Yvonne TROXLER (b.1962)
Brouhaha
Penn 1, for flute, bass flute, bass clarinet, vibraphone and piano
(2006/2011) [8:15]
Shergotty, for three percussionists (2004/2011) [9:32]
Brouhaha, for violin, cello and three glass bowl players (2010) [11:24]
Susurrus, for viola, cello and piano (2011) [7:00]
Kaleidoskop, for tenor saxophone, electric guitar, percussion and piano
(2005) [6:34]
Glass Farm Ensemble
rec. Concordia College, Bronxville, New York, 25-28 July 2011; Ovation Sound,
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 25 August 2007 (Kaleidoskop).
INNOVA 835 [42:50]
Byzantion’s review of this disc covered the bases for this cute little release.
I like innova’s mini-LP look to some of their new discs, and while there
is no booklet at least the package doesn’t inevitably tear as with some
other slimline/foldout designs.
Composers integrated into their own ensemble have plenty of advantages when
it comes to composing. Presenting an ensemble with a finished work when you
have little idea of the chemistry, personalities and tastes of the musicians
involved can be a recipe for misunderstanding or rejection, and the closer
the collaboration the better the results are likely to be. This release is
a kind of high class demo disc for both Yvonne Troxler and the Glass Farm
Ensemble, and I wish them the best of luck with it.
Penn 1 has an interesting pallet of sonorities, with bass clarinet
a definitive factor in the winds, piano low and percussive as well as combining
with a vibraphone to create a lively sparkle at times. There is also an atmospheric
slow section which explores multiphonics and microtone interval relationships.
Evocative of “the noises a big city like New York produces”, the
flashes of action and nocturne-like imagery is more cinematic than actual,
but none the worse for that. I’m less enamoured of the repetitions into
the 6th minute and beyond, and the piece tends to wander a bit
and might be worth editing to get the best from the material, but it’s
still decent enough stuff.
Shergotty is the name given to a meteorite from Mars, and Troxler describes
the three movements of this piece for three percussionists as “like
found objects.” Woody untuned percussion like knocking stones, deep
thrummings and bowed metal and juicy ostinati create fascinating mini-worlds
which spark the imagination. Brouhaha has glass bowl players adding
some magical effects to a violin and cello. These bowls are played with marimba
mallets to create unusual chimes, as well as being set into resonance by ball
bearings in the second movement. In the end this piece raises more questions
than answers and doesn’t really satisfy one way or the other. The effects
are interesting but remain effects rather than generating something really
new, and the string parts are either profound or profoundly uninteresting,
depending on your point of view or sense of charity. As a pianist, I would
have thought Troxler would have heard the integration of the bowl sounds with
piano strings as more interesting than - glass harmonicas aside - the more
disparate relationship of ringing bowls to 18th century catgut.
Susurrus is made using a standard piano trio instrumentation, so with
piano, violin and cello. The title means “a soft whispering or rustling
sound”, and the composer emphasises the unification of the instruments
through superimposition. This doesn’t mean constant unison playing,
but does involve the strings and piano exploring the same range for extended
periods. This idea is not necessarily a bad one and I don’t insist on
Haydn-esque musical conversations from chamber ensembles of this kind, but
alas the result here ends up neither fish nor flesh, with plenty of low ruminating,
an absolute lack of connection with any kind of emotional message and the
kind of muddy musical material which makes you ill with frustration. Yuk.
The compact final work Kaleidoskop is a wider exploration of less familiar
juxtapositions of sonority and timbre, with saxophone, electric guitar, percussion
and piano. This is intriguing rather than communicative of the kind of ‘wow’
factor which brings you back to a piece. Troxler’s own notes on the
work talk about technical factors and the relationship of the musical treatments
to the title, but as with much of the rest of the music here this is a closed
world which invites you to take a look - presenting its own values in a kind
of ‘take it or leave it’ way, looking up at us from the bottom
of a deep well and not really giving us the idea of its having very
much to say about anything.
If this were poetry, you would read it, raise an eyebrow and move on; your
life unchanged by thunderbolts of significance or an expansion of understanding
and connectedness. These are nicely crafted objects which are interesting
to have around, but sooner rather than later I suspect more interesting and
inspiring baubles will take their place in your mental space.
Dominy Clements
Interesting and likeable baubles, but no great discoveries here.