Hans ABRAHAMSEN (b. 1952)
Schnee (2006-08) [54:15]
Lapland Chamber Orchestra/John Storgårds
rec. Korundi House of Culture, Rovaniemi, Finland, 10-12 February 2020
DACAPO 6.220585 SACD [54:18]
My introduction to the music of Hans Abrahamsen was his 2013 song cycle, let me tell you, that he composed for soprano Barbara Hannigan and which I reviewed here (review). I was completely captivated by that work and so I did further exploring in the composer’s oeuvre. I reviewed two discs of the chamber music he composed earlier in his career, but while both were enjoyable neither came anywhere near the level of the song cycle (review and review). Schnee, however, has left a very positive impression. As Jen Cornelius has written in the disc’s liner notes, Abrahamsen had come to a dead end by 1990 and halted composing. He resumed this activity nearly a decade later and Schnee was a result of this return. One can claim it as a real turning point in the composer’s career. Schnee became an influential work for Abrahamsen, leading to both let me tell you and his opera The Snow Queen. Before this later period he was a contributor to the “New Simplicity” stylistic trend. His music still owes something to minimalism, but is more complex than heretofore.
Schnee is also a kind of cycle of ten canons separated by three pulseless interludes that serve the purpose of “retuning” the ensemble where some of the instruments are tuned to a lower pitch. The ensemble consists of 9 instruments in two piano quartets, one with violin, viola, cello placed on the left; the other with flute (alternating with piccolo and alto flute), oboe (and English horn), and clarinets (including bass clarinet) on the right, and flanked by a percussionist. The canons mirror each other and get progressively shorter—the first two are each over eight minutes long, while the last two are slightly more than a minute apiece. It was Abrahamsen’s study of Bach’s canons that influenced him to compose Schnee, but the atmosphere he creates is one of the northern climate. One can almost feel the icicles and snowfall while listening to this rather amazing and completely original work.
The piece begins extremely quietly as Canon 1a with repeated A’s on violin so high that they sound like only a bow against the string and are accompanied by single notes on the piano also at the top of the keyboard. This makes an eerie sound that Abrahamsen likened to an “icy whisper,” as he indicated in the score. To me the violin also sounds like some very distant sleigh bells. The viola and cello join in a couple measures later. In the middle of this canon the strings and piano have a loud excruciating passage that reminds me of some of Penderecki’s early works or George Crumb’s Black Angels. With Canon 1b the composer utilizes both groups of instruments and adds percussion in the form of a sheet of paper pushed around on a flat surface.
Canon 2a contrasts greatly with the woodwinds playing a rapid rhythmic figure accompanied by the piano prepared with paper. This rather jazzy figure is repeated over and over, reminding me of some of the music of György Ligeti with whom Abrahamsen studied. After Canon 2a comes the first intermezzo: long held tones by strings, alto flute, English horn, and bass clarinet are tuned down a sixth, creating the image of the ensemble tuning up. Canon 2b then begins where Canon 2a left off with the woodwinds’ rhythmic pattern, but with the strings playing a drone-like theme. As the music becomes more agitated, Ligeti’s Chamber Concerto really comes to mind. At one point it makes quite a racket! Canons 3a and 3b follow in complete contrast with the previous canons, being slow and meditative, and mysterious. Cornelius notes that “the polyphony moves at such a slow pace that the ensemble appears to be a wholly new body with a different breathing pattern.” For Abrahamsen these slow movements are like Chinese tai chi exercises.
After the second intermezzo, Canons 4a and 4b are animated and forceful with a lot happening at once. These are not similar to the jazzy rhythms of the second canons, but are almost terrifying with sustained parts in the winds and strings. Abrahamsen likens these canons to Mozart’s German Dances, though in their restlessness they sound nothing like Mozart. The composer is sending a winter greeting in homage to Mozart, including the use of sleigh bells in his snowy Sleigh Ride. Abrahamsen employs sleigh bells here, too, but are not that detectable in all the melee. The fourth canons also showcase the piano with arpeggiated figures, glissandos, and runs.
Following the third intermezzo, the work concludes with two short canons that in their relative simplicity complete the circle. Canon 5a contains a walking pattern in the pianos over which strings, clarinet, and piccolo have a continuous melody. Canon 5b then continues this theme, so that one cannot tell where one canon ends and the other begins. The tempo of these canons is the same as that of Canon 1a. Schnee simply stops, as if to say “that’s just enough.” This fascinating piece will take listeners several hearings, I think, to fully appreciate what Abrahamsen is attempting, but I find it worth the effort.
Schnee has been recorded once before, by Ensemble Recherche (Winter & Winter) and that account has much going for it. This new one is at least its equal and with the SACD sound one can appreciate all the details in the scoring that may not be as apparent on the earlier disc. There is also a video on YouTube by the Mahler Chamber Orchestra which might be worth watching except for all the traffic noise from the outdoor venue, making it difficult to appreciate the music. In addition to Jen Cornelius’s discussion of the work, conductor John Storgårds has a brief note where he describes the Lapland Chamber Orchestra’s recording and the great deal of time in preparing it. For anyone new to Abrahamsen I would still recommend starting with let me tell you before attempting Schnee.
Leslie Wright
Previous review: Stephen Barber
