Birtwistle - Chamber Works
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Label: BIS
Cat No: BIS2561
Format: Hybrid SACD
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Chamber
Release Date: 4th February 2022
Contents
Artists
Nash EnsembleAbout
The Nash Ensemble was formed around the same time and over the decades that have followed, a close relationship has developed between Birtwistle and the ensemble. Among the several commissions made by the ensemble are the closing two movements of the Oboe Quartet as well as the Duet for Eight Strings, described by the composer as ‘a string quartet for two players’. Composed in 2018, the Duet is the most recent work on the disc, which also includes the Trio for violin, cello and piano from 2011. The only work of an older date is Pulse Sampler from 1981, originally for oboe and claves, but here heard in a recent version for a more varied array of percussion.
Sound/Video
Paused
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1Trio for violin, cello and piano (2011)
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2Duet for Eight Strings for viola and cello (2018–19)
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3Pulse Sampler for oboe and percussion (1981/2018)
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4Oboe Quartet (2009–10): 1. ♪ = c. 144
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5Oboe Quartet (2009–10): 2. ♩ = c. 72
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6Oboe Quartet (2009–10): 3. ♪ = c. 66
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7Oboe Quartet (2009–10): 4. ♪ = c. 96
Europadisc Review
The earliest work here is Pulse Sampler, originally composed for oboe and claves (a pair of short wooden sticks struck together) in 1981. Since its premiere, this has been a virtuoso tour de force for oboist Melinda Maxwell. She is soloist here too, together with percussionist Richard Benjafield, as they were on a 1996 NMC recording of the piece (NMCD042S). The difference is that the percussion part has been expanded to include an array of extra instruments (largely, by the sound of it, tom-toms and similar ‘dry’ drums). This has the effect of timbral expansion while preserving the music’s essentially ascetic nature. The overall plan remains the same, with the percussionist setting the pulse according to a specified series of modules. The oboist follows suit, in lines of dazzlingly mechanistic brilliance, but is always one step behind. Only towards the piece’s climax are the two players briefly in sync. In this revised form, Pulse Sampler remains one of Birtwistle’s most quintessential works, and is treated to a performance of phenomenal skill.
In recent years (following the ‘middle-period’ Clarinet Quintet of 1980), Birtwistle has been more willing to engage with traditional genres – albeit in his own unique musical style. A series of works for string quartet and concertos for violin and for piano are probably the best-known examples. His Oboe Quartet (2009-10) is a four-movement work for oboe, violin, viola and cello, although it initially appeared piecemeal to three separate commissions before being performed in its complete form at the 2011 Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik. Here the oboist is Gareth Hulse, and he turns in a performance that is every bit the match for Maxwell in Pulse Sampler. Like the earlier work, this begins on E a tenth above middle C, and there’s a similar sparseness to some of the more jagged figuration, this time with characteristic ostinato patterns given to the strings that often function like the music’s engine room. Birtwistle' sensitivity to timbre is most evident in the brief, spectral intermezzo of the third movement with its ghostly strings and plangent oboe interjections, and in the fast-and-furious opening of the fourth movement which emerges from it. Towards the end, the music gravitates towards the opening before shooting upwards to a D seven notes higher.
The Trio for violin, cello and piano of 2011 here receives its second commercial recording (the first was on ECM New Series 4765050). Cellist Adrian Brendel is the only player common to both, joined here by Lawrence Power on violin and Tim Horton on piano. This 15-minute single-movement work resolves the balance problem inherent in the post-Romantic piano trio genre by having the violin and cello work in tandem, in a series of two-part inventions while the piano functions largely independently with figuration of its own. Once again, the climax is clearly defined, with violin and piano left hand describing long lines while the cello and right hand have busier figuration, before the textures break apart toward the close, the fade-out accompanied in the score by a quote from Paul Verlaine’s Chanson d’automne. This is a marginally tauter account of the work than the ECM one, brilliantly played by all three musicians, and (like the rest of the disc) captured in well-focussed sound at London’s Kings Place, allowing the listener to savour all of the music’s prolific detail.
The most recent work on the disc is the Duet for Eight Strings, receiving its first recording. As at its 2019 Wigmore Hall premiere, the soloists are Lawrence Power (now playing his more customary viola) and Adrian Brendel. Following that concert, Birtwistle added an extended 65-bar introduction, so that – at almost 20 minutes – this is also the longest piece on the disc. It’s another technical tour de force, not just for the players but on the composer’s part too. A vast array of textures and timbres is drawn from the ‘eight strings’ of the two instruments, from dense, knotty chords to free-flowing counterpoint, ghostly tremolos and harmonics, and percussive pizzicato. Following a marked intensification in the second half, the pitch slowly rises while the dynamics subside for what is surely one of the most ethereal endings in all of Birtwistle’s music. Undoubtedly a major addition to his catalogue, this is ample evidence of undiminished creative powers, and Power, Brendel and producer-engineer Simon Fox-Gál do it proud.
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