Turnage, Payne,
Carter and Matthews: London
Sinfonietta, Jane Irwin (mezzo
soprano), Oliver Knussen (conductor),
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London 30.
3.2007 (AO)
Mark-Anthony Turnage : Dark
Crossing
Anthony Payne : Windows on
Eternity (World premiere)
Elliot Carter : In
the Distances of Sleep (European premiere)
Colin Matthews : Two Part Invention
Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Dark Crossing
(2000) was commissioned by Oliver
Knussen for the London Sinfonietta.
It is an atmospheric work whose depths
are not easily revealed. Turnage’s
titles are purposeful, and thoughtfully
chosen. They aren’t “pictorial”
but they matter. Dark Crossing
has been compared to Debussy’s La
Mer, because it can validly be
described in images of the ocean.
The “foghorn” figure at the beginning
certainly seems a warning that what
follows won’t be easy passage.
But other “crossings” are implied.
It is a kind of journey through shifting
moods, as the nebulous atmosphere
changes. The dense, ambiguous
textures of the first movement are
swept away by rolling progressions,
making way for the manic second Ėtude.
The quirky “cakewalk” passage in this
section is wickedly downbeat.
A single note heralds the turbulence
of the final section. There
are many highlights, for flute, bassoon
and contrabassoon, but in this performance,
the viola passages stood out as particularly
impressive. I liked the detail
where one viola was bowed, while another
was plucked, a tiny dialogue within
the whole. There’s so much in
this piece that it’s no surprise it’s
been performed several times, and
by different orchestras. I hope
the Sinfonietta will add it to their
recorded legacy, for they played with
passion.
Anthony Payne’s Windows on Eternity
(2007) received its World Premiere.
Two themes alternate, a “spiritoso”
which continuously develops, and an
“adagio” which essentially serves
as a stable foil. As the composer
himself puts it, it is “as if an object
in the heavens had been photographed
through contrasting cloudscapes”.
The wavering instability seems at
first to resolve in the coda, but
then returns. The piece was sensitively
played by the Sinfonietta, Knussen
elucidating its detail carefully.
Nonetheless, before the incomparable
brilliance of Elliot Carter, almost
anything else would be eclipsed.
Elliot Carter’s new work In the
Distances of Sleep was receiving
its first hearing in Europe.
Carter has long loved the poems of
Wallace Stevens, with their quick
changes of pace and unusual plays
on words. This cycle of six
songs is by no means typical word
painting : on the contrary, Carter
hears syntax as music. His setting
flows from the cadence of the lines
in the text. For example, the
lines in Puella Parvula break
and chop mid-phrase, creating a choppy
counter-rhythm which Carter adopts
:
“…………………………………………………..O mind
Gone
wild, be what he tells you o be :
Puella.
Write
pax across the window pane. And then
Be
still. The summarium in excelsis
begins…
Flame,
sound, fury composed…Hear what he
says,
The
Dauntless master, a he starts the
human tale.”
Carter makes a pause after “write”
so the following phrase flows like an
entity in itself. There’s a much
longer pause after “And then”
which reflects the hiatus the poem
intended, as well deepening the
emotional tension. Another pause
after “Be still”, then an
arching, full-throated “summarium
in excelsis”. This is a very
different approach to song, indeed.
It’s reinforced by having passages
spoken as well as sung. Indeed, the
fifth song, The Roaring Wind is based
on abstract vocalise.
“What
syllable are you seeking,
Vocalissimus
In the
distances of seep?”
This
is the poem from which the whole group
derives its name. It may be short,
and end abruptly, but that’s perhaps
the point. “”Vocalissimuss”
becomes an entity, whatever he, she or
it may be. Just as the meaning of
Steven’s poetry goes much deeper than
his words, Carter is setting something
a lot deeper than the surface of the
poetry. It’s quite amazing how he’s
thought through the poems and
penetrated their inner logic. His
minimal orchestration is exquisitely
sensitive to the tiny nuances of
feeling in the text. Three violas and
three flutes are used to resonate with
the timbre of the voice, and the whole
sound palette is restrained and pure.
The final line of the last song runs :
“The
song of the great space of your age
pierces
The
fresh night.”
Carter
sets it with solid ostinatos, like the
pounding of tent pegs. It’s as if he
wants to delineate every single word,
to pin each word down into our
consciousness. I’m sorry I’ve written
so much about this piece, but it is
very different and very demanding and
there’s much more that could be said.
This cycle is of course still so new
that there hasn’t been much time for
interpretations to settle. The
orchestral playing was wonderful,
however, refined and intuitive. Jane
Irwin is of course a very experienced
singer and no stranger to new music.
Her diction was clear and pure. One
day, perhaps, when the cycle is better
understood, perhaps may be a different
approach to the delivery, because
there always are different ways of
doing things. But for the time being,
there’s so much to take in about this
work that it’s probably wise not to
risk too much too soon.
Most of the strings got to rest after
Carter, because Colin Matthews’ Two
Part Invention only requires
double bass and cello. As the
composer says, it’s not two part
counterpoint, but an invention in two
halves. The first part bursts with
exuberant jazz like inventions, giving
trumpets, horns, clarinets and double
bass a chance for spirited playing.
The second part is a concerto for
amplified cello. The cello part
continues unbroken through almost the
whole section. It’s manic and quite
demanding. Timothy Gill deserved the
applause he received. It’s
interesting to reflect that Matthews
wrote this piece in honour of Elliot
Carter’s 80th birthday. It
captures something of Carter’s
vivacious personality. Fortunately,
Carter is still with us 20 years later
and still going strong !
Anne
Ozorio
