Paul
Moravec is a prolific American composer with more than eighty
works to his credit. He was the winner of the 2004 Pulitzer
Prize in music for his five-movement TempestFantasy for
violin and piano. His music is a combination of the earnest
and the entertaining, never taking itself too terribly seriously,
but at the same time reflecting the thoughts of a thoroughly
skilled and technically virtuosic composer.
The
Time Gallery is a work for chamber
ensemble that takes four aspects of the concept of time into
view. Its opening movement, Bells, Devotional Hours, recalls
the eight portions of the monastic day. Opening with random
percussion sounds meant to represent a water alarm clock,
it moves into the ringing of the bells that called the monks
to prayer at the appropriate times of the day in the medieval
age. The music is at times contemplative, at others quite
energetic, and at all times inventive, tuneful, rhythmically
vital and attractive.
The
second movement, Time Machine, is much more lyrical
and seeks to portray the advent and development of time-keeping
devices through music. Opening with a montage of ticking clocks,
there are some splendid melodies here and the lovely duet
between the violin and clarinet is quite captivating. Of significant
interest too is Moravec’s extremely skilful use of percussion
instruments, not only as rhythmic devices, but as creative
means to melody and color as well.
The
third movement, Pulse, is the shortest of the four,
depicting the ultimate time machine, the human heart. The
contrasts between a steady even pulse and an arrhythmic nervous
heartbeat are striking and at times a bit unsettling.
The
final movement, Overtime: Memory Sings, is a poetic
and atmospheric reflection on what the composer calls the
paradox of time, that is, that time is the creator and destroyer
of all things. It is by far the most beautiful of all four
sections of this captivating score. Atmospheric to the core,
it is at times rich in tonal harmony, and at others dreamy
and non-committal in its rhythmic and harmonic structure.
eighth
blackbird (intentionally lower case) is one of the finest
chamber groups that I have ever encountered. Their dedication
and passion for this music is wholly evident in this performance.
A group with virtuoso skills to burn, they make the intricacies
of this music seem like child’s-play. They show no effort
at all as they make their way through some very difficult
passage work with complete panache. In moments lyrical, they
play with passion, yea even some real romanticism. Poetic
is perhaps the way I could best describe their interpretations.
Completely at one, this is a group that seems on this my first
hearing to have achieved the perfect blend of skill and commitment,
with an ideal mix of temperament and personality to add luster
to an already shining collaboration.
The
disc is rounded out with two brief but equally fine works
for violin and piano, very skillfully played by Peter Sheppard-Skærved
and Aaron Shorr. The writing style here is reminiscent of
Prokofiev, with somewhat disjunct melodies for the violin
and accompanied by percussive piano writing. Both instrumental
parts indulge in the extremities of range and dynamics, making
for interesting listening.
I
have not heard new chamber music this fine since my first
encounter with Peter Schickele’s wonderful quartet for clarinet,
violin, piano and cello, now about twenty years old. Original
and masterfully constructed, this music did what all good
music should: enticed me to seek out more of this composer’s
work.
Recommended
without a moment’s hesitation. A real find!
Kevin
Sutton
see also reviews
by
David Blomenberg and Dominy
Clements
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For reviews of other releases in this series on Musicweb,
see the Naxos
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