Oboes making squeaky noises is
usually outside my comfort zone, but I did enjoy this thought-provoking album
of music. The title of this new CD refers to the fact that all this music is
played on the newly created Howarth-Redgate (or is it the Redgate-Howarth) oboe
as well as the recently-devised ‘lupohpon’ which is a bass incarnation of the
instrument.
Christopher Redgate is an indefatigable
performer of contemporary oboe works. His CD catalogue includes music by Edwin
Roxburgh, Michael Finnissy, Rob Keeley and Howard Skempton. In concerts,
Redgate often performs improvisations which has allowed him to ‘explore the
more extreme areas of the oboe and its potential’. His vast appreciation and
understanding of avant-garde techniques has led him to develop this new
instrument. Detailed information about Redgate’s new oboe can be found at his website.
The works on this CD have been
composed/created with collaboration between Redgate and the composers. Many of
them use the extended range that this instrument provides, as well as
possibilities of ‘microtonal’ and ‘multiphonic’ sounds. Other innovations
include ease of playing, very high notes and sounding the oboe without the reed.
As a definition, ‘multiphonic’
means playing multiple notes on an instrument designed to play only single
notes – flute, oboe, trumpet, human voice etc. I understand one of the earliest
examples of this technique was called for by Luciano Berio in his Sequenza 1 for solo flute, written in
1958. ‘Microtonal’, means the further subdivision of the scale into intervals
smaller than the semitone: there is a quarter-tone scale available throughout
this oboe’s range.
I would suggest plunging into
this CD with Paul Archbold’s Zechstein.
I wondered if this was a make of German piano: I was wrong. The composer
explains that it refers to the Zechstein Sea which was a large lagoon in the
centre of the ancient Pangea super-continent, with its waves lapping against
the shores of what is now County Durham. The water dried up and the tectonic
plates separated, slowly evolving into the land masses we recognise today. It
was a wee while ago, round about 250 million years, in fact. But the concept
lives on in the imagination.
Zechstein is an idyllic work written for solo oboe that balances a
reflective and tranquil mood with a range of sounds made possible by the
Howarth-Redgate oboe. It is a timeless work, with the ‘multiphonics’ adding to
the haunting atmosphere of this long-departed landscape feature.
The programme notes for Sam
Hayden’s surface/tension for oboe and
piano does not give an immediate, succinct clue to the nature of the work. Let
me give two examples: ‘In addition, artificial inharmonic spectra and complex
rhythmical structures were generated algorithmically by the computer, and then
chosen by the composer’ and ‘The spectral analyses of multiphonics unique to
the instrument were used to generate microtonal pitch fields’ doesn’t really
help the average music-lover. I can only assume that this work is designed for
cognoscenti only, and not for most music lovers.
If I paraphrase, what I think is
happening is two-fold. Based on a pre-chosen set of notes and harmonies, the
piano and oboe enter dialogue, debating and discussing this material. The music
vacillates between fast and slow, virtuosity and stasis. There are certainly
some amazing sounds. Full stop.
Dorothy Ker’s Clepsydra is based on the Greek ‘water thief.’
Empedocles, the 5th century BC poet and philosopher, developed a
theory of respiration by making an analogy with the clepsydra, which was an
ancient mechanical device used to carry water. Carl Sagan has defined it as ‘...
a brazen sphere with an open neck and small holes in the bottom, it is filled
by immersing it in water. If you pull it out with the neck uncovered, the water
pours out of the holes, making a small shower. But if you pull it out properly,
with the neck covered, the water is retained in the sphere until you lift your
thumb.'
Ker writes that the Greek’s
theory ‘resonated with the emerging notion of the oboe as an instrument for the
crafting of timbre by fine control of its ‘porosity’ (through the multitude of
new key combinations available), combined with the oboist’s virtuosity in
controlling the column of air to coax exquisite tones from the sweet-sounding
cocobolo wood. The material and journey of the piece are informed by this image
and related ideas of aggregation and transformation in fluid motion.’
I found the verbosity of the philosophical
underpinning of this piece as wee bit hard to engage with. However, as a piece
of music it is agreeable, with some fascinating noises emerging from the oboe.
The longest work on this CD is
Edward Cowie’s The Colours of Dark Light
(2013). This is written for oboe, cor anglais and lupohpon (all played by
Redgate) and the Coull [String] Quartet. The work is inspired by physics, and
has been written in ‘collaboration’ with Sir Michael Berry FRS. Clearly,
acoustics is a branch of physics. Cowie writes that ‘time and energy…are the
fusion-models for the interplay between the two disciplines.’ The music
explores a concept known as ‘the colours of dark light’ or ‘the heart of
darkness.’ Again, the liner notes stretch the understanding of the layman –
what exactly does ‘a movement about time-order-chaos-randomness and forms of
thinking which converge towards solutions through often troublesome and
unpredictable ways of forming and acting in matter and energy’ mean? The titles
of the four movements are: 1. Michel Berry: Sonic Portrait, 2. Random Ph(r)ases,
3. Tracking a Phase Singularity and 4. The Colours of Dark Light. The opening
movement is a ‘sonic portrait of the scientist himself.’ The final three make a
journey from chaos to order. But just how much order is a question that begs to
be answered.
Finally, I passed Higher [A] level
Physics at Coatbridge High School - but I do not ken what ‘Phase Singularity’
is. Wikipedia
tells me that it is ‘An optical
vortex (also known as a photonic quantum vortex, screw dislocation or phase singularity) is a zero of an
optical field; a point of zero intensity.’ Hmmm.
By dumping the programme, I thoroughly
enjoyed this music. In fact, it is my favourite work on this challenging disc.
I did have to check my sound
system whilst playing Christopher Fox’s Unlocking
the Grid (2015). There were times when I thought it had stopped playing.
This work, which is written for solo woodwind and an electronic accompaniment
derived from three overlain sound channels, was specially written to showcase
the new oboe. The inspiration for this work was the artwork of Agnes Martin,
and, as the composer says, is ‘in part a homage to her.’ For my untrained eye
Martin’s work seems a little lacking in interest often consisting of what looks
like squared paper, like that used at primary school. It could be said that the
slow-paced exposition of Fox’s piece is equally devoid of attention-seeking
attributes. Yet the mood of almost complete stasis which lasts for 16
minutes-plus is an achievement. Unlocking
the Grid did bore me, a little: it was certainly a long and tedious quarter
of an hour.
The CD booklet is a masterclass
in design. From the interesting cover, through the programme notes for each
work and the composer and artist biographies, it gives all the required
information. There are several photographs of all concerned, as well as a
picture of a standard Howarth oboe next to a Howarth-Redgate instrument for
comparison. I must confess that, not being a woodwind player, it does not tell
me too much, but I am sure it will be of interest to those musicians who are.
I have noted the sometimes-unfathomable
programme notes above. My suggestion is to enjoy the music, one piece at a time
and largely ignore the highfalutin’ musico-philosophical speculation.
The recording impressed me, as
did the performances, which clearly appear to be first-rate, even if I have
nothing to compare them with.
This is a splendid disc. It may
not feature my preferred oboe sound-world, nevertheless there are many captivating
and interesting moments in this programme. For lovers of post-Berio music this
will be a treat. It is ‘truly cutting-edge music for today.’
Track Listing:
Edward COWIE (b.1943)
The Colours of Dark Light (2013)
Paul ARCHBOLD (b.1964)
Zechstein (2015)
Sam HAYDEN (b.1968)
surface/tension (2012)
Dorothy KER (b.1965)
Clepsydra (2012)
Christopher FOX (b.1955)
Unlocking the Grid (2015)
Christopher Redgate (oboe), Stephen Robbings (piano), Coull
Quartet (Cowie), Paul Archbold (electronics) (Fox)
METIER MSV 28531
With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review first appeared.
No comments:
Post a Comment