Giving pattern to the spectacle

I was so impressed when I listened to this music the first time, so I went looking for more music by Cristina Spinei. She hasn't been composing too long, so there's not a whole lot out there. Then I came across this clever bit, one of the Variations on a Theme by Beethoven (the opening theme of the Largo movement of the piano trio op. 1 no. 2) called Constellations, played by the Trio Celeste in their recently released CD. It's subtitled "If Beethoven danced Merengue":

Now this is a witty response to Beethoven's music, and it fits well with the light gala potpourri flavour of the rest of the variations. Though it's a short piece and the penultimate of the 10 variations, it has as much panache and drive as any of the Constellations variations, which is impressive considering the stature of some of the other composers included in this fun project.

It's instructive that Spinei has Beethoven get up and dance. I learned this as well about Spinei, in a recent profile piece from Nashville Scene:

Spinei has always loved dance. As a child growing up in Stamford, Conn., Spinei dreamed of one day becoming a ballerina. "Unfortunately, I didn't have the body for ballet, so I focused on music instead."

Later Spinei says "Movement has always been central to my thinking about music, which is why I hate going to concerts where people just sit stiffly in their chairs." There isn't much stiff sitting in Spinei's music, for Beethoven or anyone else. In spite of her obvious connection with minimalism, one doesn't slowly drift into a motionless trance here.

In his book Music in the Castle of Heaven, John Eliot Gardiner talks about the tenor aria "Ach, mein Sinn", from Bach's St. John Passion:

One bonus of using a French-style dance as the basis of this aria was the licence it gave Bach to vary the internal shaping of the dotted rhythms – here smoothly ‘swung’ in conjunct motion for lyrical passages (as in Blues singing), there sharply over-dotted for outbursts of fiery arpeggios (wo willt du endlich hin), the vocal phrases constantly varied in consequence, now reinforcing the characteristic second beat of the chaconne, now contradicting it by means of hemiolas bestriding the bar-line. Here, then, he has assembled all the ingredients to make an impassioned statement.

Similar impassioned statements are evident in such works as Synched, written in 2012 and included in José Serebrier's Adagio, released the same year. 

Spinei's music is about the dance inside her recorded loops as they line up differently each time, and as the musicians interact with those loops. Like a choreographer, she creates a plan that in execution needn't necessarily involve improvisation, but which requires an improvisational feel to keep it from from sounding too machine-like. Check out the Blind Ear real-time composer collective that Spinei co-founded with Jakub Ciupinski for more about the theory, practice and software behind the music Spinei is writing along with her colleagues in the collective. 

Part of the cleverness of Synched is that, of course, the music isn't synched, but always just out of sync. Like each of the pieces on Music for Dance, Synched has a characteristic feeling, it makes a statement. Though there's some Steve Reich or Terry Reilly to be heard here, there's also a strong lyrical streak in this music, and an open, folk-like feeling that makes one think of Copland, Villa-Lobos or Piazzolla. Mixed with a good dollop of pop music, which of course the last three composers all included in their own music, Spinei's music comes out sounding like Spinei. And that's the sign of a composer to watch out for in the future.

Spinei's new disc won't be released on Amazon until July 1, 2016, but you can listen at the Toccata website here.

A remarkable, life-affirming collaboration

Sadie Harrison is a composer of considerable stature, with a significant oeuvre that shows variety, depth and originality. She has been engaged in two additional professions which enhance her music. She's a professional gardener, which gives her insights into the natural world and organic processes, and also an archaeologist, which opens windows into other cultures and to the past.  The Rosegarden of Light project is a fascinating partnership with Cuatro Puntos (with whom Harrison is working closely, as composer in residence), a chamber music collective dedicated to global cooperation and peace, and student ensembles of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (including the girls' Ensemble Zohra and the Junior Ensemble of Traditional Afghan Instruments).

The combination of Harrison's special writing for strings, full of deceptively simple, open tunes and intricate rhythms and harmonies, and the joyful traditional Afghan music with its delightful sound palette gives this music an uplifting feeling. You can play clips from each track [the entire album] at the Toccata Classics website, and get a hint of this highly successful cross-cultural project. It makes one at least a tiny bit optimistic that music can indeed change lives, even for young people looking for life and joy against such high odds.

While waiting for the release of this disc on June 10, 2016, why not check out Harrison's earlier music.  From her work ...Under the Circle of the Moon..., on the 2015 album Solos and Duos for Strings and Piano, this is The Vision of Anne Catherine Emmerich (an early 19th century Catholic mystic):

And here is the title work for chamber orchestra from her 2012 album An Unexpected Light:

Great film music with some interesting premieres

From September 6, 2014:

I was pleased to see this new Toccata Classics disc of music from Alfred Hitchcock’s films with John Mauceri and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. The director was more than normally attuned (no pun intended!) to the role that music could play in the total effect of a film, and his collaboration with Bernard Herrmann is perhaps the greatest of any director/composer pair in the movies. The disc is special for two reasons: the informative and insightful liner essays by Mauceri and John Riley, and the appearance of no fewer than four pieces that have never before been recorded. The most interesting of these is Herrmann’s Psycho: A Narrative for String Orchestra, which Herrmann put together in 1968 from nine cues from the 1960 film. Of the other composers included, Dimitri Tiomkin makes perhaps the biggest impression, with suites from Strangers on a Train and Dial M for Murder. But everything in the program is of interest, and it’s all performed at a high level by the Danish orchestra.

An important recording premiere

From June 20, 2013:

The incidental music Erich Korngold wrote for Much Ado About Nothing is outstanding: witty, atmospheric, dramatic, colourful. When you consider that he was only 23 years old when he wrote this music, it's an astounding accomplishment. This is the first recording of a fully-staged production of (portions of) the play with Korngold's music, and it's completely convincing, a worthwhile project that makes for a very entertaining CD.

The surprisingly accomplished actors and musicians from UNC's School of the Arts provide strong support in aid of the artistic vision of John Mauceri. This undertaking is obviously close to Mauceri's heart, considering the research he undertook into the original 1920 production, and the care he took in translating the music to a modern staged production. This exciting CD justifies that care and commitment.

I'm hoping that the new Joss Whedon film of Much Ado About Nothing brings a new generation to a love and understanding of a Shakespeare play that isn't always as appreciated as it should be. I know this Korngold disc will do the same, if in considerably smaller numbers.