COMPOSERS: Busch,Hindemith,Koechlin,Nin,Webern & Villa-Lobos
LABELS: Clarinet Classics
ALBUM TITLE: Collection: Chambersax
WORKS: Works
PERFORMER: Kyle Horch (saxophones), Pamela Lidiard (piano, celesta), etc
CATALOGUE NO: CC 0029
At the helm of Chambersax is American saxophonist Kyle Horch, who explores some of the earliest small-scale works which embrace his instrument. It’s the era of the Twenties and Thirties, and the programme’s protagonists transmit a true feeling of exploration. Instrumental combinations are constantly curious, as are stylistic distinctions. From the opening Quintet by Adolf Busch (for alto sax, two violins, viola and cello) to the closing Quartet by Villa-Lobos (for harp, celesta, flute, alto sax and female voices), the recording reveals versatile performers who can take on the lyrical heart of German Romanticism or an exotic Brazilian seductiveness with supreme conviction.
Fenella Barton (violin), John Payne (clarinet) and Pamela Lidiard (piano) join Horch in an engrossing reading of Webern’s Quartet, Op. 22. Its intricate structures are kept crystal clear, yet the mood is imbued with post-Romantic warmth. Again, without detracting from the austere harmonies or angular lines of Hindemith’s Trio, Op. 47, the instrumentalists sound almost decadent in tone.
Two entrancing miniatures complete the disc – the colourful, Impressionistic Chant du veilleur by Cuban-born Joaquin Nin with the rich-voiced Margaret Maguire in the solo role, and Koechlin’s Épitaphe de Jean Harlow, played with real French sensibility by Horch, Lidiard and flautist Karen Jones. Kate Sherriff