The long sobs of violins of autumn

 Harrison Birtwistle: Chamber Works

In the score for his 2011 Trio for Piano, Violin & Cello, Harrison Birtwistle adds the first section of Paul Verlaine's poem "Chanson d'automne":

Les sanglots longs
Des violons
   De l’automne

The long sobs
Of violins
   Of autumn

These lines were sent by the Allies' Special Operations Executive to the French Resistance in 1944, providing information about the upcoming Invasion of Normandy. I have no idea whether there's any extra-musical schema behind Birtwistle's marvellous piece; I couldn't find any reference to this on the web. However, the headings in the score - "choked and pale," "chiming of the hours", "an ill wind" - evoke at the very least emotions or states of mind. So it might not be completely fanciful to see a D-Day background in this anxious, foreboding music. The work is played with assurance and elan by violinist Benjamin Nabarro, cellist Adrian Brendel and pianist Tim Horton. Adrian Brendel, who is the son of the great pianist Alfred Brendel, also played on the 2014 recording of the Birtwistle Trio on a superb ECM recording.

Birtwistle's music seems to be connected in a more or less straight line to the modernist tradition of Stravinsky and Messiaen. The other works on this album - the Duet for 8 Strings from 2018, Pulse Sampler for Oboe and Percussion in a version also from 2018, and the Oboe Quartet from 2009-10 - demonstrate that the modernism of the early and mid 20th century is still viable in the 21st. The members of the Nash Ensemble provide stylish and lively performances of this important composer's music.

The cover of the album features a fine portrait of the composer by Philip Gatward.