Hebrides Ensemble: American Pioneers

8 Nov 2011 in Highland, Music, Showcase

OneTouch Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 7 November 2011

DRAWN from one hundred years of American music, the Hebrides Ensemble’s latest programme was alive with discovery; celebrating the diverse work of 20th and 21st century composers Higdon, Adams, Ives, Reich and Crumb, and whetting the appetite for further exploration of their music.

Jennifer Higdon’s Smash (2005) opened the programme, each instrument seemingly a disparate voice driven in unison by insistent rhythm. This rhythmic drive permeates the entire composition with the haste of contemporary life; the instrumentation separating individual voices whilst simultaneously binding them in a vibration of movement and relentless advancement throughout the composition.

The Hebrides Ensemble

The Hebrides Ensemble

John Adams’ Road Movies (1995) was a highlight of the programme, an incredibly beautiful and unexpected work in three movements, each episode performed with consummate skill and sensitivity by Phillip Moore (piano) and Alexander Janiczek (violin). The delicacy and vibrancy of this work, especially in the resonant lower register of the piano and in dance-like fragments of rhythm from the violin, exploit the expressive qualities of each instrument in sweetness and dissonance.

The second movement beginning with a quietly sonorous introduction from the piano, deepening and reverberating as if slowly emanating from the depths of an ancient pool, is almost lyrical in nature. Violin answers piano with introspective fragments of melody and their exchange evolves into a flow of free association; spatially expanded then contracting in the later stages, the sound of one instrument hinged upon the other. This movement is wonderfully evocative, an interior soundscape of depth and substance, beautifully contrasted with the bursting energy of the final movement. The intricate interplay between violin and piano, articulated by sharp accent and sliding bow, creates a witty and exuberant conclusion to the work.

Charles Ives’ Piano Trio (1911) displays the composer’s love of aural collage, referencing folk and sacred music reinvented in extremes of pitch and rhythm. The tone and intensity of the cello and piano in the opening movement gives way to a thoroughly iconoclastic second movement, where a pastiche of familiar melodies is delivered with a distinctly sardonic edge. The overwrought Victorian ballroom is evoked by Ives’s intensely laden dance rhythms, while in its latter stages a deep hymnal tune played on the piano eclipses both cello and violin, engulfing them in a whirlpool of sound before launching into the melodic strains of a Western saloon bar. This layering of music with historical and moral association is one of the most fascinating aspects of the composition.

In the final movement the laborious Romanticism of violin and cello seems so steeped in nostalgia and sentimentality that a parody is suggested, rescued only by the quietly dignified refrain of “Rock of Ages” on piano at the conclusion of the work. This ambiguity is part of Ives’s appeal, a dance between homage and irreverence in relation to Western musical language and tradition in the New World.

Steve Reich’s New York Counterpoint (1985) for clarinet & tape is an equally intriguing piece written for a solo clarinettist, who pre-records ten clarinet and bass clarinet parts and then plays the 11th part live against the tape. Yann Ghiro’s performance was mesmerising, playing in unison with himself and creating intersections of pitch and texture, banks of sound interwoven like bold tapestry. Changes in tempo and harmonics drive the composition, yet strangely, the conscious centre of the work is music expanded beyond the frame of its technique, filling the mind completely.

George Crumb’s Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale) for amplified flute, cello, and piano, performed with masked musicians and bathed in blue light, is a theatrical work which in many ways feels anchored to its time. Created in 1971 and inspired by a tape recording of the singing of a humpback whale, the piece embodies the experimental and environmental spirit of its age. The range of sound is quite extraordinary; the flautist singing into the instrument, cello resembling Indian Sitar, ancient cymbals, human whistling and the eerie strumming of piano strings all contribute to the rich soundscape of the work.

There are times when the piano conjures light and movement through water, fathoms deep, in a way that is so intensely visual it is almost cinematic. However Crumb’s homage to the power of nature, while elemental and symbolic, feels a little self-conscious, a fusion of performance art, imitation of nature and composition. That said, the performance itself was completely engrossing and it was wonderful to hear and see such an interesting work live.

Led by cellist and director William Conway, the Hebrides Ensemble consistently present work which expands perception of musical form and audience expectation.
It is always a pleasure to hear and experience new work performed by one of the country’s finest and most innovative chamber ensembles, and this latest programme was no exception.

© Georgina Coburn, 2011

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