Chamber Music

It's been nearly four years now since I first heard this disc, which was released in honor of the composer's 80th birthday. Birtwistle is one of my favorites -- I consider him among the best living composers, and one of the best of the late 20th/early 20th centuries -- but after repeated listening, I fail to respond to this music with enthusiasm.The best piece, to my ears, is the 16-minute "Trio," played by Lisa Batiashvili on violin, Adrian Brendel on cello, and Till Fellner on piano. Bayan Northcott explains in the liner notes how the composer handles the problem of balance (the overpowering piano) which has prevented more trios being written. While not exactly light or lively, the piece does move through a greater variety of moods than the rest of the disc, and I find it consistently compelling.The longest piece is "Bogenstrich -- Meditations on a poem of Rilke," which is over thirty minutes long in five parts. The first and last parts are settings of Rilke's "Liebes-Lied," sung in German by baritone Roderick Williams, while the inner three parts are instrumentals for Brendel on cello and Fellner on piano. This is a love song with variations. Williams's voice is warm, and the writing is impressive, but it moves very slowly and I find it easier to admire than to really enjoy.Finally, the album opens and closes with settings of Lorine Diedecker's poetry, sung by soprano Amy Freston with Brendel on cello. These are very abstract pieces that require the lyric sheet to understand despite being sung in English. I find them cold and uninteresting, with the exception of "As I shook dust from my father's door," an oblique love poem, which actually has a melody and understandable lyrics.The composer's wife Sheila died before this ECM disc was released, and "Bogenstrich" is dedicated to her. I am very sorry for his loss, and I am sorry I cannot better connect with this melancholy music.*** *** ***ECM's 30-page booklet includes extensive liner notes, lyrics, and black-and-white photos.

This music is best listened via an excellent sound system, with no distractions or other sounds, to be fully appreciated.Piano Trio is an instrumental piece. With just a piano, violin, and violoncello Birtwistle creates really intimate, intense, direct, dramatic chamber music.The strings and piano enter a spontaneous dialogue which meanders and flows. The music is heading in the same direction, but there is underlying tension which pushes and pulls, getting frenzied. It finishes in a similar way that its started, quietly romantic.Three Settings of Lorine Niedacker is the shortest piece, lasting under five minutes. It is in 3 miniature sections, and was apparently inspired by Webern who always wrote the least amount of music possible. The lyrics were written by the poet Lorine Niedacker and is sung beautifully in English by Amy Freston, accompanied by the violoncello. The instrument and voice interact so well that at times they seem to merge. I got lost in this piece, and was surprised to find out how short it was.Nine Settings of Lorine Niedacker is very similar to this piece. Its about three times as long, which makes logical sense. It also sounds similar, which isn't surprising since the same singer and instrument are combined with the same poet's lyrics. In fact, if the two pieces are played together - they could be called the "Twelve Settings...."The final piece is titled Bogenstrich - Meditations on a poem of Rike. The first and last movements consist of a love poem sung by a baritone, Roderick Williams, in German accompanied by piano and violoncello. It sounds like Lieder to me, which is very pleasant. But the middle three sections hold this piece together, and make it more interesting with Birtwistle's inimitable sounds and rhythms.This is a great compilation and if you buy the CD there is an interesting and informative booklet, which includes the libretto and translations. It is presented in the traditional CD case, which is superior to many of the cardboard sleeves, in my opinion.

The singing by Roderick Williams brings out the best of Birtwistle's creative personality: a sensitive man of close affinity with the tone of lyric poetry, incapable of vulgarity or cliched response, and with a well-developed and effective sense of the sonic mise-en-page. RW sings a Rilke poem in two settings, once at the beginning and once at the end of Bogenstrich, the most rewarding offering in this collection of vocal and instrumental works. The Trio for vn., vc. and pf. may not be quite as innovative in its approach to texture as suggested by Bayan Northcott in his eloquent liner notes, but is still interesting to hear, especially with Tim Fellner on the piano; whereas the various settings of Lorine Niedecker's miniature poems for soprano (Amy Freston) and 'cello (Alfred Brendel) testify to HB's attraction to texts that are, at best, semi-comprehensible (e.g. VIII: O late fall / marsh - / I / raped by the dry / weed stalk). As a whole, though, one is reminded by the lack of variety in the quasi-authorial tone of the music and evasion of traditional topics in text setting (e..g what to do with musical 'fillers' between vocal phrases) of 'Harry the Hedgehog' (rather then 'HB the Fox'): 'tis is an old trope, but still, alas, true. By the end I thought I really had got the whole picture.

I have written elsewhere of the generally mixed experience I have had with Birtwistle’s music (see e.g. the Arditti CD of his Quartet music, which I admired greatly). Here I am unreservedly a fan. The Niedecker settings are a revelation, Birtwistle in spare, thoughtful mood creating miniatures of great beauty. The Piano Trio is concise, gutsy and impressive. Lastly the five-movement Bogenstrich is the largest structure here, which I find I enjoy more each time I hear it.I’d also commend the wonderful professionalism of the performances. Amy Freston has the exact measure of the sparse elegance of the Niedecker settings, all three instrumentalists feel comfortably at home in this late-Birtwistle idiom, and I like the way Roderick Williams allows the music to speak for itself in Bogenstrich.In all, with the technical recording being of the first class, this is a quality product which makes me grateful I persevered with this robust but ultimately warm-hearted composer.

Ce disque comprend, parmi les œuvres récentes de Harrison Birtwistle Harrison Birtwistle: Wild Tracks - A Conversation Diary with Fiona Maddocks  :a) Une œuvre pour baryton, violoncelle et piano d'une demi-heure, Bogenstrich (2009), fondée sur un poème de Rainer-Maria Rilke où ce qui unit deux êtres l'un à l'autre est comparé à un coup d'archet (en allemand Bogenstrich) qui fait vibrer deux cordes. En cinq parties, la pièce est un croisement du Lied (les deux parties externes) et de la sonate pour violoncelle et piano (les trois parties centrales). Elle est dédiée à l'épouse du compositeur, depuis décédée.b) Un Trio pour violon, violoncelle et piano que jouent, excusez du peu, Lisa Batiashvili, Adrian Brendel et Till Fellner (œuvre créée en 2011)c) Deux cycles pour voix de soprano et violoncelle, respectivement de 1998 et 2000, les Settings of Lorine Niedecker (Lorine Niedecker est une poétesse américaine dont les dates sont 1903-1970, et dont on trouve des textes en français chez José Corti).Birtwistle lui-même est toujours réticent lorsqu'il s'agit de citer des influences, Stravinsky étant un des noms qui reviennent le plus souvent. Mais il y a certainement d'autres filiations qu'on pourrait évoquer, en particulier lorsqu'on est, comme ici, du côté de l'intime, sans aucune objectivation, ni ritualisation, ni distance ironique. La manière dont Birtwistle écrit pour la voix dans Bogenstrich et les Settings pourrait faire penser dans ces œuvres de chambre à des cycles britanniques antérieurs signés Vaughan-Williams Vaughan Williams / Ten Blake Songs  ou Britten (un rapprochement qui ne lui plairait sans doute pas tellement), et pour la musique de la mélancolie Birtwistle : Melancolia I - Meridian... , il faut sans doute remonter plus haut, du côté de Dowland et Purcell.Interprétés de manière assez idéale par Amy Freston et Adrian Brendel, les Settings of Lorine Niedecker sont, dans leur brièveté et leur variété, tout à fait envoûtants, et ceux qui sont sensibles aux grandes plages méditatives du Mask of Orpheus Birtwistle : The Mask of Orpheus (opéra)  et du Minotaure Minotaur  retrouveront, concentré à l'extrême, l'univers poétique du compositeur et sa veine lyrique à nulle autre pareille. Signe de la réussite de ces pièces : le violoncelle et la voix s'y suffisent pleinement à eux-mêmes.Les ambiances entre chien et loup du Trio en un mouvement, d'une durée d'un quart d'heure, sont bien servies et Lisa Batiashvili Johannes Brahms, Clara Schumann , qu'on n'attendait pas vraiment dans Birtwistle, joue pleinement le jeu de cette musique de l'esquive, tandis que le piano lumineux de Fellner J.S. Bach: Inventionen und Sinfonien; Französische Suite 5  fait entendre la filiation avec la seconde Ecole de Vienne Schönberg : Pierrot Lunaire - Erwartung - Lied der Waltaube .Bogenstrich est la pièce qui se laisse apprivoiser le plus difficilement, mais elle finit je crois par convaincre pleinement. Il faut entrer dans sa temporalité, qui est celle de la rumination, et se laisser porter jusqu'à la reprise finale du poème, subtilement variée. Le baryton Roderick Williams nous donne une interprétation sensible et si par endroit on aimerait un violoncelle plus charnu que celui d'Adrian Brendel, les moments où la phrase s'allonge sont très bien rendus par celui-ci.Les admirateurs de Birtwistle, il y en a, et les amateurs de musique récente non conventionnelle et d'univers non formatés n'hésiteront pas, on l'espère, à franchir le seuil de cet album, et ils en seront abondamment récompensés.Parfait pour les jours de pluie, et comme vous savez, des jours de pluie, il y a en a beaucoup de ce côté-ci du Channel.Textes en anglais, avec l'original du poème allemand de Rilke. Harrison Birtwistle: Wild Tracks - A Conversation Diary with Fiona MaddocksVaughan Williams / Ten Blake SongsBirtwistle : Melancolia I - Meridian...Birtwistle : The Mask of Orpheus (opéra)MinotaurJohannes Brahms, Clara SchumannJ.S. Bach: Inventionen und Sinfonien; Französische Suite 5Schönberg : Pierrot Lunaire - Erwartung - Lied der Waltaube

Beautiful, stunning music from the foremost creative composer living in this country.Sensitive commited performances from all. Amy Freston deserves more music like this for her dynamic voice.