Luke ANTHONY (b. 1973)
Saxophone Concerto (2007) [23:02]
Far Away [6.47]; Miss Julie [6.55]; A Waltz [6.16]; Get
Carter [6.53]; Far Away (Alternate Take) [6.57]
Tony Woods (alto and soprano saxophones)
Sound Collective/Tom Hammond
rec. RCM studios, April 2007
HANDMEDOWNMUSIC HMDCD101 [56:00]
Luke Anthony’s name was new to me. He continues to study jazz and classical
music in parallel. Composition studies were conducted at Royal Holloway College,
at University of London with John Woolrich and Peter Wiegold and in Milan with
Anne-Marie Turcotte. His work has been performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall,
the Royal Opera House, the South Bank Centre, Green Man, Lattitude and Edinburgh
festivals. He has recently completed Montuno, a piece for Piano Circus
(6 Pianos). Anthony is Composer-in-Residence at Ibstock Place School, Roehampton.
The three movements of this ever so lightly jazzy Saxophone Concerto are
sub-titled Battle, Death and Resurrection. The first of
these begins Middle Eastern and mysterious then jaunty and moves into steely
mordant conflict. Minimalist euphoric surging ostinato cells, wavelets and
rhapsodising are in evidence. Death has the slow bloom of the Mahler Adagietto.
Its unhurried breathing provides a humane and later chromium gleaming pulse
over which the saxophone idyllically soliloquises. It rises to a keeningly
poignant climaxing for the saxophone. It’s just wonderful. The final Resurrection reminded
me of the more lively Greek Dances by Skalkottas. Some of this writing
is rather akin to Nyman’s Where the Bee Dances - the work championed
with such triumph by John Harle. Don’t miss it Classic FM. The 25-strong
orchestra is real: not sampled; not synthesised.
Far Away for piano, drum-kit and breathy saxophone is emotionally
cool and laid-back - radiating a sort of contented melancholy. Miss Julie for
the same forces is from the music Anthony wrote for a production of the Strindberg
play. It is urgent and capriciously freewheeling. Get Carter is
Anthony’s tribute to the long-lived American composer Elliott Carter.
As perhaps expected it steps away from the jazzy accessibility of the other
tracks and makes free with a higher acid content in the harmonic collisions.
There’s feral verve about the more animated writing. Waltz is
cool, affectionate and lyrical with the suggestion of moistening eyes. The
piano line bustles intermittently with Swingles-style Bach. The final track
is another take on Far Away - a sigh on which to leave
an intelligently smiling music collection. The jazziness in the piano playing
implies emphatic confidence. This sometimes veers into commercialism but this
is redeemed by the feminine rhapsodising of the saxophone.
There are no background notes with the CD which is a pity although there is
some information at Anthony at his website.
The clean design of the cover and insert is admirable.
Luke Anthony is one of a host of composers - including, each in their different
ways, Lionel Sainsbury and Graham Lynch) who are announcing their presence
outside the conventional label scene. It’s a multitudinous trend so we
will miss some but I am glad to have encountered Anthony’s music and
want to hear more. His current projects include a Requiem Mass, an album of
piano music and a new folk/rock album. That Requiem should be promising.
Rob Barnett