EARLIER KOUKL REVIEW
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Mar05/Koukl_GSCD362.htm
This is my second Koukl-Gasparo
encounter. The earlier review of his
entertaining GSCD 362 can be found above.
What is securely reinforced in this
disc is his rightly unashamed admiration
for Parisian neo-classicists and for
broader Czech and Italian influences.
Koukl has renounced "isms"
in his compositions; he has retrenched
after youthful experimentation with
then contemporary delight in obscurantism
and has allied a strong technical palette
with a keen ear for lyricism. Other
pieces I’ve heard of his – his vocal
works especially - possess a tough kind
of lyricism, it’s true, but his chamber
music is more yielding, more obviously
attractive.
Some of these chamber
pieces were written for competitions
but that doesn’t lessen their impact
or attractiveness. The Fantasia for
two pianos is a brisk neo-classical
affair full of driving rhythm and also
turbulent romanticism. It was recorded
live by the forces for whom it was written
and is a real crowd pleaser. A School
of Martinů,
Paris-style, hovers over much of the
nicely titled Trioplay. This is a flavoursome,
playful four movement Trio for oboe,
clarinet and bassoon written in the
best Czech wind tradition. In the Espressivo
second movement I felt the influence
of Vaclav Trojahn very strongly
– that balletic-baroque lyricism is
gloriously uplifting and evocative (when
are we going to have a co-ordinated
Trojahn edition from Supraphon?) But
we also get a loquacious and chatty
finale, full of chuntering conversation,
some grave, some whimsical, all amusingly
done.
Written for a competition
the Five Miniatures are for solo
harpsichord and are played here by the
composer, an accomplished keyboard player.
They take in wandering baroque-tinged
harmonies, skittering runs, dense chording,
some motoric writing and a dash of quirkiness
as well. Note the mis-tracking here
– the last of the pieces is tracked
on 7 so if you turn to the Ritournelles
you’ll have one minute of the last of
the Five Miniatures to confuse
you first. As the names suggests there’s
more Parisian influence in the Ritournelles
with their perky little March figures
but you won’t escape a pervading edge
of melancholia either. The most harmonically
advanced and passingly dissonant of
all the works here is that for string
quartet, Narcisse. Compact and
colourful it’s full of shifting timbres
and contrast and at seven minutes seems
to be over before you’ve noticed. Contest
Piece has plenty of fast runs, lower
register work and room for expressive
projection – it’s an occasional piece,
written for a competition. Divertimento
is decidedly Francophile in its
affiliations and is finely laid out
for wind quintet and sports some piquant
sonorities; pithy end as well, to lift
the spirits.
As with all the discs
of Koukl’s works that I’ve seen none
of his compositions is dated. But this
one shares with the others a strong
sense of traditional lineage, one not
in thrall to the past but cognisant
and respectful of it. If the chamber
music of Les Six,
Martinů, Trojahn, and Poulenc
appeals to you then so will Koukl.
Jonathan Woolf
Alfred Rutz (flute) Miklos Barta (oboe)
Eric Schmid (clarinet) Martin Wunderle (bassoon)
William Bilenko (horn) 
