Poul Ruders was trained as an organist but is largely self-taught
in composition. For anyone who has heard his music this background
is hard to credit as the listener cannot but be impressed by the
remarkable wealth of invention, imagination and expertise displayed
in his wide-ranging output. His catalogue includes many orchestral
works, chamber and vocal music as well as music-theatre pieces
and operas, such as The Handmaid’s Tale (2000) available
on DaCapo 8.224165-66 and Kafka’s Trial (2005) available
on DaCapo 8.2260042-3.
Bridge Records have
already devoted four volumes to his music; and I reviewed two
of them some time ago. Here comes the fifth volume that, like
Volume 4 (which I have not reviewed), offers a mix of orchestral
and chamber works from various periods of his prolific composing
life. The earliest dates from 1986 and the most recent from
2006.
Light Overture,
subtitled “A Symphonic Entertainment”, was commissioned by the
Alabama Symphony Orchestra for the Alabama Power Company in
celebration of the company’s 100th anniversary. True
to the work’s title, the music has an outdoor character and
shows the composer in a particular accessible manner, although
it also has some darker corners. This admittedly occasional
work is hugely enjoyable and superbly scored. Anyone who has
heard any Ruders knows that he is a master orchestrator who
always manages to find new and often surprising ways to use
conventional orchestral forces. This delightful work is no exception
in this respect.
Cembal d’Amore
is the earliest work here. Book One, heard here, was completed
in 1986. Twenty years later Ruders composed a second book that
might be recorded in the future. The sleeve-notes tell us that
the cembal d’amore (or clavecin d’amour) is a louder version
of the clavichord, developed in 1721 by the German instrument
builder Gottfried Silbermann. Appropriately enough, Ruders’
work, composed to commemorate the 300th anniversary
of Domenico Scarlatti, Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Friedrich
Handel, is cast as a baroque suite for harpsichord and piano.
Although the music often alludes to baroque forms and technique,
it never quotes any, except in the fourth movement that briefly
references Handel. The piece opens with a short, arresting Ouverture
followed by a substantial Allemande. The third movement
is a relentless Corrente that moves along at full speed
as a perpetuum mobile in an almost minimalist manner.
The Sarabande quotes from Handel’s Sarabande in
d minor; but in a fairly oblique way; Handel’s tune is approached
gradually before disappearing quickly “like a mirage viewed
across the centuries” (David Starobin). The suite is then capped
by a Toccata Ribatuta opening slowly with material from
the Sarabande before developing considerable energy until
reaching an almost frantic conclusion. I was a bit doubtful
at first concerning the effectiveness of the combination of
piano and harpsichord; but I now confirm that this brilliantly
conceived work is a real winner, the more so since the composer
has cleverly and effectively eschewed any attempt at baroque
parody. I would now be really eager to hear the second book.
The short Credo
for two violins, clarinet and strings was commissioned on the
occasion of Sir Yehudi Menuhin’s 80th birthday. This,
too, might be regarded as yet another occasional piece; but
Ruders always succeeds in conveying some of his thoughts and
concerns in anything he composes. This short piece is an intense,
deeply-felt tribute in which the composer allows his music to
sing, although it may again have its share of dissonance. The
end-result is at times reminiscent of, say, Vasks or Tüür, in
its tense lyricism. This is a really lovely work that deserves
to be heard.
Air with Changes
for harp is in total contrast with any of the other works recorded
here. It is a short set of variations on a Danish folk tune
Harpen’s kraft (“The Power of the Harp”). Here is Ruders
at his most readily accessible. The music is tuneful, often
subtle and straightforward. The piece sometimes brought Britten
to mind, and none the worse for that.
With The Second
Nightshade, one is now back in Ruders’ more familiar
territory. Although subtitled A Symphonic Nocturne, the
piece is much more of a nightmare than an atmospheric reverie.
The music rises from the depths of the orchestra with the ominous
rumbling of the bass drum out of which unfolds strongly atmospheric
nightmarish textures that would have been entirely appropriate
in a film score for a Hammer horror movie. The violins then
embark on an intense melody while the lower instruments move
into double time, thus creating a complex polyphony eventually
reaching an unsettling climax signalling the final section Serene
(not that serene). A dark chorale played by lower strings,
winds and brass slowly unfolds against a backdrop of fragments
of material from earlier sections of the work until the piece
reaches its eerie conclusion. This gripping piece of music bears
ample proof of Ruders’ orchestral mastery and flair for arresting
textures.
Judging by what
is to be heard here, performances and recording are excellent
and serve Ruders’ personal sound-world well.
This fifth volume
of Bridge’s continuing Ruders series is, I believe, the one
to start with. If you have never heard any of his music the
different works recorded here perfectly signpost the composer’s
musical progress as well as illustrating the variety of his
output. This is a beautifully produced release.
Hubert Culot
Stephen Gosling
(piano)b; Steven Beck (harpsichord)b; June
Han (harp)d; Alabama Symphony Orchestraa;
Odense Symphony Orchestrace; Justin Brownac,
Paul Manne 
