This is such a good
idea I’m surprised no-one has thought
of it before. It’s typical of companies
such as Dabringhaus und Grimm to give
attention to intelligent programming
like this, as well as gathering together
a group of virtuoso players to bring
it off.
The premise is so simple.
The Stravinsky pieces are small-scale
chamber and instrumental works, some
of which are familiar, some not, and
some of which are his trademark ‘in
memoriam’ miniatures. Interspersed are
other miniatures by a group of composers
invited to write their own ‘in memoriams’
for Stravinsky himself in 1971. So we
get a touching picture of the man himself
and a group of hommages by composers
influenced by him in one way or another.
That their works are so diverse is indicative
of the range of that influence as well
as making for very interesting comparative
listening.
Of the Stravinsky pieces,
I guess the most familiar will be the
Three Pieces for String Quartet
(here also in the composer’s own arrangement
for piano duet) and the Three
Pieces for Clarinet solo. Both
are spiky little works, already redolent
of the neo-classical neatness that would
soon consume him, but in the String
Quartet pieces still displaying the
wisps of far-Eastern harmonies that
one encounters in other works of his
from the period. They work well in piano
duet form, as many Stravinsky works
do, especially in the lively hands of
Steffen Schleiermacher, who plays both
parts double-tracked. I love the Fanfare
for a New Theatre (actually the
Lincoln Theatre in New York) and wonder
what on earth the commissioning body
must have made of it. It’s typical of
those quirky little fanfares we hear
in other late works of his (Agon,
Requiem Canticles) and lasts
less than a minute.
The Double Canon
for Raoul Dufy gives a clue as to
what the later composers have taken
as the starting point for their own
memoriam commissions. Almost all are
short canonic constructions, the most
interesting being those by Denisov and
Schnittke, where rigorous intellectualism
is tempered by warmth and a hint of
emotion. The same cannot really be said
of those by Carter and Boulez, whose
original-transitoire VII is the
most adventurous thing here, though
Stravinsky himself may well have been
impressed by its cool detachment.
The recorded sound
is warm and immediate, ideal for chamber
music, and the short but illuminating
notes are by Schleiermacher himself.
A very worthwhile release
Tony Haywood
Ensemble Avantgarde 
