Selmer Saxharmonic is a twelve-strong saxophone ensemble directed by the
experienced Viennese-born conductor Milan Turković. For those who like their
sax sections broken down, I can reveal that there is one sopranino, two
sopranos, three altos, three tenors, two baritones and one bass, a line-up
that would have had Stan Kenton licking his lips with relish.
The disc title is self-explanatory, the music ranging from Giorgi
Sviridov's evergreen
Snowstorm through Hanns Eisler to the biggies;
John Barry, John Williams, Henry Mancini and Ennio Morricone. There's a
jaunty, rather droll air to some of the writing and arrangements, which
cleverly exploit the voice layering with an ensemble of this kind. The notes
are even jauntier, signed by the Pink Panther himself - that Mancini theme
is the disc's envoi - and that cat is not giving away any clues as to much
in the way of arrangements and responsibilities. They are merely noted in
small print in the booklet - most are the work of Christoph Enzel, one of
the tenor players.
So, the notes being the jolly thing that they are, it's best to enjoy this
recital for what it is, an engaging romp. Sviridov's music is represented by
only three scenes, but they make for a useful contrastive trio, warmly
textured and melodically distinctive. There are also three cuts from
Morricone's
Once Upon A Time In The West, but they are singly
tracked and run consecutively. The cleverest is the ingenious depiction of
the harmonica and here, and in
Cheyenne, there are hints that Enzel
has been listening to John Harle in Michael Nyman's band. There are five
scenes from Barry's
Dances with Wolves, again single-tracked and
lasting six-and-a-half-minutes. It's not my favourite Barry film music by a
long chalk but the ensemble finds excellent colours and locates its
lyricism. The Prelude to Herrmann's
Psycho is the longest of the
four cuts by some way, and the saxes do manage to evoke the music's
brittleness. Talking of Nyman, homage is paid via
Hotel de la
Ville, its irregular rhythms very characteristic with the tell-tale
lyric moment threading its way through the chugging dynamism, in momentous
counterpoint. It's enjoyable to hear the
Rota-suite, three
well-loved pieces, not least the love theme from
The Godfather and
the theme to
La Dolce Vita, after which the Eisler - back to Berlin
cabaret ethos - comes as something of a stylistic shock, but the saxophones
work well, especially in the coiled energy of the concluding march. After
which we have the dessert;
Star Wars,
Pirates of the
Caribbean and
Pink Panther, to close.
The twelve German saxophonists certainly generate a fine corporate sound.
Turković and the band have recorded much from the classical repertoire -
Dvořák and Shostakovich included - and I can say that I enjoyed much of this
fun and engaging disc.
Jonathan Woolf
