Signature: Music for Solo Violin
Bent SØRENSEN (b.1958)
The Lady of Shalott (1987) [6:59]
Rafal AUGUSTYN (b.1951)
Cyclic Piece No.1 (1986) [13:51]
Alfred SCHNITTKE (1934-1998)
A Paganini (1982) [14:27]
Pierre BOULEZ (b.1925)
Anthèmes (1992) [10:21]
Luciano BERIO (1925-2003)
Sequenza VIII (1976) [13:09]
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Chaconne (1720) [14:09]
Christine Pryn (violin)
rec. Sorgenfri Kirke, Denmark, 2014/15
DANACORD DACOCD762 [73:29]
I jumped in at the deep end and moved the CD player to Pierre
Boulez’s Anthèmes. I was not quite sure what to expect. What
I discovered is a masterpiece of musical design and sound. Boulez has balanced
a variety of themes with ‘intense moments of silence’. He has
virtually emptied the orchestrator’s box of playing devices for the
violin.
The work was commissioned by the Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition and is
dedicated to Universal Edition's director Alfred Schlee to celebrate
his 90th birthday. The liner-notes explain that the title is a hybrid of the
English word ‘anthems’ and the French ‘thèmes’. The
inspiration for this music came from boyhood memories of texts for the Lenten
services in the Roman Catholic Church. These used Hebrew letters to enumerate
the verses, which themselves were recited in Latin. He used this to create
two ‘sonic blocks’ of music – the first has ‘quiet,
suspended, gliding harmonics announc[ing]’ each new section of the music,
and the second where the main exposition of the material takes place. I understand
that the work does not have any allusions to the content of the liturgical
text as such: it is simply the contrast of the Hebrew/Latin ‘blocks’
of sound. It is an extremely satisfying work that is challenging without being
off-putting.
For my second exploration, I went ‘back to Bach’. This masterfully-played
Chaconne is the final movement of the composer’s Partita No.2 in D minor.
It is such a well-known piece that little comment is required save to quote
Joshua Bell, who stated that the Chaconne is ‘not just one of the greatest
pieces of music ever written, but one of the greatest achievements of any
man in history. It's a spiritually powerful piece, emotionally powerful,
structurally perfect.’ (Washington Post, 8 April 2007).
It is appropriate to listen to Luciano Berio’s Sequenza VIII
after the Bach. The composer has called this piece, ‘a tribute to that
musical apex which is the Ciaccona … where, historically – past,
present and future violin techniques coexist.’ He regarded his essay
as a personal debt to the violin, which is ‘one of the most subtle and
complex of instruments.’ This is a hugely dramatic and multi-faceted
composition that explores a vast variety of mood, gestures and polyphony.
It is a work that seems to defy categorisation with a sound-world that boldly
fuses contemporary and historical expression. It is an undoubted ‘modern’
masterwork which is played to perfection by Christine Pryn. Sequenza VIII was
composed in 1976 for the violinist Carlo Chiarappa.
I have not heard any music by Bent Sørensen; nor anything approaching his
evocative portrayal of The Lady of Shalott. This work, written in
1987, was inspired by John William Waterhouse’s (1849-1917) eponymous
painting (1888) in the Tate Britain. The Lady herself sings a song of lamentation
as she drifts down the stream towards Camelot castle. Sørensen’s music
is dreamlike, almost timeless in its development and makes use of a wide variety
of sound effects on the violin. It is a piece that is particularly effective
on CD as the introspective nature of the music needs an undisturbed atmosphere
to work its undoubted magic.
Rafal Augustyn’s Cyclic Piece, no.1 is another wonderfully
suggestive work that seems to bend the passage of time. This music does as
it says on the tin – it is cyclical, everything that is heard seems
to reappear in one form or another. The music does not develop as such, but
seems to go from side to side. The liner-notes point out that the Hindu philosophy
of time underlies the working out of this piece. There is an excellent balance
between vibrant ‘active’ music and reflective and meditative passages.
The act of breathing seems to be a major part of this piece. The repetitive
patterns are derived from Indonesian gamelan. However, the listener does not
need to be aware of these philosophical underpinnings to relish accompanying
the composer on what is a long and interesting journey.
The last piece I listened to was Alfred Schnittke’s A Paganini.
This was composed for the 1982 Paganini Festival in Italy. The notes explain
that this piece gave the composer the opportunity to 'reinterpret Paganini’s
virtuoso violin pieces, the 24 Capricci (1820).' Schnittke’s
methodology here is to create a musical collage which ‘integrated fragments
from the caprices … where virtuoso passages and disconnected quotations
collide with unexpected outbursts and dissonant chords.’ Is this music
nostalgic, demonic, clichéd or chaotic? I am not sure but I certainly enjoyed
every moment of this complex work.
The liner-notes are useful although a little more information on the less-well-known
composers may have been helpful. The analysis of each work by Erik Christensen
is thankfully not overburdened with technicalities and elaborate philosophical
speculation.
Christine Pryn specialises in modern music: she has premiered more than one
hundred works. Her recitals are usually planned to explore old and new music
together. Pryn is involved in Danish music-making as artistic director of
the Danish Festival Rudersdal concerts which she instituted in 2010 as well
as a being a founder member of the Northern Lights Ensemble.
I was concerned when I received this CD. Seventy plus minutes of solo violin
music was certainly not something I could assimilate at a single sitting.
The only work that I knew was Bach’s Chaconne. All the other
compositions were new to me. However, I need not have worried. This is one
of the best CDs I have reviewed this year. The quality of the playing matches
the sheer imagination of the programme. Do not allow yourself to be put off
this CD if you feel that you are not a big fan of Pierre Boulez or Luciano
Berio. Their contributions will absolutely amaze you.
John France
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