Described as a composer/bandleader, Texas-based Graham Reynolds
cast his creative net widely, working in film, theatre and dance
music as well as for concert halls and pop venues. Described
as ‘a triple concerto’, The Difference Engine received
its première performance on 6th February 2010, but
is a work which was developed over a number of years. The piece
loosely follows a concert pattern, or more perhaps a concert-grosso
format with a group of three soloists and a 35-piece string
ensemble. Reynolds’ attraction to working with a narrative sees
him use the story of 19th century inventor and mathematician
Charles Babbage’s attempt to create the world’s first computer
as its starting point.
As almost any composition in a tonal idiom has to be these days,
The Difference Engine is a fairly eclectic mix, but impressively
well written and highly effective for all that. Its five movements
begin with a mechanically driving ostinato movement, The
Cogwheel Brain, which sets up a mood of exploratory energy
and some unexpected sonorities, given the chamber-music look
to the instrumentation on the cover of this release. Sustained
strings give atmosphere to the themes and imitative counterpoint
of Ada, which after about three and a half minutes takes
on the character of some of Michael Nyman’s later film music.
The central movement is a potent rhythmic number, with light
percussion on the wood of the piano and some off-the-bridge
syncopation from the ensemble. This takes on the character of
tango and klezmer in its development and melodic variations.
Late at Night/The Astronomer is a more reflective movement
as its title suggests, solo strings in expressive, descending
melancholy, with a simple piano accompaniment providing further
atmosphere. The oscillating harmonic world is to a certain extent
that of Philip Glass, while retaining integrity with the rest
of the piece. The work concludes with an eponymous movement
which opens with a cadenza on the violin, and takes off with
a ‘czardas’ feel to round off the piece by bringing in elements
from the other movements and ending with a rousing flourish.
The programme is further made up of a set of remixes of each
movement, made by Reynolds’ collaborators DJ Spooky, Octopus
Project, Grammy-nominated producer Adrian Quesada of Grupo Fantasma,
Golden Hornet Project’s Peter Stopschinski, and including one
from the composer himself. Like some of the transformed material
from Eighth
Blackbird, this kind of work can have a fascinating effect,
transforming the original to such an extent that it becomes
an entirely new piece, often to remain with surprising persistence
in the memory. There is a deal more pounding of beat-boxes here,
but more often than not done in interesting ways. Octopus Project
brings The Cogwheel Brain somewhere towards the world
of Terry Riley’s ‘A Rainbow in Curved Air’, ending with an extended
Ringo Starr-a-like drum break. I prefer the composer’s original
of Cam Stack & Crank Handle to the remix, which has
some nice fade-in ’n drop touches and develops well as a dance
number, but doesn’t really add much over the top of the more
interesting string ensemble material which now alas is relegated
to low in the mix. The Astronomer is given a decent spy-movie/proto-Bollywood
spruce up by Adrian Quesada which is a worthy alternative, and
DJ Spooky gives Ada a refreshingly straightforward upbeat
funk treatment which is good fun.
This is another grand release from Innova. The recorded quality
is a bit processed-sounding, but this is the nature of the beast
with a production like this, and there are nothing but good
things to report. I’ve certainly enjoyed entering the world
of Graham Reynolds with this release, and will certainly be
looking out for his name in future.
Dominy Clements
Leah Zeger (violin) 
