This
disc is the first of a couple of exemplary recitals of Phillip
Schroeder's music that have been recently released by New York
based Capstone Records. The other, Turning to the Center,
focuses on vocal works and is perhaps more traditionally in keeping
with the 20th century American outlook on that genre.
This one, however, often occupies musical territory more associated
with the likes of Harold Budd and the ECM label. That said, the
opening of Borne by Currents with its plaintive cor anglais
reminded me most of Ingram Marshall's Fog Tropes, yet it
soon develops into a beatific Budd-like soundscape, with shimmering
piano set against Susan Savage's mellow tones. The piece lasts
over fourteen minutes and it is not fanciful to compare the cor
anglais sounds with the equivalent saxophone meanderings of Marion
Brown or Pharaoh Sanders. Equally, I could imagine John Harle
playing this piece with absolute empathy, the echoes of Bryars'
The Green Ray (sorry for mentioning it yet again!) are
too obvious to ignore. Despite featuring pre-recorded synthesiser
and a digital delay system, Borne by Currents is very much
a duet, with the cor anglais and piano evoking a benign watercourse
idyllically. Not for motorway listening!
Stillness
for solo piano is meditative but closer to Howard Skempton than
Arvo Pärt. The music is very slow, not much seems to be happening
but it is all very gripping in a relaxed sort of way, the silences
meaning just as much as the notes. The title really says it all
- it makes Satie sound hyperactive and is on a par with Feldman
as far as tempi go. Music to fall asleep to, not out of boredom
but because it is so peaceful. Lovely! The following series of
five Songs Without Words is marginally more energised but
the oboe and piano duets are still largely reflective and low
key. I have no idea what the individual titles, e.g. Perseverance,
To Come Back Again, are references to, but the whole sequence
works very well and could almost be British in its mellow pastoralia.
From
the Shadows of Angels is another piece for solo piano and
again the ambient/chamber jazz parallels are clear. It floats
almost breathlessly at times, with a Zen-like simplicity in its
repeated scales. I preferred Stillness which seems to say
more in half the time but there is no denying the effectiveness
of this music in what it sets out to do. The disc closes with
another work featuring digital delay, this time alongside oboe
and piano. No Longer a Stranger superficially bears some
resemblance to the preceding track but the oboe and delay system
lift it into a different league. However this is again, to these
ears, less inspired than Borne by Currents and its prettiness
cannot quite compensate for a less overt direction or focus. This
is an interesting disc, the success of which probably depends
on the listener's state of mind. What is relaxing to one person
may seem soporific to another but this is further evidence of
the vibrant and diverse musical activity currently going on in
the US. It does, however, perhaps offer too narrow a view of Schroeder's
compositional talents to elevate him in the musical public awareness
to the level of, say, Michael Torke or Aaron Jay Kernis. A very
nice disc nonetheless.
Neil
Horner
Duo Savage: Susan Savage,
oboe and English horn; Dylan Savage, piano and synthesiser