COMPOSERS: Medyulyanova,Nadarejshvili,Part,Tavener,Vrebalov & Yanovsky
LABELS: Louth Contemporary Music Society
WORKS: Chamber Works by Medyulyanova, Nadarejshvili, Pärt, Tavener, Vrebalov & Yanovsky
PERFORMER: The Carducci Quartet; Dublin Guitar Quartet; Patricia Rozario, Eamonn Dougan, Joachim Roewer, Malachy Robinson etc
CATALOGUE NO: LCMS 1001
Except for the extract from Nadarejshvili’s quartet all these pieces are receiving their premiere recording (Pärt’s Summa is realised by guitar quartet here), and all are rooted in ancient folk traditions.
Yanovsky’s piece is inspired by the chang, a traditional Uzbeki stringed instrument. To evoke this, the quartet uses plucking and percussive techniques, vividly conjuring visions of folk-dances surviving from time immemorial, but the opening materialises from ethereal notes which gradually give way to more corporeal, though no less mysterious, sounds. The Carlucci Quartet also performs the third movement of Nadarejshvili’s quartet, a threnody drawing on Georgian folk sources that evolves from restrained pizzicato gestures above a quiet drone to an outcry about the experiences of Georgia under Stalinism.
Pärt’s Face to Face for soprano, baritone, clarinet, viola and bass contains some of his bleakest ever music but, by the end of its brief span, this meditation on St Paul’s ‘through a glass darkly’ epistle is imbued with the A major light of understanding. Tavener’s Sámaveda effectively features the tampura and flute to surround Patricia Rozario’s voice with intimations of eternal wisdom. Rozario is also featured to impressive effect on Epistle.
Medyulyanova’s Eternal Peace, beautifully sung by Doreen Curran, is a comparatively lush piece of neo-Romanticism, contrasting dramatically with Vrebalov’s Spell, a mesmerising piece for violin interacting with live electronics and pre-recorded choral fragments. Barry Witherden