Michael DAUGHERTY (b. 1954)
Route 66 (1998) [6:56]
Ghost Ranch (2006) [24:10]
Sunset Strip (1999) [17:09]
Time Machine (2003) [20:33]
Richard Vaughan-Thomas, Kevin Pritchard, Robert Harris, Ed Lockwood, Andrew
Jones (French Horns – Ghost Ranch); Peter Turnbull, Denis Curlett (trumpets
– Sunset Strip); Matt King, Oliver Yates (percussion – Sunset Strip)
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Marin Alsop; Mei-Ann Chen; Laura Jackson (Conductors
2 and 3 - Time Machine);
rec. The Lighthouse, Poole, England, 30 June – 1 July 2008
NAXOS AMERICAN CLASSICS 8.559613 [68:49] 
“Michael Daugherty is one of the most frequently commissioned, programmed
and recorded composers on the American concert music scene today”. So reads
the first line of Daugherty’s biography in this new disc – the fourth from
Naxos – of his orchestral music. And leading the vanguard of that popularity
has to be both the conductor Marin Alsop and Naxos.
The four discs released to date have featured four different orchestras and
three conductors – this is Alsop’s second disc. Once you accept the concept
of contemporary music having the possibility of being fun then enjoyment of
Daugherty’s music is only a step away. Collectors familiar with this composer’s
style will recognise many of the musical landmarks – signposts perhaps would
be more apt given the disc’s opening work Route 66 – but the fascination
here is the broadening of Daugherty’s musical vocabulary to include music
of less instant appeal.
For those not yet familiar with Daugherty then I would characterise his music
as being a gleefully virtuosic celebration of popular culture. He is one of
the few contemporary ‘serious’ composers who seems able to integrate the rhythms
and essence of popular music culture into his work without it sounding contrived
or arch. It’s the compositional equivalent of “it don’t mean a thing if it
ain’t got that swing”. But at the same time it is not about trying to make
an orchestra sound like a rock band. Daugherty achieves this fusion. The Australian
composer Matthew Hindson is another – his extraordinary work Speed amongst
others rivals the music here. If you like Daugherty you must hear Hindson.
For this disc Naxos returned with Marin Alsop to the scene of many triumphs;
the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Add engineering by Mike Hatch, who from
his Floating Earth days was responsible for many of the technically great
discs of the CD era, and the presence of the composer at the sessions and
you realise that you have an A* product being offered at a bargain price.
Time and again in recent years the Bournemouth Orchestra has impressed me
with their extraordinary ability to sound ‘inside’ vastly differing musical
styles. This goes way beyond mere technical prowess – all orchestras play
with superb technique now given the chance – this is about playing with a
real sense of what the music is about. Another of Daugherty’s particular penchants
is to feature orchestral players within a concert work. Elsewhere in this
series this has resulted in terrifyingly hard passages for everyone from the
timpanist [Raise the Roof – Naxos 8.559372] to the lead violin and
flute section [Metropolis Symphony – Naxos 8.559635]. Here the horn
section and trumpets must have blanched when they first opened their parts
but the results are – just as I expected – superb.
But to start at the beginning; Route 66 is the earliest work recorded
here. Daugherty in his evocative and informative liner describes this as;
“a high-octane musical romp.” The opening is typical – a highly rhythmic riff
underpinned by driving percussion rhythms. At just over six minutes its easy
to imagine this opening a concert. But now I’m getting more familiar with
the Daugherty style I can’t help but think this is a bit of a ‘back-pocket’
work. Great fun, a romp for sure, but just a little put together by numbers.
Too much reliance on the rhythm of the opening riff with the local colour
interjections a tad obvious. I couldn’t help feeling this was Hawaii 5-0 on
acid, right down to the big-finish final chord. So, if I’m honest just a little
bit disappointing as a disc opener. Also, and this might read as a paradox
given my praise previously for the quality of Mike Hatch’s engineering, this
is music that seems to need an interventionist approach from the technical
team. By that I mean that this is cinematic, technicolor music so ‘natural’
engineering – which is what we have here beautifully neutral sound; detailed
well-balanced and wide ranging – results in an orchestral sound that’s just
not as viscerally exciting as it might be. Decca Phase 4 engineers would have
loved Michael Daugherty!
However, what might be perceived as a loss as far as the impact of Route
66 is concerned benefits hugely the next work Ghost Ranch. This
is by some distance the most impressive work on this disc and as alluded to
above expands our knowledge of the range and depth of Daugherty’s musical
and emotional vocabulary. Is it my imagination but the playing too has that
extra tiny percentage of commitment? Hurrah for the BBC – this was a commission
by them for these performers who gave the premiere in 2006. This three movement
work celebrates the life and art of Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1968) who created
works of art inspired by the landscape and unforgiving environment of her
New Mexico home. Daugherty, although still using a large orchestral canvas,
pares back the gestures creating at times minimalist passages quite unlike
his usual music. Polyrhythms abound which the orchestra navigate with nonchalant
ease. I particularly like the way Daugherty integrates this motivic-cell structure
into his usual feeling for syncopation and orchestral colour creating a texture
where the detail is busy but the overall sense is of stasis. The central panel
of this triptych is in many ways the most impressive. In Above Clouds it
is the five French horns who are spread across and above the orchestra. Daugherty
says he sought to emulate O’Keeffe’s desire to achieve “the near and far,
both in time and space” in her work. The resonance of the Poole Arts Centre
which detracted from the edginess of the earlier work adds atmosphere and
warmth allowing the horns to sound heroically over surging strings. Yes, this
is a tad cinematic but you would have to have a very cold heart not to be
moved by the climax. After the exalting strings and horns of this movement
the final Black Rattle has more of the nervous energy more usually
associated with this composer. It has a toccata-like quality but with fewer
of the comic-book associations. The slower central section is simultaneously
lyrical and faintly threatening representing, according to the composer, “the
feeling of slowly walking in blackness”. This brief section is swept away
by scurrying winds over walking bass lines and jerky brass fanfares. The close
of the work is typically exciting with rhythms and instrumental groups piled
on each other vying for supremacy.
Sunset Strip is back on more familiar comic-strip [pun intended] territory.
Daugherty has a natural affinity for throwing together in opposition and juxtaposition
musical styles. So a piece which represents a cultural melting pot – the premise
is wandering down the eponymous Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles from dusk
to dawn is tailor-made to appeal. Enormous praise to trumpeters Peter Turnbull
and Denis Curlett who are magnificent in every sense of this work. I’m no
brass player but their parts sound horribly hard but they play them superbly;
technique to spare but with bags of blowsy character. I kept thinking of a
kind of X-rated ‘American in Paris’ particularly in the central Nocturne
section – full of sexy sleaze. This is the piece here that will most appeal
to listeners who enjoyed the razzle-dazzle of the earlier releases in this
series. Not that this is all in your face display though – listen to the seductively
sensuous wind solos (uncredited) that open the final 7 AM section [track
7] – gorgeous playing perfectly caught by the engineering. Perhaps the homage
to Gershwin is a little too undigested here but I’m not complaining. A mariachi
band drunkenly wander through at one point before a chromium plated sunrise.
Great fun.
After which the final piece Time Machine comes as something of a let-down.
I sure that a lot of this work’s success comes from the visual theatre of
seeing three distinct groups requiring three conductors. In the concert the
eye allows a listener to fillet out musical lines, visual cues helping the
ear. The engineering here is as good as it can be but even with headphones
the brain resolutely tries to cohere the three distinct orchestral groups
into one. Also, the undoubted skill in performance of synchronising the ensembles
to come together and then phase apart again counts for little. This is evidently
a more self-consciously serious work; the strings have impassioned hymn-like
writing reminiscent of Arvo Pärt over dancing wind and ritualistic percussion
and soaring brass. Not that this isn’t often effective and certainly excitingly
played, it is just that you really do not get the sense that it needed three
separate groups to achieve the effect. But there are always going to be personal
favourites within the oeuvre of any composer. The overall impression I have
is that the more I get to know of Daugherty’s music the more I respect and
admire it as a body of work.
Anyone already collecting this series will be delighted to add this to their
collection. For those coming to Daugherty for the first time I would not make
this disc the point of entry – either of the other two discs mentioned above
are preferable in that respect. But it is important to stress what a fine
disc this is in technical terms – absurd when offered at Naxos bargain price
– and worth sampling for the heroics of the Bournemouth brass.
Nick Barnard
Great fun.