Max RICHTER (b. 1966)
Exiles
Flowers of Herself [8:33]
On the Nature of Daylight [7:19]
The Haunted Ocean [2:10]
Infra [5:35]
Sunlight [3:58]
Exiles [33:34]
Baltic Sea Philharmonic/Kristjan Järvi
rec. September 2019, Tallinn, Estonia
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 486 0445 [61:13]
Exiles was composed for the Nederlands Dans Theater, and its title reflects the transformation of the so-called Arab Spring in Syria in 2011, into the “migrant crisis” the region was suffering by 2015. The conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan saw a constant stream of refugees who, in escaping danger in their own countries, encountered various kind of peril on their journeys. Boats sinking in the Mediterranean are thought to account for around 3735 missing people, and the image of the three-year-old Alan Kurdi washed up on the shores of Bodrum, Turkey, came to symbolise the humanitarian disaster in Syria and the desperate and tragic situation of these refugees.
Exiles is built around a recurring motif that “goes around and around as it passes through different landscapes. It’s a very simple idea, but I wanted to put this notion of exile, of walking, of movement, into the heart of the music in a technical sense as well as metaphorical.” The circular motif is initiated on a piano, but the little chorale takes on a more chime-like timbre as the strings weave harmonic textures to create those passing landscapes. The hymn-like effect is not dissimilar to Gavin Bryars’ Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet, but without the mesmerising effect of that singing voice, with all of its fragility and imperfections. The strings take on a more active role as the work progresses, and in the last twelve minutes or so set up their own rhythmic ostinato. A crescendo is set in motion, with harmonic variation and a thickening of the texture creating a wall of sound that includes lengthy cadential resolutions that never quite resolve, ultimately diffusing into a dark quietness that leaves us with an unanswered question.
This, the most substantial piece in the programme, is preceded by shorter works that connect in mood and various other ways with Exiles. Flowers of Herself was also conceived for ballet and also engages with movement, this time with the restless atmosphere of the city, expressed through a filigree melody that runs through the piece like the contours of a swiftly but by no means violently meandering river. On the Nature of Daylight is a slow and poignant lament that connects to the tragedy of war, and may be familiar to Richter fans as an arrangement of part of The Blue Notebook. From all of these pieces The Haunted Ocean sails closest to Philip Glass, being an orchestration of a repeated theme from the soundtrack to Waltz with Bashir, an animated film that takes us to the 1982 Lebanon war. Infra 5 lushly fills out a piece originally written for string quintet, its theme reflecting on the July 2005 terrorist attacks in London. Sunlight is a piece for which Richter has a particular fondness. It is from a 2006 string quartet that was included on his Songs from Before recording, an album which was somewhat eclipsed by the success of The Blue Notebook.
Exiles is very beautiful, but if anything makes me uncomfortable about it then it’s the luxury we have in being able to be indulgently dolorous about something that is inherently ugly and horrific, right here, right now. Hindemith said of the genesis of his Trauermusik, “I was assigned a studio, some copyists were stoked up, and from 11 to 5, I did some heavy mourning.” If you are up for some ‘heavy mourning’ then Exiles will be right up your street. Almost all of these pieces occupy a similar emotional world, with even the more bustling Flowers of Herself having an Arvo Pärt-meets-John Williams minor-key kind of feel about it, and with that fragrant poignancy on the consequences of war as a golden thread running through the rest of the programme. Recorded sound is good, with a cinematic quality that suits the music well.
Dominy Clements
