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Home , Saxophone quartet, Thomas Tallis

HighFidelity Mighty Winds uring the past two years the years together in Brussels, produced what Elegant and impressive Prism has issued five is taken to be the first-ever work for a DCDs. If the ensemble were a quartet of the instruments. Nonetheless, offerings from the , you might call that a busy the literature remained small until the recording schedule, but not unnatural; 1920s, when a seminal quartet headed by Prism Quartet, there’s so much string-quartet literature to the French saxophonist cover that they’d have to keep up a pretty started making a case for the medium; Music from China, pace if they hope to make much of a dent soon the group’s commissioning efforts in it. But Prism is not a string quartet. It’s gave rise to by com- Piffaro, a saxophone quartet, and now you may be posers of note, including Gabriel Pierné thinking—admit it—that perhaps you’re and Florent Schmitt. and Canada’s not quite up to listening to five CDs of saxophone-quartet music. Maybe not even Les Jacobins one. And then you hear a track—almost any track—from Antiphony, one of the two CDs the ensemble has just issued in celebration of its 25th anniversary, and by James M. Keller you are instantly persuaded to re-examine your assumptions. The group was formed in 1984 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where its members played their first con- cert not in a concert hall but rather in a restaurant. They were paid for their art- istry in omelets, and this triumph egged them on to greater things. In part, their path involved the standard saxophone- I remember hearing the Prism Quartet quartet repertoire, which goes back to the play some of the classics in their early mid-19th century. The Belgian instrument- years, and they did so adeptly. The group’s maker patented the family of tone was forthright but well blended (not instruments bearing his name in 1846, blowzy like the earlier French saxophone and by 1857 his colleague Jean-Baptiste quartets), their voices carefully tuned, their Singelée, a friend since their conservatory facility agile. But within only a few years

44 may/june 2010 they were straining at the limitations of group that plays on Chinese instruments is not a style of saxophone-quartet playing their repertoire, and they harnessed elec- and performs both traditional and con- that Marcel Mule would have recognized.) tronics to lead them down a new path. temporary works. Here the musicians Lei Liang, a product of New Before the ’80s were over, they were wow- double on various instruments, together Conservatory and Harvard, explains that ing audiences by playing some of their employing an instrumentarium of erhu, his piece was inspired by three diverse selections on MIDI instruments, which zhonghu, banhu, yangqin, pipa, and dar- meanings of the Chinese syllable yuan: enabled them to link their music-making uan—bowed, hammered, or plucked injustice, lamentation, and prayer. All three in real time to the possibilities offered by string instruments all—in addition to overlap in a Hunan folk tale involving emerging computer technology—very percussion. Like Prism, Music from China retribution for a lapse in the legal system, heady stuff at the time. They also saw that was founded in 1984, and it is also com- and the intonations and vocal contours of commissioning new works was going to mitted to eliciting new repertoire, even if that story’s text are reflected in the saxo- be an important part of their future. The its record of 36 commissions falls short phones’ melodies: a dense example of triple foundation of technical excellence, of Prism’s 120. Five of the works on this profound cross-culturalism. esthetic experimentation, and active com- CD were co-commissioned by the two The disc opens with two beautiful move- missioning has supported the group ever ensembles, both of which have received ments by Wang Guowei (artistic director since, even as it has evolved through con- America/ASCAP Awards of Music from China since 1996), scored siderable personnel changes. Here they are, for Adventurous Programming. for huqin and the saxophone quartet: a 25 years later, with only one founding A saxophone quartet and an ensemble pensive Pastorale inspired by music of Inner member (Matthew Levy) still in place, of Chinese traditional instruments (mostly Mongolia, and Crescent Moon at Dawn, a occupying a niche of distinction in the strings) might be taken to stand 180 degrees vivacious folk song from northeastern world of chamber music. from one another esthetically and cultur- China that oddly intersects with Jazz Era During its quarter-century, the ensemble ally; and the friction engendered by that connotations from the . This has commissioned and premiered more contrast adds quite a lot of drama to this association is suggested even more by the than 120 new works. One of the inevitable CD. Then again, both groups are accus- closing set on the CD, a triptych of move- results of such an intense commissioning tomed to shattering listeners’ expectations, ments by Ming-Hsiu Yen titled Chinatown, program is that the works generated vary and as one travels through this recording different takes on the sensations derived, considerably, not only in style but also in the bridge separating the ensembles’ musical as she explains, from visits to “Chinatowns quality. The group’s penultimate release, worlds shortens practically to the point of in the United States.” Like Wang Guowei titled Breath Beneath (on the New Dynamic disappearance. In fact, the two ensembles in Crescent Moon at Dawn, Ming-Hsiu Yen label), comprises Prism-commissioned play together in only four of the six pieces (currently pursuing her doctorate at the pieces by six composers, and although the on the CD: an early composition by Tan University of Michigan) can lead us to the tracks provide sporadic delights and quite Dun (Shuang Que) is a for just erhu verge of the xenophobic exoticizing that a few moments of interest, I can’t say that and yangqin (and, though pleasant, it made was practically de rigueur through the early a single one of these works struck me as no enduring impact on my Western ears), 20th century and even beyond. At a few destined for the ages. Any of them might while a work titled Yuan, by Lei Liang, uses moments the snazzy saxophones threaten provide an enjoyable ten minutes in a only the saxophone quartet. The latter is a to spill over into “Chinatown, My China- concert program, but a recording, by its 15-minute tour de force in which the town” or “Chong He Come from Hong very nature, invites repeated listening. I saxophones sometimes scurry with such Kong” or some other Tin Pan Alley con- did not find that my appreciation of this precision of articulation and intonation fection of their inherently racist ilk. But disc grew through repeated listening. that you can scarcely believe that their Ming-Hsiu Yen doesn’t actually cross that Very different was my reaction to the sounds are not computer-generated. (This boundary, touching the reference to racism group’s CD Antiphony (on the Innova label), which followed Breath Beneath by only two months. Again we have six pieces. “Lei Liang’s Yuan is a 15-minute tour de force in I liked them all, and five of them I can’t which the saxophones scurry with such precision get out of my head. The CD is a collabo- ration between Prism and another, very that you can scarcely believe that the sounds different quartet: a foursome drawn from Music from China, a New York-based are not computer generated.”

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only lightly and then backing off—if, and piano trios. But that may well change taking place outdoors. Most recorded indeed, the reference was even intended as the geographic center of “European-style “waytes repertoire” I have encountered and was not merely supplied by the listener. ” moves increasingly toward stresses the peasant possibilities of that At the heart of this recital stand two the continent of Asia, which is clearly what world, but when Piffaro plays instrumental major pieces by the new-music power it is doing. The day may not be far off versions of by Thomas Weelkes couple Zhou Long and Chen Yi. From when instrumental combinations such as or Robert Jones, or dances by Augustine the latter comes a remarkable for those heard on this remarkable CD don’t Bassano or Alfonso Ferrabosco (Jr.), or— Erhu, Percussion, and Saxophone Quartet, strike many listeners as terribly unusual. surprise!—sacred by a work that (as Chen Yi explains) is to When that time comes, this CD in general or Thomas Tallis, they do so without some degree depictive of ancient murals and Zhou’s piece in particular may be resorting to coarseness. Indeed, this recital in the Mogao Caves and “the high spirit held up as pioneering achievements of the includes a number of tracks that feature and strong power” of the long-gone world highest order. soft instruments rather than loud ones, such that gave rise to them. Although this is Other wind-oriented recordings have as several pieces played in most pleasing obviously an entirely “composed” piece gotten replay time in my sound system fashion by warmly voiced recorder consorts (and one composed with terrific flair), it is recently. From the Philadelphia early-music or a beautiful duet on the anonymous everywhere infused with a folkish spirit, ensemble Piffaro/The tune “Rossignol,” played by and . often a vivacious one. Still, the piece that comes Waytes: English Music for a Renaissance Piffaro is clearly intent on conveying takes pride of place in this line-up is Zhou Band (Navona Records), the details of the breadth of the repertoire that served Long’s Antiphony, a perfect title track for a on its beautifully designed cover the waytes, but I wish they had reined CD that grapples with the sonic confronta- promising a bracing listening experience. themselves in just a little. Near the end of tion—truly the “antiphony”—of Chinese In part, that’s what this CD provides. One this arguably overlong program we are and Western music. does not really expect a great deal of sub- suddenly confronted with two songs, which Antiphony a big-boned piece, running tlety from shawms and crumhorns and are sung by a member of the group and beyond 17 minutes, and it pursues an un- and dulcians and and accompanied by players from the ensemble. hurried investigation of this confrontation the like; we’ve been trained to understand I have encountered very few instrumentalists as played out between and among subsec- that ensembles of these instruments were who are very good singers, and the experi- tions of the ensemble, sometimes with very assembled to capitalize on their volume ence of Piffaro’s CD has only intensified reduced textures, saving the entire group and nothing else. Piffaro blows away that my opinion on the matter. Should you for moments of special impact. Not a idea. Certainly they display penetrating tone acquire this CD, just skip those portions— moment in this composition is less than and serious carrying power, but Piffaro tracks 20 and 21—when they arrive. beautiful or less than interesting, and also plays with elegance. Waytes, you may This CD has another shortcoming. It although it’s a serious piece, it’s far from remember, were small wind bands of comes without a printed program booklet. pretentious; a section towards the end is medieval and Renaissance England who Instead, you will see (should your eyes be even an amusing little symphony of ani- earned their keep mostly through civic strong enough to decipher the truly infin- mal sounds, from birds in the firmament entertainment, a good portion of it likely itesimal print that conveys this information to hogs in the barnyard. The composer’s on the release’s back cover) that this is an sense of dramatic pacing is superb, and his “enhanced content” CD, so the program orchestration is nothing short of astonishing. booklet is encoded on the disc itself. That’s This last characteristic would not count for a problem. While you’re listening to the much if the performances were lacking, CD you may want to check some infor- but these musicians go far beyond the mation that is likely to be in the program expectations any listener might reasonably book; but, of course, the program book is propose. I would like to think that Zhou embedded on the CD, and the CD is Long’s piece will become a chamber music otherwise occupied in your CD player classic. Of course, its instrumentation may just when you want to consult it. What to make that difficult, or at it least it would do, what to do? Well, you could just print if we assume that concert chamber music out the electronic booklet yourself, right? will continue to be centered on time-honored I found myself unable to accomplish this, Western assemblages like string quartets so I called Piffaro and reached a woman

46 may/june 2010 who was eager to help me solve my dilemma. wind music mostly from the French Revo- the wind band in Revolutionary France, and After experimenting with the CD for a lutionary period and mostly by François- helping establish the Paris Conservatoire while on her own computer, she announced Joseph Gossec, though with a few brief items in the aftermath of the Revolution. This that indeed it was not possible to print out by his contemporaries Méhul, Catel, Gaveaux, selection of his music, played with finesse the booklet: it had to viewed electronically and Bécourt. Performing are members of and enthusiasm on period instruments, or not at all. But why, she wondered, didn’t Les Jacobins, a loosely constituted Canadian includes items from the composer’s collec- I simply listen to the CD on my computer group assembled by bassoonist Mathieu tions of music for clarinets, bassoons, and and read the booklet on the screen at the Lussier, who provides an interesting program- horns; a suite for the same titled La same time? Well, there were perfectly good book essay that you can actually read with- Bataille, depicting various stages in a military reasons I preferred not to do that, but it out untoward inconvenience. Gossec is one encounter, from the summoning of the did at least seem like a solution of some of those shadowy figures known principally troops through the attack to the eventual sort. But guess what? When you open the through music-history textbooks, but he was victory; and a four-movement “Symphonie electronic booklet, you get a soundtrack: not an inconsequential composer, standing à 6,” again for wind sextet. the opening item on the recital, a Weelkes as the figure who broke through to the None of this music is of great conse- titled “Tan tara ran tara cries Mars,” Classical style in France. (Or Belgium; he quence in the grand scheme of things, but and this emphatic 1 minute and 13 seconds- was born in a region of what was then France it is at least pleasant to hear in such accom- long track plays over and over and over as but later became Belgium, so both nations plished performances. Then too, this is long as you have the booklet open, pre- claim him.) He’s remembered principally exactly the sort of music that helps us con- cluding the possibility of listening to the as a composer of the French Revolution; textualize other composers whose music actual CD, unless in dissonant counter- most of us care about more: much of this point to the Weelkes. If you cut the volume sounds strikingly similar to the wind music on that, you also cut the volume on the of Beethoven, for example, and the larger- CD’s music tracks; so that’s not a solution. scaled of these works are laying the foundation One could download the CD onto an iPod upon which Berlioz would soon construct or other portable player and then listen to his remarkable inventions. Rounding out it from that source while viewing the book- the CD are Lussier’s own arrangements (for let on one’s computer, with the computer’s wind sextet) of ceremonial pieces and popular volume reduced to zero; but then you’re songs from the French Revolution, including only hearing the CD with the compressed settings of such familiar items as “Ça ira” sonic attributes that are part of the iPod and “La Marseillaise.” Right about now we experience, and if there’s anything you want will all be starting to make our plans for with this CD, it’s the fullest possible sound. July 14. If you buy only a single CD for Possibly there’s a way to overcome this, your Bastille Day celebration this year, let but the bottom line is that I lost both it be this one. patience and interest; I never again want to hear “Tan tara ran tara cries Mars,” and I but in fact he lived a long life of 95 years, don’t think listeners are well served by elec- from 1734 to 1829, which makes him James M. Keller is Program Annotator of the tronic packaging of this sort. Navona Records almost exactly a contemporary of both Haydn New York Philharmonic and the San Francisco went to the trouble to create handsome and Beethoven together. By the time he Symphony. His book Chamber Music: A packaging for this disc, and the musicians died he had lived “under four kings, six years Listener’s Guide is in preparation for publi- went to the trouble to play beautifully in of revolution, the Consulate, the Directorate, cation by . the instrumental portions, so I don’t see why and the Empire, not to mention two the parties involved couldn’t take the step Restorations”—so is his biographer Claude of providing basic supporting information Role quoted in Lussier’s program essay. in a format that jibes with the likely needs Gossec’s many accomplishments—he of the listener. claimed—included introducing trombones A further wind-oriented CD has proved to French (not earth-shattering, unusually interesting: Aux armes, citoyens! perhaps, but it turned heads in its day), (on the ATMA Classique label), featuring effectively creating the central institution of

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