Graham FITKIN (b. 1963)
Circuit (2002)a [19:48]
T1 (1999)b [7:28]
Relent (1998)c [11:08]
Carnal (1993)d [11:43]
From Yellow to Yellow (1985)e [1:33]
White (2004, rev. 2007)f [4:33]
Furniture (1989)g [5:48]
T2 (1999)h [4:34]
Kathryn Stott (piano)abcfh; Noriko Ogawa (piano)abdefgh
Tokyo Symphony Orchestra/Naoto Otomoa
rec. MUZA Kawasaki Hall, Japan, September 2007
BIS BIS-SACD-1517 [68:36]
I have already had the opportunity to review some of Fitkin’s music here
some time ago. Here comes a brand new disc including works for one and two
pianos as well as a substantial work for two pianos and orchestra, the whole
spanning some ten years or so of his present output.
This release opens with the fairly imposing Circuit for two pianos
and orchestra. It was composed in 2002 for the present soloists who gave the
première in Manchester with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. To a certain
extent this might be regarded as a concerto although much of the music rather
makes it a substantial Toccata with a central slower section. The piece opens
with heavily pounding chords on both pianos, first at unison but rhythms soon
get more capricious. The music displays some highly adrenalin-fuelled energy
moving headlong with much alacrity and exuberance. It then calms down somewhat
in the central section before the reprise of the energetic music heard in the
first section. Although it still possesses some minimalist touches the music
is strictly worked-out and travels though different territories of a less minimalist
kind. What impresses most, however, is the sheer energy of most of it. This
is the sort of work that should become highly popular with pianists and audiences
alike.
T1 and T2 for two pianos were completed in 1999
as part of a sequence of music written for the composer’s residency at
Tate St Ives. They form a strongly contrasted diptych although they may not
have been conceived as such. T1 is a slow-moving piece devised
to exploit the venue of Tate St Ives. The music mostly consists in repetitive
gestures interspersed with ‘resonating’ silences, for lack of a
better word. On the other hand T2 is much more rhythmically alive
with joyously bouncing rhythms. White was written originally
for a summer school on the Suzuki method. The original version of 2004 was
for four pianos whereas the version for two pianos was made for this recording.
It is a fairly simple and straightforward piece and the music may be the most
overtly minimalist although it does not lack contrast.
Relent, written for Kathryn Stott, is a fairly substantial piece
for piano that may be regarded as a virtuosic Toccata. It opens with lively
rhythms. The music moves headlong relentlessly but contrast is nevertheless
achieved by way of dynamic changes. This is an impressive and demanding piece
that may sometimes bring Prokofiev to mind. Carnal sets out on
a different journey in that the music constantly contrasts fast and loud, and
slow and quiet. Again the fast sections have a strong Toccata-like character.
The piece, however, ends unresolved. The earliest work here - and the composer’s
earliest acknowledged work - is From Yellow to Yellow completed
in 1985. This is a tiny miniature of the kind that might have been written
by Howard Skempton. Furniture is another early work but again
in a quite different league than most of the other ones. The music is more
fragmented and mosaic-like so that one never really knows in which direction
it will proceed from one episode to the next. This is a lovely work - full
of surprises.
Graham Fitkin’s music is often repetitive and might be categorised as
Minimalism. There is however much variety that rather tends to belie the minimalist
label. It is also quite often characterised by lively, insistent, jazzy rhythms
that make it readily accessible and enjoyable. Moreover it is superbly laid-out
for piano which does not come as a surprise since Fitkin is an excellent pianist.
These performances are just superb as is the recording. It sounds remarkable
throughout even when heard on a ‘normal’ CD player as mine. In
short this is a very fine release surveying Fitkin’s output for piano
with the splendid Circuit as its crowning gem. I enjoyed this
enormously and I cannot but encourage anyone with a particular liking for superbly
crafted piano music to investigate it and relish every moment.
Hubert Culot