Harry Partch: The Wayward

In many years of listening to the wild, wonderful and highly idiosyncratic and innovative music of Harry Partch, it was long hoped to see a performance of his work using the adapted and custom built instruments, which are fantastic to see as well as to hear, and that opportunity finally came a few weeks ago at the REDCAT and Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theatre in Los Angeles.  

The Partch Ensemble presented the program "Bewitching Petals," which combines the names of two of the composer's notable works, The Bewitched, of which some excerpts were presented of the 1956 piece, and And on the Seventh Day Petals Fell in Petaluma, from a decade later also comprising portions.  The other two works were "Listening to Lu-Tzu" by Ensemble leader John Schneider, using text from the great 8th -century Chinese poet, Li Po, some of whose verse was put to music by Partch in his early years of writing, this being the early 1930s, and "Parable of the Bitter," a brand-new piece by Daniel Corral, also an Ensemble member.

The concert was just outstanding with the phenomenal sounds of such instruments (Partch had two dozen of his invention) as the Chromolodeon, Cloud Chamber Bowl, Diamond Marimba, Drone Devil, Eroica, Gourd Tree, Spoils of War, Surrogate Kithara and the Zymo-Xyl, tuned to the 43 microtones to the octave that marked Partch's monophonic system.  Because he eschewed Bach's equal temperament, the notes sound out of tune to someone not familiar with Partch's method, but attuning the listening as well as noting the frequent use of small groups, duets, trios and so on, as well as appreciating the heavily percussive nature of the music helps to better understand what was behind the thinking of this unique composer.  A healthy sense of humor helps, too.

The eleven members of the Ensemble also frequently switched instruments, another unusual element of the concert and there were nine guests, some playing more traditional instruments like the bass clarinet, clarinet and piccolo, while there was a soprano voice, as well.  The interplay, often very complex and compelling, drew this listener back and forth, up and down across the stage in a way not experienced with traditional concerts.  Schneider's solo rendering of the Li Po piece was deeply immersive and powerful with his stentorian voice and the Adapted Guitar II sounding like a Chinese ch'in.  In all, it was a truly memorable and unique concertgoing experience and a plan to perform all of The Bewitched next year is eagerly anticipated.

Of three discs by the Ensemble purchased at intermission, the one featured here is The Wayward, the fourth and latest of a series by the group on the small, but important, label, Bridge.  Given Partch's years traveling the country, riding the rails as a hobo, and experiencing first-hand a subculture of Depression-era America that reminds this blogger of the homelessness crisis of our time, it is particularly striking to hear the music and the lyrics to such pieces as "Barstow," "The Letter," and, especially, the amazing "U.S. Highball," all composed between 1940 and 1955, with the former amended in 1968.

Also very impressive is "Ulysses at the Edge," dubbed "A Minor Adventure in Rhythm," and with a bonus impro version of the 1955-1962 work, to boot.  There are various recordings of the pieces on the recording, but it is always interesting to hear those rearranged in various sequences, as well as the quality based on the recording environment, mastering, and other aspects, not to mention the technology of a given time.  This album, like the others acquired, is beautifully played and recorded and the Ensemble and Bridge deserve every kudo for their impressive efforts.

One last word about the show that made it even more memorable.  At the end, the audience was encouraged to go to the stage for the "petting zoo," seeing and touching/playing the instruments, with Ensemble members to answer questions.  A friend that we sat with, Robert Portillo, works on some of these instruments and remarked that he'd never seen such engagement before at these "petting zoos."  The 15-minute opportunity was a great way to end a stunning evening, with the memory enlivened by this and the other discs brought back from the performance.

Christian Wolff: For Ruth Crawford

This 1994 release on the Swiss label HatHut presents four works from 1968 to 1993 by the composer whose work was large built, as stated in the liners by Art Lange, on the fact that his "particular interest was in creating circumstances in which the performers would need to react spontaneously—with either precise details or those chosen from variable possibilities—to events occurring within unpredictable conditions." 

This could mean notation that had different forms or the use of graphs, images or spoken instructions "to create such indeterminate conditions of musical activity."  That word in the quote evokes the landmark 1959 John Cage/David Tudor recording, Indeterminacy and Cagean principles relating to chance operations and the choice made available to the performers.  

For Brown, however, it got to the point where his 1968 work, "Edges" was developed for "any number of players, any number of instruments" and no instructions as to harmony, pitch, rhythm, tempo or time.  Rather, players were given 25 symbols, the words "singing" and "slow" and markings of "ff" and "ppp" along with the number "3" randomly placed on a black page.  So, the performers on piano, trombone and viola decided to have four separate types of movements in 20 minutes.  The effect, Lange writes, is that "the sounds are in a constant state of . . . becoming" and "completely dependent upon the commitment of the performers.

1970's "Snowdrop" was written for harpsichord and perhaps other instruments and with notes placed on staves without bars and indications space, with numbers, "between the phrased sequences," emphasizing the importance of space and silence.  The piano, violin and trombone are overdubbed and "they are free to distribute the material at their discretion.

The more recent pieces of "Ruth" (1991) and "Peggy" (1993) are for Ruth Crawford, stepmother of folk master Pete Seeger and an experimental composer who later worked on transcriptions of folk music with Seeger's father Charles, and her daughter Peggy, also a folk singer.  "Ruth" has standard notation, with opportunities for players on piano and trombone to work with microtones, timbre and other elements at their choosing.  Drumming on the piano and whistling are also included.  With "Peggy," overdubbed trombones also perform with mostly a notated score, with some melodic material taken from the namesake's pieces.

Interspersed in Lange's text are quotes from Wolff, such as "I'm trying to see how little I can indicate [to players] and yet come up with a piece that's clearly itself, one that still has a life of its own," or his idea that "we had to liberate ourselves from the direct and preemptory consequence of intention and effect," or "my music is often just material" but that a key to performance was "how the individuals relate to each other as they play."  Perhaps most important are the statements that "all music is propaganda music" and if "you still haven't the foggiest idea what my music sounds like; you have to hear it or play it to find out."  For this untutored listener, the main idea is to go where the performers take you and to enjoy the journey, not worrying about the map.

Luciano Berio: Orchestra Works

The music of Luciano Berio is a rollercoaster ride of tonal color, striking contrasts among instruments and exploration of the sound possibilities of solo performers, small groups and orchestras.  Berio was also interested in reprocessing his works in varied contexts, as is the case with the first two pieces of this remarkable recording, issued by the Col Legno label from Vienna.

A previous post here was on his astounding Sequenzas I-XIV, which dynamically expounded on solo instruments of various kinds and, here, Chemins I from 1965 and Chemins IIb from 1970 take those sequences for harp and viola and place them within an orchestral context.  The result is a depth and richness to the pieces, spectacular as they previously were in isolation, that reinvents the works in notable ways, especially as the playing of these typically "softer" instruments interacts with the range of those around them.

The expansive Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, the juxtaposition of the keyboards and their relation to each other and the orchestral instruments.  Berio once wrote that the traditional concerto was passé when he wrote this work in 1972 and 1973 because he felt that the relations between the orchestra and soloists were totally changed from the days of Baroque, Classical and Romantic composition.  He noted that this piece was one in which "the soloist develops mobile, diversified, and very unstable relationships between themselves and with the soloists of the orchestra, creating chamber ensembles."  While there are major contrasts in these interactions, which is exciting, if also disconcerting, the composer continued that "behind all these differences lies a unifying harmonic process," with the keyboards beginning alone "almost like a map consulted before starting a journey."

The final piece, Formazioni, is from the middle 1980s and the title is crystal clear, as Berio experimented with orchestral formations in arranging instrumental clusters and exploring, as one analysis stated, "relationships within the traditional families of instruments and the roles they are given to play," so that these are "defined and allotted in a new manner."  The unfamiliar and unexpected become an exercise in resolution, for the performers and for the listener, and, as an amateur, this blogger can only really go on the feelings generated and they are of intrigue and the position of being unsettled, but ultimately invigorating, especially as Berio mines both space, the quietude of some passages and then jarring densities and great intensity.

These feelings are represented in the notes by Ferdinand Schmatz, an Austrian experimental poet and essayist, who seems to write in a free associative prose poetry for these first three pieces and a more structured and far more concise way with the last.  Impressionistic throughout, Schmatz asks questions as well as offers his reactions.  It is interesting to read notes that don't inform but share reactions and this listener could certainly relate to much of it.

Elliott Carter: 16 Compositions (2002-2009)

I finished recently a book on the music of the astounding Elliott Carter, whose work continues to amaze because of its complexity, richness, and wide range of expression.  The book was often a tough slog when it came to intricate and rigorous technical explanations of the construction of pieces and the often intimidating terminologies employed in musicology.  Still, what did come through for a total amateur was Carter's innovations in harmony, time and other structural elements, and most especially in his use of rhythm.

The book definitely made listening to Carter's work more worthwhile in trying to pick out where the composer employed his creativity and innovation.  An example of this is with 16 Compositions (2002-2009), another excellent issue in a series by Bridge Records, which produces great recordings by modern composers.  The 2010 double-disc surveys a wide range of symphonic, ensemble, solo and choral works in a period in which the composer was in his mid-90s to early 100s.

That's one of the many remarkable aspects about Carter in that he was very active making amazing music at a very advanced stage in life and doing so with all the exploratory creativity he displayed throughout his career.  In fact, he finished his last piece just three months before he died in late 2012, a few weeks shy of his 104th birthday.  So, this survey has a lot to enjoy, often in brief pieces, and featuring typically unusual instrumentation, like solo works for marimba and bassoon, along with more standard large and small group and solo types.

George Crumb: Ghosts from Alhambra/Voices from a Forgotten World

George Crumb's remarkable music includes frequent references to Spain, including his fascination with the poems of the tragic Federico Garcia Lorca, and "Ghosts of Alhambra" is a seven-part suite composed in 2009 of remarkable interest based on Lorca's 1921 "Poem of the Deep Song" written for traditional flamenco performances held at the historic Alhambra.  This chamber work features a male baritone, a guitarist and a percussionist and the voice lends a sombre and forbidding aspect to the mysterious voicings of the guitar and an often rumbling of the percussion.

The "American Songbook" series by Crumb is not about standard pop fare, but an unusual look at a variety of pieces that reflect what the composer identifies as from all directions of the compass on the continent and incorporating native Indian themes, reimaginings of popular music pieces and other music reflecting the diversity of the United States.  The 2006 "Voices from a Forgotten World" turned out to be an added chapter to what was slated to be a four-part series and continued on to other parts.

There are ten pieces in this set, ranging from 1 1/2 to over 9 minutes and reflecting a great diversity of types of material.  There are two voices, a baritone and a mezzo-soprano with the instrumentation consisting of amplified piano and four percussionists employing a wide range of types.  Crumb subtitled these "A Cycle of American Songs from North and South, East and West" and there are pieces referencing native peoples, New England, Appalachia and the South, but they also reflect time periods from the 17th century to the first half of the 20th and themes varying from native concerns to labor to takes on Stephen Foster's "Beautiful Dreamer."

The songs in "Voices from a Forgotten World" also reflect myth, humor, pathos and other emotional ranges and, as is often Crumb's way, there is a great deal of foreboding and mystery to much of the cycle, while "Somebody Got Lost in a Storm" is jarring, intense and powerful with the percussion and piano reflecting the element of the storm in a dramatic fashion.

This album is the fifteenth in a series of the complete works of Crumb and Starobin's involvement is notable because, in 1981, he established the Bridge label which issued the recording.  He deserves kudos for his dedication to this great composer and issuing beautifully performed and recorded albums like this.

Earle Brown: Folio and Four Systems

Considered to be part of the New York School of modern composers, along with John Cage, Morton Feldman and Christian Wolff, Earle Brown developed an "open form" system of composition in the early 1950s that allowed for a measure of authorial intent and choice and improvisation by the performers.

While some early examples of the method were very abstract and left a great deal of room for musicians to interpret what Brown aimed for, later pieces had more concrete notational concepts in them.  In any case, the composer's ideas were a radical departure from conventional composition, even if Cage became even more open in his way of composing and Feldman retained more traditionnal forms of notation.

It's small wonder that John Zorn was greatly inspired by Brown's methods and that this recording is issued under his Tzadik label.  Zorn and the Earle Brown Foundation, celebrating what would have been the composer's 80th birthday in 2006 (he died four years prior), assembled a remarkable group of musicians for Folio and Four Systems.

The first piece, "Folio" was recorded by Brown as he performed trumpet (his main instrument) along with percussion and bass, and another work, "June 1953," was orchestrated by him withh Wolff playing piano as part of a quartet. Others on the album include the amazing vocalist Joan LaBarbara, the remarkable pianist Stephen Drury, noise musician Merzbow (Masami Akita), laptop electronic performer Ikue Mori, violinist Mark Feldman, composer and electronic musician Morton Subotnick (just highlighted on this blog), and the great trumpeter Leo Wadada Smith. 

There is a stunning variety of sounds, textures and colors on this recording that illustrate what Micah Silver, in his contribution to the informative liners, describes as "Brown's attempt to take his music to the brink.  Not to leave it there, but to visit the brink in order that he could explore his way home (wherever that would be) more freely." 

Brown is quoted writing "With FOLIO I intentionally extended the compositional aspect and the performance process as far out of normal realms as I could, just short of producing nothing at all."  The idea was to be produce work between "extremes of finite control" and "extremes of infinite ambiguity."  He also noted that truth is a mobile point on an arc between two ends of a paradox.  Translated into music, that can be very challenging for the listener, but a little patience and an open mind (for open form) can be very rewarding.

Krzysztof Penderecki: Orchestral Works, Volume 1

This Naxos recording of four orchestral works by Penderecki by the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Antoni Wit, includes the dense, dramatic and dynamic Symphony Number 3, composed between 1988 and 1995 and which represents something of a balance between the avant-garde work Penderecki became noted for in the early 1960s and more traditional approaches after he found his earlier fixatons "more destructive than constructive."

To this amateur, the balance is struck quite well.  There is a lot going on sonically, with soaring brass and strings accompanied by a variety of propulsive percussion, especially in the second movement, while the third movement's adagio has a very pretty and lyrical melody.  These were composed at the end of the seven-year gestation of the piece, whereas the final two movements were the earliest, including a foreboding fourth movement passacaglia that has a powerful and dramatic apogee and a finale that blends darkness with power in a very gripping fashion.

Then, there's the best-known and somewhat infamous piece, coming at the peak of Penderecki's early avant-garde period in 1960.  The "Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima for 52 Strings" is a devastating sonic experience, in which the use of all those stringed instruments are taken to a aural extreme in segements of a piece spanning about 9 minutes. 

The composer stated that, in a conceptual form, it was to be called 8'37" in direct reference to John Cage's notorious 4'33", but that, once it was recorded, he decided that its emotional power led him to change the title as a dedication to those who died in the atomic blast let forth by the United States in August 1945.

While I've had this disc for some time, it was more than interesting to watch David Lynch's highly experimental and visually starting eighth episode of the Twin Peaks return just a couple of months ago and, during an extended sequence that dealt with the atomic bomb and its setting off the evil form that became the underpinning for the series, there was "Threnody" providing a stunning soundtrack to the incredible scenes unfolding on screen.  Coincidentally, at about the same time, I was reading a couple of books dealing with Hiroshima and Nagasaki, so the confluence was remarkable.

As experimental and mind-blowing is "Flourescences," which was composed a year after Threnody.  Utilizing a full orchestra, but also a variety of additional sound sources, inlcuding an alarm siren, and wood, tin and glass, cowbells, a typewriter and gongs, Penderecki unleashed an adventure into sound that moves beyond music and the composer once said about it, "all I'm interested in is liberating sound beyond all tradition."  It is a fascinating excursion into unusual combinations of instrumentation and the presentation of sound that seems, to this untrained listener, evocative of a soundtrack.  This is because, though the piece doesn't have defined movements, it does seem to have distinct and set-apart elements.

Finally, there is "De Natura Sonoris II" from the early 1970s, a short piece that is more restrained than its provocative predecessors.  There are some unusual instruments here, as well, including a piston flute and musical saw, with violas and plenty of brass standing out.  There is a long climax followed by a calm ending and the effect is striking.

A second volume of the orchestral works of Penderecki is certainly in the offing for a future post here and as a continuation of the absorbing, if often difficult, music of this always-interesting composer.

Morton Feldman: Durations/Coptic Light

This is a remarkable recording in which Morton Feldman's experiment with time, especially in which he allows the performers to determine the length of given tones, as in the five-part "Durations" from 1960-61.

To this untutored listener, "Durations" is also exceptional because the economy employed in scoring the strings, flute, tuba and violin allow for each instrument to have its own space so that the the dynamics, interactions, and atmosphere created are hypnotic and dream-like.  Interestingly, the one section of "Durations III" marked as "Fast" is, rather, a little less slow than the rest of the piece, but hardly a jaunty allegro!

"Coptic Light," a 1986 piece for a full orchestra from the end of Feldman's life is a very different aural experience.  It is also dream-like, but more on the nightmarish side, though in a captivating and compelling way.  Repetitive washes of strings and brass are accompanied by the light rumbling of percussion and there is a sort of dissonant effective even as the scoring has a strong logic to it.

Feldman was said to have been inspired with this work by his long-standing fascination with textiles of the early Coptic society in an exhibit at the Louvre.  He then thought about the role of the textiles in that society and applied this musically in terms of, as Peter Niklas Wilson states in the liners, "the atmosphere in which they had arisen if one were to hear them two thousand years from now."

Another interesting observation by Wilson had to do with a statement by Jean Sibelius about the distinction between an orchestra and a piano being the latter had pedals to alter the effect of the music.  Feldman, then, "set out to create an orchestral pedal, a pedal changing constantly amid fine nuances" throughout the score of "Coptic Light."

The sound quality of this CPO recording is excellent and the performance by the Ensemble Avantgarde from Leipzig is beautifully rendered.

Karlheinz Stockhausen: Stimmung

This remarkable recording of Stockhausen's work for chorus, Stimmung, is one of those albums that should be heard with headphones to really appreciate the particular aural dynamics of how he composed for polyphonic singing.

As performed by Paul Hillier's amazing Theatre of Voices, Stimmung is an especially stimulating experience, one that, for some, might be worth hearing after listening to, say, Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares, a Latvian female choir album, or the male Rustavi Choir from the republic of Georgia.  There are also sections of overtone singing that are somewhat reminiscent of the Tuva throat singers of Mongolia.

Stockhausen composed Stimmung, which implies tuning voices but can also refer to a calibrating of the soul in a positive way, in early 1968 as his take on madrigals, using text, vocalizations, and his own particular style of composing to create something very different and new. While there is basically a single chord utilized, the use of six pitches and overtones provides a complexity that makes the piece move beyond the idea of that one chord.

Instead of a score, there is a "form scheme" with 51 models that the singers follow with instructions as to who sings, what pitches are employed, and the textual resources (including a selection from 66 "magic names" based on mythological fitures) utilized.  There is a call-and-response element to the work with variations and the use of some improvisation and a new lead singer takes over in each model, though the ensemble decided which model goes where within the general scheme.

Interestingly, Hillier stated that Stockhausen offered to assist with the recording, but schedules did not permit it, so a tape of a performance was sent and the composer returned "a detailed critique—whch we found challenging and extremely helpful."  This sounds very Stockhausenian, actually, as does the closing comment that the various recordings of Stimmung sound quite different from one another, which is probably to be expected given the extraordinary way the piece was worked out and the demands it places on performers to utilize their individual and collective personalities in the performance.

Finally, Hillier offers that, of all of the experimental works of the 1960s, he feels Terry Riley's In C and Stimming are most representative and that he sees these very different works as being related to the conditions of time (the Sixties) and place (the effects of California on the two men)

Stimmung is, especially heard with headphones, a particularly stimulating and compelling work by one of the most provocative and unique composers in recent decades.  The recording quality is also crystalline, which really enhances the effect.

Györgi Ligeti: Works for Piano, Vol. 3

This amazing recording features the first two books of Ligeti's Etudes for Piano, representing later work from the 1980s and onward, the Musica Ricercata from the early 1950s, and a brief etude from 1995 and the third etude book.

It is an illustration of Ligeti's penchant for building upon a traditional form with a highly personalized modern style, as well as the phenomenal playing of Pierre-Laurent Aimard.  There is a great deal of complexity in tempos, range, expressiveness and power in these works, especially the etudes, and in the hands of Aimard, the pieces are staggering in their conception and execution.  As a Sony Classical production, the sound is also top-notch and heard on headphones, the album is more exceptional from the standpoint of the clarity.

It is also illustrative to read Ligeti's notes about why he composed etudes:

The initial impetus was, above all, my own inadequate piano technique. . .I would love to be a fabulous pianist!  I know a lot about nuances of attack, phrasing, rubato, formal structure.  And I absolutely love to play piano, but only for myself . . . that's what I would like to achieve: the transformation of inadequacy into professionalism.  I lay my ten fingers on the keyboard and imagine music.  My fingers copy this mental image as I press the keys, but this copy is inexact: a feedback emerges between idea and tactile/motor execution . . . the result sounds completely different from my initial conceptions: the anatomical reality of my hands and the configuration of the piano keyboard have transformed my imaginary constructs . . . I call for support upon the four great composers who thought pianistically: Scarlatti, Chopin, Schumann, and Debussy.

Ligeti also highlights the polyphony employed in ensemble playing in Africa, specifically Uganda, Malawi and other nations and the playing of the mbira (highlighted here before) and other similar instruments that bear a relation to the piano.  Colin Nancarrow, another major modern composer, and the jazz pianists Thelonious Monk and Bill Evans are also mentioned as influences when it comes to the uniqueness of the playing and writing of each.

He also briefly discusses the Musica Ricercata as devolving from his devotion to twelve-tone music as well as his appreciation for Bartok and Stravinsky, noting that that the first of the eleven pieces has two tones transposed through octaves and then each adds another tone, so that the final has all twelve.  As Ligeti states, the suite comprises

A severe, almost noble piece, hovering between academic orthodoxy and deep reflection: between gravity and caricature.

To go from the later etudes back to the early twelve-tone work is to see how much a composer can evolve over the course of a long, fruitful career.  For an amateur seeking a greater appreciation for the range of works for the highly expressive piano, this album was a real eye-opener.

Milton Babbitt: An Elizabethan Sextette/Solo Piano Works/Groupwise/Vision and Prayer

Milton Babbitt has often been criticized for being cold, mechanical, and overly intellectual, with his interests in electronics and twelve-tone composition lacking human elements.  However, a recent read of his Words About Music, a compilation of lectures he gave about his views on Schoenberg's system and other aspects of music, while often very technical and beyond this amateur's understanding, revealed someone who had a quick sense of humor, a way of lecturing to students and others and, more importantly, a total passion for his calling.

It's one thing not to like someone's work because it just doesn't reach you, but it's quite another to dismiss it because of perceptions about a composer's qualities.

This recording, then, is an excellent example of showing Babbitt in a variety of settings, including some beautiful vocal works that amply demonstrate a very human approach to composition.  "An Elizabethan Sextette" is, of course, a series of a half-dozen love poems from the Elizabethan era, including one by the famed queen.  The singing is in six parts, so this sense of polyphony adds to the lushness and captivating nature of the works.

Alan Feinberg's piano work on five pieces, four of which are under 2 1/2 minutes with the last, "About Time" running over twelve, is recorded with great clarity, his performance precise, and the composition compelling.  The piano is inherently an evocative instrument and, whatever views there are about twelve-tone composition, the range of sounds generated in these pieces show, to this untutored listener, a certain warmth, as well as of virtuosity and the interesting combinations and recombinations of twelve-tone technique utilized.

"Groupwise," is a concerto for flute, alto flute and piccolo with a piano and string trio accompaniment.  The flute is almost constantly soloing, but the range of sounds generated by the other instruments in conjunction with the main one is striking and alluring.  The piano has its own sort of sound world, while the string trio has its, as well and then there are duos of violin and cello and what appears to be a viola and cello.  Exploring low and high registers, using pizzicato techniques, and unusual arrays of long and short notes are just a few examples of what this untrained ear can pick out as far as notable sound elements.  Simply put, what's attractive about this is the way the various instrument combinations "speak" to one another within the recombinations of the twelve tone set.

Dylan Thomas's poem "Vision and Prayer" is rendered into a striking piece with Babbitt's use of electronic tape from the classic Mark II RCA Synthesizer at the pioneering Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center (another recently-read book, Electronic Sound, discussed this instrument and center at some length by author and composer, Joel Chadabe) and the now-90 year old Bethanie Beardslee's utterly amazing soprano vocals from a recording many years earlier than the late 1980s ones on the rest of this album. Here is a way for the electronics to mesh with the human voice so it isn't overly harsh or forbidding--unless you just don't like electronic sound to begin with.

Iannis Xenakis: Phlegra/Jalons/Keren/Nomos Alpha/Thalleïn

This selection is not only because Iannis Xenakis, a Greek born in Romania and long based in France, was such a compelling and fascinating composer exploring the boundaries of music, but becaise one of these compositions, "Jalons," was dedicated in part to the conductor of the piece, performed by the Ensemble InterContemporain--this being Pierre Boulez, the great composer and conductor, who died last week at 90.

Xenakis began his work, in the early 1950s, as Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen and other composers were working to change so-called "classical music" from its orthodoxy in harmony, melody, time and other aspects to what has often been referred to as "avant-garde music."  His training as an engineer and architect led him to develop a mechanism for adopting mathematics into his composition, including some of the earliest uses of computer programming for scores.

As a trained engineer and architect, however, Xenakis did not utilize the formal training of even some of the most modern of composers, such as Boulez, who was critical of Xenakis' lack of technical knowledge and expertise, and it was about a decade before the latter conducted a work of the former that he commissioned.

Xenakis once said that his musical outlook was directly related to the horrible experiences of his days in Greece during World War II and the revolutionary aftermath in that country, during which he lost an eye fighting during the civil war.  Much of his output, to this untrained listener, is atonal, dissonant, dark and riven with tension, though it was assumed this was more about the intellectual and aesthetic aspects of the boundary-pushing efforts the composer pursued.

This 1992 release of material recorded by the Ensemble Intercontemporain and soloists from two years prior has a fine sound, complementing challenging and rewarding material from Xenakis and tremendous performances from the group and its soloists.

"Phlegra", written in 1976, is fascinating with its shifting harmonies among eleven instuments in a chamber orchestral setting, reflecting a sort of abrasive order among chaos.  There is a fascinating, undulating beauty, though, in the crests and descents of the score and energetic use of polyphony and the musicians of the Ensemble Intercontemporain do a fantastic job with this complex, layered and mesmerizing work, which has to do with fighting between the Titans and the gods of Olympus from Greek mythology.

"Jalons" was commissioned in 1986 and whatever conflicts had existed between Boulez and Xenakis seemed to have dissipated somewhat by then.  The complexity of "Phlegra" is very much present, but there is a richer, broader sound to this untutored ear, due probably to the larger ensemble size of fifteen musicians.  Shifting masses of sound distributed throughout the instruments of this "mini orchestra" are always interesting and, like in "Phlegra" there is no soloing--this is all about the wonders of ensemble interplay.

By contrast, "Keren" (Hebew for "horn") is dedicated to a solo for one of the instrumnets that so rarely is spotlighted in that format: the trombone.  Last June's post on Luciano Berio's Sequenza series brings to mind that one of the fourteen works in that set was also for trombone.  Benny Sluchin does a superlative job of demonstrating the range of what the instrument can do as conceived by Xenakis, including guttural  sounds, glissando and all kinds of expressive dynamics, as well as melodic lines.  After the intensity of the first two pieces, "Keren" is a nice break, even though it is characteristically experimental and searching in its development.

1965's "Nomos Alpha" moves into another solo spotlight, this being for Pierre Strauch's wonderful cello, as worked out in mathematical formulas that take the cello beyond its typical use into stunning displays of dynamics, including a "doubling" effect that is really something to behold.  Like the trombone, the cello is not usually thought of as having a wide range of application in sound, though it is a foundation of string quartets.  In the hands of Xenakis and Strauch's enormous efforts, the cello becomes as expressive an instrument as any.

In 1984, Xenakis wrote "Thalleïn" ("to burgeon" in Greek) and here is another exercise in employing masses of sound, complex displays of polyphony, but with the difference from other pieces in this set in using some percussion, such as a gong early on and then maracas later along with more standard percussive elements.  There is also piano throughout, though the work really is about the dense intreplay of woodwind and brass instruments.  The variety of tonal, rhythmic, harmonic and melodic resources do, in fact, give a sense of "burgeoning" as the title notes.  The Ensemble Intercontemporain again is extraordinary in this piece, as in the others.

Pierre Boulez's reputation now is mainly as a conductor, but his earliest work especially is part of the important development of music in the post-World War II era.  While he was critical of Xenakis' lack of formal training in music, the latter became more renowned in the composing side.  Boulez eventually worked with Xenakis' compositions on occasion as part of his rich legacy of conducting and "Jalons" is a great example of this.