Ivo Malec was born in Zagreb, Croatia. In 1959,
he settled in France and joined Pierre Schaeffer in what was to
become the GRM (Groupe de Recherches
Musicales) one year later. When he arrived in Paris, Malec
was already a fully equipped composer with a number of works to
his credit, including a piano sonata (1949), a cello sonata (1956)
and a symphony (1951) as well as several vocal works. He however
considers his works written after 1960 as his first mature compositions.
His work at the GRM was to prove extremely fruitful for his later
musical progress. On the one hand, it allowed him to expand his
expressive palette considerably; and, on the other hand, it made
him conscious of the expressive potential of sound, as an object,
so to say. From 1960 onwards, he regularly composed either electro-acoustic
pieces and works for live instruments and electronics, such as
Lumina (1968) for strings
and tape, Cantate pour elle
(1966) for soprano, harp and tape and Attaca (1986) for
percussion and tape, for which he is particularly well-known and
highly regarded. However, he never ceased to compose for more
traditional orchestral and instrumental forces, as the three pieces
recorded here fully demonstrate. From Sigma
(1963) onwards, his orchestral works benefited from his experience
in electro-acoustic music. In fact, as a number of other composers
at that time (I think of the late Pierre Mercure
and of his Lignes et Points from 1965 as another example),
he asked the question as to how electro-acoustic devices could
satisfyingly transfer to orchestral music. His mature composing
career was devoted to finding viable answers to that question.
From Sigma onwards, a number
of substantial orchestral pieces such as Oral (1967) for actor and orchestra,
one of his greatest pieces, Lied (1969) for 18 voices and 39 strings
as well as the works heard on this CD provide several possible
answers.
The three fairly recent pieces here, composed between 1994 and 1997, are
rather similar in design as well as aims and means, and clearly
demonstrate the extraordinary expressive strength and the technical
freedom Malec acquired over the years.
All three are purely abstract works displaying a dazzling orchestral
mastery and a formidable aural imagination. Each work, however,
has its own character. Exempla may be considered as a synthesis of all that
Malec did over the years. This substantial work, a concerto
for orchestra in all but the name, exploits Malec’s
expressive and technical palette to the full, revisiting almost
every aspect of it in the course of its thirteen short sections.
All the sections are linked by short bridge passages, described
as such in the score, that prolong, modify or anticipate the content
of each section. This goes to strengthen the overall coherence
of the piece as a whole, that might otherwise have ‘spoken’ as
a series of unrelated sketches. The music unfolds with cumulative
tension, alternating static and energetic episodes. This coiling
tension is eventually released in the tenth section Cors (“horns”) - the climax of the piece. This powerful outburst
is then put into sharp contrast with the next section Rothko, a peaceful homage to the American
painter. This is followed by a powerful, dark-hued homage to Wagner.
The final section Finit: appels et signaux sounds as a faint echo of the opening music.
The violin concerto Ottava alta, a Luxembourg commission completed in 1995, may
be regarded as a sequel to Ottava bassa for double bass and orchestra composed in 1984
(recorded on Erato 2292-45521-2 possibly
– and hopefully – still available). This is a real violin concerto
exploiting the full expressive range of the instrument, and a
formidable display of instrumental virtuosity, awfully demanding,
and a piece that unashamedly delights in virtuosity, but never
gratuitously so. This must be one of the most exciting violin
concertos written in the late 20th century. By the
way, Malec also composed a cello concerto
Arc-en-cello
in 2000 but I have not heard it and that work is, unless I am
much mistaken, still unrecorded at the time of writing.
The very title of Sonoris causa exactly says what to expect from this impressive
celebration of sound IN sound. The piece clearly is in the same
vein as Exempla
and Ottava alta,
in that it again delights in sounds, rarefied and massive, static
and restlessly forward moving. This and the other works in this
disc prove Malec to be Varèse’s heir, for this
is the kind of music that Varèse might
have written.
The present performances by the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg conducted by Arturo Tamayo, recorded in the composer’s presence, are simply stunning
and exemplary; whereas the recording pays full tribute to this
composer’s unequalled aural imagination. This generously filled
release is the best possible introduction to Malec’s
highly personal sound world. To others willing to explore the
composer’s output, I suggest you try to get the Erato
disc I mentioned and – still more usefully – a two-CD set entirely
devoted to Malec’s music (Motus
M299006). The Motus includes rare performances
of Sigma, Lied and Oral,
among others. But this CD is unreservedly recommended, my record
of the month and – for sure – high up in my 2005 top ten.
Hubert Culot
Raphaël
