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    Inquieto 20th Century Masterworks
    Antoniy Kakamakov began studying the guitar at the age of ten with Milena Valtcheva, in his native country of Bulgaria. In 1997 he won first prize in the junior division of the International Classical Guitar Festival and Competition in Sinaia, Romania, and in the following year he won two first prizes in the junior divisions in the international guitar competitions in Kraiova, Romania and Assenovgrad, Bulgaria. In 1999, he was awarded full scholarship to study guitar at the Idyllwild Arts Academy, where his teachers were Terry Graves and Michael Kudirka. He received his Bachelor's degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) in 2007, under the tutelage of David Tanenbaum, and has continued his studies there as a Master's candidate. In 2007, he received second place in the SFCM Concerto Competition and was a prize-winner in the Portland Guitar Festival and Competition. In April 2008, he won first prize in the inaugural Wesley Day Solo Classical Guitar Recording Competition. In the fall of 2008 he will continue his studies at SFCM with Sergio Assad. He has played in master classes for William Kanengiser, Duo Assad, Nigel North, Manuel Barrueco, Paul Galbraith, Ana Vidovic, Antigoni Goni, Pavel Steidl, Gyan Riley, David Grimes and the Katona Twins. In the beginning of the twentieth century the music written for guitar was largely influenced by Andres Segovia. He commissioned guitarist and non-guitarist composers and then would edit the pieces to better suit the instrument, thus most of this repertoire is very similar in it's overall sound. However, twentieth-century compositions that were not supported by Segovia were, in general, superior in content and considered a liberation from the previous dependence on the works by Torroba, Ponce, Villa-lobos etc. Antonio Jose, Frank Martin, Benjamin Britten and Maurice Ohana's compositions have just recently received the recognition they deserve, partly due to the change of the climate towards deeper understanding and appreciation of intellectual music by audiences. These masterpieces demand a new technical approach and more interpretive imagination than those commissioned by Segovia. The performer immediately recognizes that the way the fingers fit under the fret board is unfamiliar to what they are used to, since the composers did not know the instrument. This program explores the international variety (Spain, Switzerland, England and France) as well as the differences in compositional form and style of the contemporary twentieth century works written for guitar. The existence of Antonio Jose's Sonata was not known until 1989 when Angelo Gilardino was informed of an unpublished manuscript by Jose that had been unplayed since 1933. Similar fate followed Frank Martin's "Quatre Pieces Breves," which were completely rejected by Segovia since the work did not fit his taste. Benjamin Britten's "Nocturnal" was problematic for the audiences at first due to it's intellectual complexity. However, it is now considered to be one of the greatest works produced for the instrument. Britten exploits many guitaristic effects - tremolo, pizzicato, open string pedals, etc. Although these techniques greatly expanded the guitarists' pallet of sound, they were not enough to execute the desired sonorities and textural complexity - as a result, new effects surfaced. All of these pieces put the performer's technique as well as his/hers interpretive imagination and abilities to a test. These masterworks also explore different compositional forms. The Antonio Jose Sonata is a four movement sonata form. Frank Martin's four brief pieces are modeled after baroque movements. Britten's "Nocturnal" is an unusual reverse variation form, where the whole basis of the piece - a John Dowland song "Come Heavy Sleep" - is not heard until the very end. Britten does this in order to resolve the intensity that has been built up throughout previous variations. Ohana's "Tiento" is his only piece for six string guitar. Knowing Yepes, Ohana went wild for the ten string guitar and wrote two large cycles for the instrument. "Si le jour parait"(1963) takes the title from Goya's Caprices "Si Amenece Vamos." The whole work's climax is in the middle movement Avril 20, which is a lament for an unnamed political prisoner, killed in the Spanish Civil War. It refers to ghostly figures under the night sky. Though these works were written within a short time span, they display a variety of styles. Jose was strongly influenced by impressionist composers such as Ravel and Debussy, which is clearly recognizable in his "Sonata para guitarra." The lack of Spanish nationalism in his music tragically had to do with his murder. Frank Martin was experimenting with 12 tone technique when he wrote "Quatre Pieces Breves," identifiable in the outer movements. The numbered sections in Britten's "Nocturnal" are non tonal, but follow the motivic content and structure of Dowland's song. Melancholy and the stages of sleep are the crux of the composition. It also explores the passive and the aggressive in every one of us in the climax - the Passacaglia, followed by the resolution - "Come Heavy Sleep." Ohana's "Tiento" as well as "Avril 20" are microtonal - he uses bending of the strings creating quarter-tone relations. De Falla had an impact on Ohana's works. This is recognizable in "Tiento," which takes and manipulates the habanera rhythm that Falla uses in his "Homehaje." This program connects to my career goals because I want to explore twentieth century and more recent music written for the guitar. These pieces are known by the guitar audience, but for the non-guitarist they may possibly be unfamiliar in sound and content. In my future recital programs I would like to dig into this repertoire and introduce it to the wider audience, thus going beyond their familiarity with the traditional sound of the works commissioned by Segovia.
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    Fringe Percussion
    Dance Music for Elfrid Ide was written in 1940, while Cage was on the Dance Faculty at Mills College, to accompany the thesis of graduate dance student Elfrid Ide. In three highly contrasting movements, this whimsical piece seems to have been a playground of compositional experimentation for Cage. Although written in the same time period as his better known percussion ensemble works, this piece was not written for or played by Cage's own percussion ensemble. After it's likely only performance for Elfrid Ide's Dance Thesis Concert in 1941, the piece was filed away in the Mills College archives and remained unknown until it's discovery in 2005. Originally unearthed in the form of two incomplete manuscripts, a new score and parts for Dance Music for Elfrid Ide were created by editor Don Gillespie. Fringe Percussion's relationship with this work came about thanks to a chance occurrence at Vancouver New Music's John Cage Festival in October 2006. Jonathan had arrived late to a concert and began chatting with Gene Caprioglio from Edition Peters, who had a booth in the lobby. Hearing about this newly discovered work, Jonathan asked if Fringe Percussion could premiere the piece. As a result, Dance Music for Elfrid Ide was given it's modern North American premiere by Fringe Percussion, joined by guests Marguerite Witvoet and Vern Griffiths, at the Vancouver Art Gallery's first dusk-to-dawn FUSE event on June 23, 2007. Darwin's Walken Fish Quartet (yes that's true, a fish with legs...) Aside from the obvious reference to evolution (but really, all music evolves/devolves in some way or another, whether becoming more/less complex or simply progressing through time) the other reason for naming the quartet after a Darwin fish was that the very idea of a fish with legs, and the type of locomotion that it would be capable of, completely fascinates me. I mean, can you imagine the way that a fish with legs would move??? The combination of walking/swimming/wiggling would be excellent. I think sometimes it would be more of a torsion-inflected style of side-to-side motion, and at other times perhaps it would hop. (These ruminations may well be reflected in the different sections of music found in this quartet.) -Jocelyn Morlock Marubatoo was originally written as a duet for marimba and tuba entitled Maruba. It was conceived as a conversation between Wyre, a percussionist, and his late father, a tubist. While corresponding with Tones in the fall of 2005, Wyre revealed a preference for an alternate version of Maruba-one that included a part for vibraphone. This trio version was never published or recorded. Marubatoo, in it's original version, is a percussion quintet version of Maruba, arranged for the ensemble Nexus. To the original trio parts (with bass marimba in place of the tuba) Marubatoo adds another marimba part as well as a part for crotales. The arrangement contained on this recording is a hybrid of these two versions. Fringe Percussion's interpretation of Marubatoo is based upon the work's unrecorded trio version, and is complemented by textural and colouristic elements provided by the crotales. Enginuity is a portmanteau on the words engine and ingenuity, and the piece itself is a synthesis of musical ideas from around the world. When Fringe Percussion commissioned me to write for them I immediately thought of the interlocking drum patterns of Balinese gamelan music, which I have been studying for a number of years. Skin and wood barrel drums are the heart of the gamelan, and they serve a truly melodic, as well as rhythmic, function. In Enginuity I gave the starring melodic role to the drums, which are tuned to create a four-note melody that gets split, in an interlocking fashion, between two drummers. There is also an oblique reference to Indian classical drumming in the use of a 23-beat rhythmic cycle, or tala, as a phrase structure throughout the piece. I call it an oblique reference, since I don't claim a great knowledge of Indian drumming, but I love the idea of these long, asymmetric counting patterns that feel regular and yet unpredictable at the same time. The more traditional Western percussion instruments of vibraphone and marimba, which usually take a prominent melodic role, are cast in a more supporting light for most of the piece, giving metric and harmonic reinforcement without taking too much focus away from the drums. The mallets do get their chance to stand out on their own and in duos with the drums, and by the end of the piece all of the instruments join forces in a joyful, unified texture. -Colin MacDonald Los Forwards began in the early 80s as a project to help me learn the operation of my first multitrack recorder. The original orchestration was for two marimbas and one percussion (it was a 4 track recorder and one track was click). Around the same time I was playing in an ensemble featuring percussion organized by Sal Ferreras. I brought the still unnamed Los Forwards to a rehearsal and with the addition of vibes, drums, more percussion, bass and guitar (to fit the group's instrumentation) it became a regular part of the ensemble's repertoire. When Sal asked me for the title of the piece all I could come up with at the time was Los Forwards (a small joke on lost for words, sorry!). Since that time (almost 30 years) Los Forwards has been used by many of Vancouver's percussionists, including myself, with many orchestrations for recitals, concerts and various percussion ensemble presentations. This is, I believe, the first time it has been recorded (other than my own home demos) and I'm delighted that Fringe Percussion has included it on their debut CD release. Thank you Jonathan, Martin, Danny and Brian. -Graham Boyle Fringe Percussion is a Vancouver-based ensemble dedicated to presenting works from the contemporary Western art music and non-Western repertories. It strives to strengthen the voice of local composers and global musical traditions through innovative programming, artistic collaboration, and dedication to musical excellence. The ensemble's repertoire connects to the expressive cultural traditions of Bali, China, Cuba, Japan, Ghana, and India. Fringe Percussion recognizes the vitality, beauty, and artistry inherent to world musics, and wishes to bring them to wider audiences. In so doing, Fringe Percussion's perspective is especially important. It communicates with many generations and many cultures, connecting well to the multifaceted, multicultural nature of the contemporary music scene. The members of Fringe Percussion are Jonathan Bernard, Martin Fisk, Brian Nesselroad and Daniel Tones.
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    Etched in Twilight
    Etched in Twilight (a trio for horn, violin, and piano) is dedicated to Neesha Joseph, whom I met at Stanford during the summer of 02', and who was the catalyst for the piece. Neesha translates, roughly, to twilight. The piece blends together microtonal, Neo- classical, and serial treatment of pitch, synthesizing abstraction with affectation. The work's drones and microtonal inflections allude to Neesha's Indian heritage, it's clave rhythms to her passion for Latin culture, and it's open lyricism to her tenderness. The Well-tuned Synthesizer was written for a synthesizer whose tuning can be adjusted in real time, so that a lot more notes can be used then the usual twelve per octave. This work uses integer ratios tuned to the nearest cent, creating pure, beatless sonorities not possible in conventional tuning. Intervals alien to classical Western music such as frequency ratios of 8:7 and 7:6 are prevalent. Each inflection is finely carved down to the minutest detail. The work's slow, sub-chromatic descents move through a large variety of shades whose differences are obscured in standard tuning. Étude and Meditation for Marimba was actually an exercise in which I was instructed to write a composition using transformations of a single five-note cell of my choosing. The freely composed first movement develops the motive of parallel fifths moving down a minor third, but the cell from the second movement is foreshadowed at several key moments. Shades of White is a theatrical production that intertwines spoken word, spectacle, incidental music and musical settings of textual collages drawing from a multitude of sources. Orlando mixes sections of Virginia Woolf's Orlando, Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey, and Coleridge's Dejection: An Ode and Aeolian Harp, Statue Plays is performed by a statue of a violinist that becomes animated when a quarter is dropped in it's moneybox, and Dance is a dance scene involving spirits that takes place at a café. Duluth 99' is a duet for flute and percussion consisting of three movements, each inspired by a different personal experience in Duluth. Gnossienne starts off calm, moody, and introspective, much like a Satie Gnossienne, but as the theme is developed, it shifts away from Satie, towards my own more elaborate idiom. Joshua Musikantow is a Chicago born poet and composer with a special interest in microtones. He graduated with honors from Lawrence University and Conservatory with a BA in English and a BM in theory/ comp from the studio of Joanne Metcalf. He is currently pursing his masters in composition at the University of Buffalo. Offbeatjm@aol.com.
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    Fantasy
    Composers have used the word 'fantasy' in myriad ways, taking advantage of both it's implied lack of formal structure, and the exploration of the imagination. A fantasy can be a spontaneous improvisation on a simple chord structure (Mozart), a development of a single theme (Schubert), a celebration of multiple themes (Hirtz and Di Liberto) or a full-scale original work (Schumann). The Wanderer Fantasy (1822) is Franz Schubert's most openly virtuosic work for piano, and as such first drew me in as a teenager looking for technical challenges. Fortunately my teacher Lee Kum-Sing opened my eyes and ears to the music behind the notes. Remarkably, the genesis for all four movements is the smallest kernel of a rhythmic idea that Schubert took from his own song Der Wanderer. Aficionados of Morse Code will recognize the letter D in the opening measures of each movement. William Hirtz's Wizard of Oz Fantasy (1999) was originally commissioned as a piano duet for Karen Kushner and Igor Kipnis. I gratefully accepted an offer from Mr. Hirtz to arrange a solo version, mistakenly assuming that a reduction for only two hands would have fewer notes. (I am happy to report that our close friendship has survived.) This ingenious fantasy enables Harold Arlen's glorious songs and Herbert Stothart's colorful incidental music to be heard in a piano recital setting. It is a tour-de force of pianistic creativity and a virtual compendium of advanced technique. Performing W.A. Mozart's Fantasy in D minor (1782) presents a particular challenge, as it is an unfinished work. My childhood copy has ten measures added by an editor, which bring the piece to a rather abrupt close. I have taken the liberty of improvising my own ending. If the last minute and a half is not to your liking, do not blame Mozart! Fantasia sulla Cavalleria Rusticana (2005) was written by Sicilian pianist Calogero Di Liberto while he was completing his doctoral studies in my studio at The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. In researching operatic fantasies for his doctoral document, he realized that he could compensate for the lack of a fantasy on Pietro Mascagni's immensely popular opera by writing his own. Di Liberto's brilliant understanding of the piano, and his lifelong love of Italian opera, shine through in this fantasy dedicated to his daughter Clara. Robert Schumann's Fantasy (1836) was my first major project (it may have qualified as an obsession) at The Juilliard School as a student of the legendary pedagogue Adele Marcus in 1980. My battered copy of the score is swathed in her markings: "Sentiment without sentimentality," "Proportion vs. freedom," and "Surge!" In these lessons I began to grasp the scope of a work whose artistic challenges far surpassed the considerable technical ones. A sign of this monumental work's enduring popularity occurred during the final editing process, when three of my students at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University were working on the Schumann Fantasy simultaneously. It has been a privilege to pass on the legacy of Miss Marcus' words of wisdom. Although I did make a few recordings at the beginning of my concert career, I was always ill at ease. I missed the inspiration of a live audience and the unpredictable nature of each performance. To me, a recording was a permanent document that I might instantly wish to disavow! Now, I thoroughly enjoy the process. I find satisfaction in trying a phrase one way, then another. I also appreciate my wife Aloysia Friedmann's special role as my recording session producer. Her musicianship, artistry and patience inspire me, and I trust her ears implicitly. In addition, it is wonderful to have the opportunity to bring new works to light, and I am delighted to have Hirtz and Di Liberto stand with pride beside Mozart, Schubert and Schumann. This recording is dedicated to the memory of Adele Marcus. PRODUCER Aloysia Friedmann POST-PRODUCTION Jon Kimura Parker and Aloysia Friedmann RECORDING AND EDITING Andy Bradley, SugarHill Studios, Houston, TX MASTERING Chris Longwood, SugarHill Studios, Houston, TX CD DESIGN Wade Campbell PHOTOGRAPHS Tara McMullen PHOTO STYLING Liz Parker, lizpr.com MICROPHONES Telefunken/Schoeps, Francis X. Schmidt PIANO Hamburg Steinway #491220 Maintained and tuned by Dean Shank SPECIAL THANKS TO Sam Ersan, and to Dean Robert Yekovich and The Shepherd School of Music for making this recording possible All Wizard of Oz songs in medley © Harold Arlen, E.Y. Harburg, published by EMI Feist Catalog, Inc. Arrangement © William Hirtz Fantasia Sulla "Cavalleria Rusticana" Per Pianoforte By Calogero Di Liberto. Copyright and Publishing Casa Musicale Sonzogno, Milan, Italy.
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    Streichsextette 1 & 2
    "1st Sextet revelling in the work's glorious fullness, but of course The Lindsays and colleagues are able to put heart and soul into the music while keeping a careful control of the overall balance ... wholehearted character of the playing is a big advantage ... both sextets have a compelling sense of direction - in the Second's magnificent first movement, we can feel what a giant young Brahms had become." (Gramophone)
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    Voodoo Fire & Other Works by Derek Strahan
    'VOODOO FIRE & OTHER WORKS BY DEREK STRAHAN RDS 006 Total duration: 73.42 Program notes by composer for 'VOODOO FIRE', 'CHINA SPRING'. SOLOCELLO SUITE #1, 'ATLANTIS' and 'CLARINET CONCERTO #1, 3rd Movement. See end for composer's biography 'VOODOO FIRE' (1996) for Clarinet, Percussion and Keyboard. Performance by Alan Vivian, clarinet, Michael Askill, percussion, Susanne Powell, keyboards. LIVE RECORDING OF PREMIER PERFORMANCE AT CANBERRA SCHOOL OF MUSIC 21/04/1996. Duration 16.18 The work was commissioned by the Canberra School of Music for performance by clarinetist Alan Vivian and colleagues, as the result of discussions between Alan and myself over a number of years, following from Alan's splendid work recording my Clarinet Quintet No. 1 in D ('The Princess') in 1981. 15 years passed before the opportunity arose for me to write a piece especially for Alan. When he suggested I write a Trio for clarinet, percussion and keyboards, this gave me the opportunity to advance a particular interest of mine - the fusion of Western melodic counterpoint with African rhythmic counterpoint. In an arc stretching from Brazil to the Caribbean, the animist religious beliefs of Africa remain alive in South and Central America and in the deep south of the USA. The Haitian version of this religion is the best known probably because it inspired the only successful slave revolt in the world, and also because of it's supposed link with black magic. However, as in most religions, there are two clear paths which can be taken, that of the common good, and that of manipulative individual will. Central to Voodoo practice is the belief that, through ceremony and ritual the gods will possess participants and speak through them. Music and dance induce a trance state so that possession will occur. Specific dances and rites invoke specific gods. African music is distinguished by it's use of polyrhythms in drumming. A complex 'engine' of interacting rhythms produces a basis for unison chant. When Western music absorbed African influence to produce 'jazz' the following process seems to have occurred. 1) The polyrhythmic component was rejected, because it was alien to the Western harmonic system. In this, 'harmony' is achieved by vertical alignment of tones in a uni-rhythmic music where the coincidence of tones produces 'chords'. 'Jazz' as it has evolved requires performers to follow a 'chord sequence'. 2) One of the superficial effects of polyrhythm was retained - the displaced accent. Coming before the beat, this was called syncopation. In African drumming much of what sounds like syncopation is a side-effect of the concurrence of different rhythms. I have attempted in this piece to apply African rhythmic counterpoint to Western melodic counterpoint. The resulting fusion is not 'program music', nor is it, of course, true music of the Voodoo. However, in order to compose it, I did study music for which I have the greatest respect, accessed through commercially available recordings of authentic Voodoo ceremonies that took place in Haiti. As these recordings were made with the specific permission of Voodoo hougans (priests), it is right that I acknowledge the source of the musical techniques I have attempted to apply (see below). Shango is the Voodoo god of thunder and lightning, consequently also of fire. In writing music dedicated to Shango, I, a European Australian, am expressing my appreciation of the Voodoo attitude to a deity embodying this element. Shango is still worshipped as a very powerful spirit not only in Haiti, and in Brazil (as Xango) but also among the Yoruba of Nigeria, from whom Voodoo (or 'Vodun') is thought to originate. The mythology surrounding Shango is complex and colorful and can be quickly accessed in detail by googling his name on the internet. Derived from an historical figure, posthumously deified, Shango is the son of Aganju, a ferryman and god of fire. He once threw himself into fire to prove his lineage. He also has aspects of a thunder god, and, by analogy, of many Western fire gods, since, through the fire of lightning, Shango reveals "truth that hurts" by illuminating what was hidden. In Western culture gods of fire were also illuminators, who offered humans the fire of Enlightenment and Knowledge. According to our various myths, the chief gods guarded Knowledge and kept it hidden from humans. It fell to the rebellious fire god to share it with us, and he was always punished for his disobedience - demoted to being a demi-god (half-human), or demonized. Some of the names of the fire god in Western culture are: Prometheus, Loke (Loge of Wagner's "Ring") and Lucifer, the latter known also as the Light-Bringer and known also as the Fallen Angel, who was expelled from Paradise. By contrast, neither the fire god, nor any Voodoo gods are thought of as being either good or evil. Voodoo gods may at times behave with malice, since 'they embrace all aspects inherent in their physical and spiritual existence'(*). It is up to humans to induce the gods to act on their behalf, and this is done through ritual which embodies dance. Significantly, Shango is also god of the drums and dance. His power over the elements equates with the caprice and creative experience of human sexuality. Generic Voodoo terms for their gods are the 'lao', gods of earth and the underworld, and the "Orishas' gods of sky and heaven, among whom Shango is prominent. But all Voodoo gods are offspring of the Creator-God Mawu who is 'understood in his entirety' (*). The serpent figures strongly in the Voodoo faith. In it's many spellings "Voodoo" means "spirit and also 'the snake under whose auspices gather all who share the faith". Thus it would seem that the Voodoo attitude to the Creator-God is somewhat similar to the philosophy which underlies the heretical Gnostic version of Christianity. Gnostics view the Wise Serpent of Eden as a benefactor, an intermediary who intercedes to connect humans with the true God, by revealing Hidden Knowledge (Gnosis). No wonder the Gnostics were persecuted as heretics!. Voodoo, as a religion, was banned during the era of slavery, but survived by syncretism within the slave owners' faith, especially within Catholicism. For example, the gate to the 'Laos' is protected by a barrier whose guardian is 'Papa Legba' and who is also indicative of Saint Peter, since Voodoo 'effortlessly incorporates aspects of other religions'. Voodoo, Vodoun, Vudu or Vudun dates from the beginning of human civilization, and is estimated to be over 10,000 years old. On Thursday, April 10, 2003, Voodoo was officially sanctioned as a religion by the government of Haiti. Acknowledgements: 1) Sound recordings collected in Haiti and the island of La Tortue by Maurice Bitter with the agreement of the Hougans (priests) during actual Voodoo ceremonies. As released on LP, 'Voodoo Ceremony in Haiti', Olympic records. 2) Book: 'Voodoo, Africa's Secret Power' by Gert Chesi, published by Perlinger Verlag, 1979. (In 1964 Gert Chesi spent 8 months in Lambarene as the guest of distinguished author and Christian missionary Albert Schweitzer. It was during that time Chesi developed a deep interest in African tribes and their traditions). (*) Indicates quotations from this book. "Voodoo Fire" is written in three sections, played continuously, which correspond to a ritual performance, beginning with Offerings to the god, a Dance leading to Possession by the god and culminating in a prayer to Shango, the melody of which is freely adapted from a genuine Voodoo chant sung by the hougan with operatic fervour against energetic inspirational drumming. Within the work's musical structure there is some mirror imagery, where a passage is later repeated but with it's metre and notation played in reverse, leading to a reprise of the opening passage. The technicalities of this and other cyclic structural elements are described in detail in the educational Music Kit available for this work. 1. Invocation of the Fir
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    Kantaten BWV 52,54,170 & 174
    Jonathan Cohen (Dir) // 'Ich habe genug' is a timeless, transcendental masterpiece: a profound expression of Christian faith at the very end of life. It demands artistry of a special order, and Iestyn Davies now joins the likes of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Lorraine Hunt Lieberson in the work's distinguished discography.
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    Streichquartette
    This is an original coupling on disc - Debussy's sole quartet is nearly always paired with Ravel's - but also a natural and pleasing one, serving to illuminate two lesser-known string quartets with an earlier masterpiece of the genre. Szymanowski's music is saturated with the influence of the two French composers, but his voice is recognisably his own, whether in the three opulent symphonies, the elusive pianocycles, the opera King Roger that is his masterpiece, or these two string quartets, both composed in 1927.Even so, it is also not difficult to hear an affinity with Bartok's experience, particularly in the Second, where the instrumental language is more experimental, in the employment of trills,ground rhythms, percussive chords, spices that thicken the original sap, never resorting to mere quotations but, as in Bartok, using rhythmic cells as kickstarters for the engine of creation. The First Quartet is much lusher, recalling the endless singing lines of the First Violin Concerto and more obviously looking back to the Impressionism of Debussy, though Debussy's own quartet dates from a pre-Impressionist period when he was just beginning to formulate his own language. In the same year as the quartet, 1892, he began to write Prélude a l'apresmidi d'un faune and first saw Maurice Maeterlinck's symbolist drama, Pelléas et Melisande, of which he would produce his own operatic version a decade later. The quartet itself is endlessly satisfying, and any fine new recording has its own things to say.The Quartetto Prometeo is an Italian ensemble founded in 1998, and now with several albums to their name, including Hugo Wolf's complete music for string quartet (BC94166), which contains 'an illuminating interpretation of the String Quartet that is both athletic and elegant, luxuriating in the work's warmth but also plunging fearlessly into its icy depths.' (MusicWeb International) They have forged a creative partnership with one of today's leading Italian composers, Salvatore Sciarrino, which has resulted in commissions and a CD of his famously refined and technically challenging music.This new recording presents an unusual pairing of the complete string quartets by Szymanowski and Debussy.Szymanowksi is one of Poland's most famous composers. Influences on his style are many (Bartok's percussive and motoric drive, Ravel's coloristic sonorities) but he found his own personal language, lush, opulent, rich and sometimes exotic, always expressing a deep emotional content.Debussy's string quartet dates from his early years, a beautiful and romantic work, the French answer to Wagner's richly chromatic language.The Quartetto Prometeo is one of Italy's finest string quartets. Their recording for Brilliant Classics of the string quartet by Hugo Wolf received excellent reviews: "an illuminating interpretation of the String Quartet that is both athletic and elegant, luxuriating in the work's warmth but also plunging fearlessly into its icy depths." (MusicWeb International).
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