Graham LYNCH: Daphne Prelude
Seikilos Epitaph (tuning: Archytas’ diatonic)
Rody Van Gemert (guitar), Assi Karttunen
(harpsichord)
Rec. Östersundom church, Helsinki 20–22 April
2015,
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