Luxembourg Contemporary Music - Volume 1
Ivan BOUMANS (b. 1983)
Meiosis (2012) [15:47]
Marco PÜTZ (b. 1958)
Moods (2013) [12:26]
Jeannot SANAVIA (b. 1962)
Hélice (2014/5) [13:24]
Tatsiana ZELIANKO (b. 1980)
Sonata delle Farfalle (2017) [16:28]
Roland WILTGEN (b. 1957)
Orbital Resonances (2018) [12:01]
Solistes Européens, Luxembourg; Christoph König
rec. 2012-18, Grand Auditorium, Philharmonie Luxembourg
NAXOS 8.579059 [70:16]
Many years ago the Luxembourg Society for Contemporary Music started releasing a set of ten CDs as an Anthology of Luxembourg Music which covered the output of some of the most important composers in Luxembourg who had been rather forgotten up to then, although their music had regularly received its first - and, unfortunately, last- performance either by the INR Symphony in Brussels or the RTL Symphony Orchestra in Luxembourg, both radio orchestras which at that time devoted much time and commitment to the works by local composers. Younger generations, however, often studied abroad before returning to Luxembourg, thereby gaining some reputation in Europe and beyond. Along with the ten-volume anthology, the LGNM released eight composer's portraits and one offshoot of the LGNM, (i.e. the Luxembourg Sinfonietta) under Marcel Wengler's guidance organised several composition competitions and contributed to a whole disc devoted mostly to chamber music by several Luxembourg composers, both known and lesser-known. This preamble will serve, I hope, to stress the remarkable musical activity going on in Luxembourg. Now, Luxembourg can boast three professional orchestras: the Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg, Solistes Européens Luxembourg and the Kammerata Luxembourg (more about this one in a forthcoming review), while not forgetting the pioneering work of the Luxembourg Sinfonietta. The recent release under review offers a partially updated survey of the musical activity in Luxembourg. To tell you the truth, all the composers here but two are new to me, which is why the release of this disc made me quite happy.
Meiosis and mitosis are scientific words defining two kinds of cellular division, and the idea for the piece arose from a conversation between the composer and a friend of his studying medicine. They both chatted about the difficulties they were facing in their studies: she was working on meiosis and mitosis while he told her about a work by Dutilleux he was analysing. When asked to compose a piece for the Solistes Européens, Boumans thought again of that conversation and how music and biology might be 'reconciled'; the outcome of all this is Meiosis which basically is a theme and variations on a number of four melodic-rhythmic elements which undergo a number of transformations. This is a very fine piece of music, superbly scored and with a finely judged sense of narrative development.
There are no such considerations with Marco Pütz's Moods, dedicated to the composer's father-in-law who was a great lover of classical music and who died earlier in 2013. The overall structure of the piece is fairly straightforward, falling roughly into three sections: a slow, dreamy introduction leading into a more animated central section, in turn leading into an appeased gesture of farewell. Moods is a deeply felt, though unsentimental, statement of gratitude.
Jeannot Sanavia's Hélice is roughly inspired by Sonia Delaunay's fresco created in 1937 for the Palais de l'Air in Paris. The music here is dynamic, full of telling orchestral gestures sometimes verging on some sort of energetic minimalism, though never settling into the minimalist mould. The overall impression left is that of a brilliant Scherzo of sorts. There is no doubt that this is a most enjoyable piece of music.
Belarus-born Tatsiana Zelianko is one of these names new to me, although I later realized that some of her piano works have already been recorded (NEOS). Her Sonata delle Farfalle (“Sonata of the butterfly”) retraces in its four movements the death, life and rebirth of a butterfly. This is again another very fine piece of orchestral music which would, I think, have benefited from being laid out in one single movement albeit with sections. I for one find that the fragmentation into four short movements somewhat distracts from clearly perceiving the main narrative thread traversing the piece.
The very title of Roland Wiltgen's Orbital Resonances points to some complex astronomic phenomena although this again does leave much to the composer's or the listener's imagination. (I remember a very fine piece by Anders Hillborg title Celestial Mechanics that may also be simply enjoyed as music while forgetting all about that which might hide behind the music.) All this to tell that you need not be an expert in orbital resonances or celestial mechanics to enjoy this lively, colourful, well-made piece of music.
In short, this is a very fine release to be explored on its own, still more so if you know all or most of the works and composers featured in this anthology, for there is much worthwhile music to be heard here, especially given that they are such excellent performances and so well recorded. Concise insert notes by the composers are provided.
I for one rejoice, considering that this release is Volume 1 and that there is still more to come.
Hubert Culot
