This is probably not the easiest product in the world to market:
130 minutes of organ improvisations, with grandiloquent titles
like "Crossing Borders", "Destiny", and
"Dreams of Childhood Dreams", played on an obscure
instrument in a little village in western Denmark by a relatively
unknown Danish composer-organist. Magle’s biography boasts that
he "also works with film scores and crossover music, blending
contemporary classical music with other genres such as jazz,
rock, and electronica." Not really a concept to have music-lovers
reaching frantically for their wallets!
It hardly helps that Frederik Magle has a tendency to come across
in print as a little precious. For example, on his website,
his presumably self-penned biography says he "began composing
at the age of five and took lessons of piano and music theory
from the age of six. The first public performance of his music
took place when he was 8 years old." The big 'welcoming'
photo of him on the site, also host to the "Magle International
Music Forums", verges on the self-parodic. In the CD booklet
notes he says that the music on this double disc forms a "story",
one of "restless, sometimes tortured minds on a journey
somewhere between the unreal and the all too real." He
says of the improvisations: "And alive they came, each
like a being with an individual story to tell. Filled with different
emotions: joy, hate, love, anger, despair, sorrow, hope, but
having one main purpose: to become." They came alive to
become? Magle is not writing in his native language, and his
English, though good, is not perfect - but is that an excuse
for pretension?
So is there any compelling reason to listen to his music? Categorically,
the answer is yes. Once the first CD is spinning, Magle's linguistic
liberties and idiosyncrasies quickly fade as the quality and
imagination of his improvisations become apparent.
Magle was commissioned to design the new organ at the 12th century
church at Jørlunde in 2004, and it was built by Frobenius &
Sons. In December 2009 Magle immersed himself for two days in
organ improvisation, playing a total of 60, of which he chose
23, "meticulously sorted into this musical and mental journey"
for this album, "unedited as a one take live recording."
He describes the whole experience as "psychedelic",
but there is nothing hallucinatory about the quality of the
results. Magle's music-making is highly creative, sometimes
visionary, surprisingly unpompous (titles excepted), and always
basically tonal - or at least chromatic - and tuneful. Magle
himself was sufficiently impressed to undertake to commit all
the improvisations to score - this is music recorded backwards!
The hour-long first disc flies past. It opens dramatically with
the huge chords of 'Origin', yet the second and third pieces,
'Like a Flame' and 'Fleeting Glimpses' could hardly be more
different, with their catchy ostinatos and high registers. Almost
sardonically, given the comments above, the longest piece, 'To
Become', is outstanding, building up a thrilling, Franckian
wall of sound before relenting peacefully. Magle admits in the
notes that this one work, the longest on either disc, is only
partly improvised. The final track, 'Truth', begins bizarrely,
like a clapped out organ being crank-started, and ends just
before the organ bursts into flames - which is just what the
original instrument at Jørlunde did! The 'Truth' is stranger
than fiction - but startlingly original.
The opening piece on CD2, 'Odditorium', is aptly named - a ride
through a fairground Haunted House to the Magle's phantasmagorical
accompaniment. 'Through the Mist', the second track, is a much
longer, reflective piece, whereas 'Memories of Meadows' is not
unlike a reworked ancient Celtic folk tune, complete with droning
bagpipe. The disc ends with a marvellous Widor-like toccata,
'Ascending', followed by the almost extra-terrestrial 'End of
the Circle'. It is this kind of intelligent variation which
characterises the whole programme - dramatic window-rattlers
alternating with pieces that are serenely uplifting or contemplative
and others again that are mischievously eccentric or playful.
To complement this there is also a steady flow of ideas, expertly
implemented, within the improvisations themselves. At no point
in the two hours is the listener's attention given cause to
flag; yet the music is often so emotionally intense that, between
discs, a cup of tea at the very least is advisable.
Sound quality is reasonably good, though there is a slight fuzziness
to the quieter sections. One minor quibble is that the tracks
are very closely cropped, especially at their beginnings - not
a problem when a whole disc is played, but more noticeable when
individual tracks are selected. The CD booklet design is...different.
Magle looks far more genial on this photo. All things considered,
this is a double CD that no fan of original organ music should
be without.
Byzantion
Track-listing
CD 1
Origin [4:18]
Like a Flame [3:59]
Fleeting Glimpses [3:02]
Towards Truth [8:42]
A Temptation [5:53]
Merry-go-round [3:40]
Awakening [6:02]
Awake [4:12]
To Become [12:12]
Realization [3:39]
Truth [4:06]
CD 2
Odditorium [3:20]
Through the Mist [9:18]
Crossing Borders [5:59]
Dreams of Childhood Dreams [4:15]
Memories of Meadows [7:12]
Behind the Mask [5:33]
Empty Fair [6:40]
Lament [6:41]
Journey Forever [6:02]
Destiny [9:12]
Ascending [4:03]
End of the Circle [4:52]
Frederik Magle (organ) 
