MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger


 
REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


Availability
Andrew Poppy

Andrew POPPY (b.1954)
On Zang Tuum Tumb
CD 1: The Beating of Wings (The Object is a Hungry Wolf (1985) [12:26]; 32 Frames for Orchestra (1985) [8:35]; Listening In (1985) [13:02]; Cadenza for Piano and Electric Piano [14:31]; Inside the Wolf (theme for Channel 4’s The Tube) [3:15]; The Impossible Net [16:27]; Listening In (Re-modelled) [3:52])
CD 2: Alphabed (A Mystery Dance) (The Amusement (7 inch edit) [3:15]; 45 Is [20:37]; Goodbye Mr G [14:33]; The Amusement (12 inch) [7:23]; Kink Konk Presto [4:50]; East Fragment [6:02]; Kink Konk Adagio [6:05])
CD 3: Under the Son (The Sequence [8:36]; The Passage (Parts 1, 2, 3) [26:05]; Sometimes it Rains [3:40])
No performance details provided
ZTT 186CDX [3 CDs: 73:08 + 63:44 + 38:21]

Experience Classicsonline

Andrew Poppy is probably the least known of the once-new English experimental school of composers, which includes Graham Fitkin, Lawrence Crane, Howard Skempton and the late Patrick Morris, amongst others. His neglect is a mystery to me for this is very approachable music and a recent show at King’s Place, with his new band, proved just what we are missing. This three CD set is a retrospective and most welcome it is. An LP and CD of the first four pieces was issued in 1985 and that was a revelation, for here is a new kind of minimalism. The Object is a Hungry Wolf is a fine example of Poppy’s work, using the well known language of American minimalism but allowing himself time for the interpolation of lyrical material, and if this holds up the minimal movement who cares? This is a very exciting piece, full of chunky reeds and rampant keyboards, with strings and voices. At first sight this might seem rather too familiar - you might feel that Steve Reich is in there somewhere - but he isn’t - for Poppy creates a sound entirely his own. 32 Frames for Orchestra is a thrusting, aggressively forward-moving, piece for a largish ensemble, brilliantly played here under the composer’s direction. There is a version Poppy made for the Graham Fitkin Band but this is the original and it’s the one to have for its sheer momentum. Accept no substitutes!

Listening In is a very funky chamber piece for trumpet (Bruce Nockles), guitar (Jack Hughes) and keyboards, samples and voice (Poppy). Drum led and it’s got an obsession about it which keeps the music moving onwards. The Cadenza for Piano and Electric Piano (Glyn Perrin and Poppy) is a study in the most minimal of repetition, a simple up-and-down arpeggio. Inside the Wolf uses Fairlight and Synclavier Samples - as I never watched The Tube I had never heard this before - I suppose that that says something about me! The Impossible Net claims to use the same orchestra as 32 Frames but you’d be hard pushed to guess that was so for the first few minutes. It never obviously becomes orchestral music - there’s a lot of keyboard writing, as well as what sounds like sampled guitar and drums. This is a very strange sound-world. Finally, Listening In (Re-modelled) another exploration of unusual territory. This makes a suitably upbeat end to the first CD.

The second disc, Alphabed, was issued as a CD and LP in 1987 comprising the second, third and fourth tracks heard here. The material is more pop-orientated than The Beating of Wings, but it’s pop filtered through the knowledge of Glass and Reich. That said, Poppy’s music owes nothing to either of the Americans except a passing nod in their direction for the processes used. The sound-world here is clear and precise, with a nice sense of humour showing through. The brilliant minimalist conception that is 45 Is possesses great energy and it’s full of interesting changes and instrumentation - good use of voices too. To balance the extreme energy of 45 Is, Goodbye Mr G is nicely laid back, but it still has lots of subversive things going on, not least the constant drumming, and the spectre of an electric guitar. The Amusement throws us back into funk and repetition and a marvellously insistent bass. The last three pieces run together as if they were sections of a larger score. Kink Konk Presto is a brass and rhythm -based driving fast piece. East Fragment is a piece which I can only describe as being static whilst incorporating some movement, while Kink Konk Adagio continues in the vein of East Fragment but with slower funk material added. This is a very exciting CD, which shows several different sides to Poppy’s talent.

The final disk, Under the Son, here receives its first issue. It’s short on playing time but big on substance. The Sequence features the usual Poppy mix of drums and rhythm section, over which a male voice intones what sounds like nonsense words. It’s the most “60s” of the pieces, trancelike and simple in its effect. The Passage (Parts 1, 2, 3) is the longest work here and it is fully developed, the growth being splendidly worked out, and the whole making a very satisfying composition. This is a good place to start for it speaks in a straightforward language and is easy to understand, despite the terse argument Poppy creates. No bad thing for a contemporary composer. Finally, Sometimes it Rains, a short rhythmic piece brings the sequence to a joyful close.

This is a very exciting set of CDs, of music by one of the lesser-known, but certainly not lesser talented, British composers at work today. Poppy’s work is unique, and although he uses minimalist forms he has forged his own style and voice. The presentation is excellent, in a sleeve which opens to reveal the three CDs and a very useful booklet. This is not to be missed.

It can be bought from Andrew Poppy's website.

Bob Briggs  

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.