It is hard to believe that this Finnish composer has now turned
fifty – such has been the destiny of a young man who in those
years was regarded as ‘promising’. From the earliest stages of
his career, his music received considerable attention and enjoyed
several commercial recordings. Since then, his compelling music
has been well served on disc, and his formidable Kraft
(1983/5) - the culmination of his early, more radical style -
has even been recorded twice: Finlandia FACD 372 and Ondine ODE
1017-2.
He is probably
best known for his works for ensemble and/or orchestra in
which he excels. He has however also composed a good deal
of piano music as this generous release makes clear. Incidentally,
Lindberg is a fine pianist who gave the first performance
of some of these works. He also played the solo part of his
Piano Concerto and recorded it a few years ago for Ondine
(ODE 1017-2).
The various works
are presented in strict chronological order which provides
a fair survey of his stylistic progress. As with many composers
of his generation, he began composing in a post-serial idiom
of the type put forward by Boulez and his like. This is clearly
to be heard in the earlier works such as Music for Two
Piano, Klavierstück (this one a tad too long for
its own good) and the tiny triptych, Three Piano Pieces.
Play I for two pianos is still much along the same
lines. It allows more freedom to the performers through the
use of so-called spatial notation but even this is constrained
by certain pre-determined rules. What comes clearly through,
however, is that this and the other earlier works display
typical playfulness and rhythmic richness. These are among
the most consistent and endearing qualities of Lindberg’s
music.
By the time he
composed Twine, Lindberg had shown increased concern
for harmony. I remember an interview on the occasion of the
Belgian premiere of Kinetics (1988) played during an
Ars Musica festival in which he explained the impact and importance
of his music. This is evident in the most recent works featured
here: Jubilees and the two Etudes. Jubilees
is a short suite of six movements that started as a tribute
to Pierre Boulez on his 65th birthday. Five other
movements quickly followed. Later still, Jubilees was
scored for chamber orchestra, which clearly indicates that
“even though this is piano music, it is created from a mind
which thinks in terms of the broadest possible orchestral
colours and polyphonies” (Ralph van Raat).
This most attractive
and musically rewarding programme is immaculately played by Ralph
van Raat, superbly partnered by Maarten van Veen in the pieces
for two pianos. Their vital readings are recorded in an excellent,
natural acoustic. This is “Lindberg in a Nutshell” - quite a nutshell
with a total playing time of more than seventy minutes! No admirer
of Lindberg’s music should miss this.
Hubert Culot
Ralph van Raat (piano); Maarten van Veen (piano)a
