Time
Gallery could essentially
be called a chamber symphony. The movements are cyclical
in their constant repetition of phrases, especially in
the second movement. The piece appears to be a representation
of the development of the clock, from canonical bells to
mechanization, to the atomic clock, to time perceived in
retrospect. The first movement goes off with the startlement
of a clock that has lost a spring, with whirrings and bells,
then settles in to the overall sound and feel of a traditional
chamber piece. The somewhat exotic scoring of the piece
makes itself evident — those are cowbells halfway
through that meditative section — as one listens to the
piece.
The
second movement has four named sections, beginning with a
confusion of clocks that breaks into a scherzo-like piece
that busies itself with its fast tempo before moving on to
the next with an uneasy descending chromatic motif. What
follows is a rather fast section that culminates in a constantly-repeating
figure that gradually falls apart into dissonance and disorganization.
After a blow to the drum, we are back to the familiar motif
heard earlier. The third movement, entitled Pulse: the
feeling that happens, is another fast-paced scherzo-like
movement. The fourth movement (Overtime: Memory Sings)
again begins with a clocklike introduction. Chimes fade in,
then the rasping deep ticking of a clock that multiplies
over the beating of a heart. This is a movement of quiet
tension that the string parts build on while the piano maintains
an insistent tone in the left hand to carry the time motif.
The composer, in his notes that accompany this recording,
states that this movement calls up the “imagination of an
ideal mind remembering the previous movements, reinventing
the past”. It has the meditativeness of the first movement
and is rather melancholic and wistful. As the parts fade,
what is left is a pianissimo held A, on which the
piece ends.
The Protean
Fantasy of 1993, scored for violin and piano, begins
with a bright exclamation before moving into a lyrical
segment that forms the basis for the variations that follow.
The immediate variation is a new side to the theme entirely,
presented as a scherzo with the violin intoning the theme
over the manic piano. An affecting and excitingly interesting
piece.
The Ariel
Fantasy is a perpetuum mobile scherzo, which
Moravec mentions is the prototype of the Tempest Fantasy’s
first movement, which is available on Arabesque Records
(Z6791). All of the pieces here presented are exceedingly
well recorded with, especially at the beginning, - and
perhaps this is with intent - the percussion a bit too
far forward. Naxos again remains highly consistent with
its well-produced recordings of new and unfamiliar repertoire.
Well-recorded, well-performed, this is an interesting and
engaging program.
David Blomenberg
see also review by Dominy Clements
eighth blackbird (percussion) 
