Editor’s CornerDAVID OLDSBy my reckoning, the Canadian MusicCentre released more than a dozen CDson its Centrediscs label last year, withreviews of 13 titles appearing in these pagessince July 2010. This is, by any standard,a remarkable achievement in the rarefiedmedium of contemporary concert music andwonderful news for the composers of thiscountry. Even better news is that the fieldhas broadened with the recentannouncement from NAXOS — thelargest producer of classical CDsin the world — that they will bereleasing six to eight discs ofmusic by Canadian composersannually on their new CanadianClassics series.The first to appear is FugitiveColours, featuring music byJeffrey Ryan performed by theVancouver Symphony Orchestraand the Gryphon Trio under thedirection of Bramwell Tovey(8.572765). There is a strongToronto connection here inspite of the Vancouver by-line.Born in Toronto (and raisedin Fergus), Ryan has since1997(!) served as composer advisorto Music Toronto — his StringQuartet No. 4 “Inspirare” waspremiered by the Tokyo Quartetat Walter Hall in the openingconcert of MT’s 40th season lastmonth — and from 2000–2002was an affiliate composer of theToronto Symphony Orchestra.Now based in Vancouver, Ryanwas composer laureate of theVancouver Symphony Orchestra in 2008/09having previously served as its composer-inresidencefrom 2002–2007.The three works on this CD are a legacyof his relationship with the VSO. The opener,The Linearity of Light¸ commissioned inthe early days of his residency there, wascompleted in 2003. It is a tone poem thatexplores reflections and refractions in adramatic and rhythmically compelling way,at times reminiscent of Stravinsky andHolst, juxtaposed with ethereal momentsof extreme delicacy. 2007’s Equilateral:Triple Concerto for Piano Trio andOrchestra was co-commissioned by theVSO and the TSO in celebration of the 15thanniversary of the Gryphon Trio, long-timecolleagues of Ryan’s at Music Toronto asensemble-in-residence. It must have beena daunting task to undertake a work in theshadow of Beethoven’s masterpiece for thesame instrumentation — I can’t think ofanother example off-hand; I’ll probably getletters — but Ryan rises to the challengeadmirably. The two outer movements,aptly named Breathless and Serpentinefeaturing unison rhythms and dense textures,frame the wonderfully lyrical Points ofContact, with its poignant solo passagesand microtonal “Doppler” effects. Ryan thecolourist is shown to great effect in the titlework, the 2006 symphony commissionedby the VSO. Three of themovements make no secret oftheir inspiration from the worldof colour: Intarsia (although Imust admit I had to look thatone up), Nocturne (Magenta)and Viridian. The remaining(third) movement, Light: Fastsuggests the full spectrum whileonce again reminding us of therhythmic vitality of Stravinsky.This segues into the finalewith a violin solo which setsthe tone for an extended andpeaceful dénouement.All in all, this disc makesa strong contribution to therecorded legacy of Canadianmusic and a fitting opening to theNaxos series. Ryan already had animpressive discography — thisis the tenth CD to include hismusic — but here we are presentedwith the first to featurehis orchestral music exclusively.Congratulations to JeffreyRyan, to Naxos and indeed tothe Canadian music community— this series promises to be awin, win, win situation.Concert note: Jeffrey Ryan’s extendedvocal cycle The Whitening of the Ox willreceive its premiere at the Enwave Theatreon January 29 with baritone Tyler Duncanand the New Music Concerts ensemble.The rest of my listening this month wasdevoted to recent releases in my favouritegenre, the string quartet. I was intrigued toreceive a disc on the Bridge Records labelpurporting to be by the New Orford StringQuartet. Who can this be, I wondered,with the nerve to appropriate the nameof Canada’s most respected chamberensemble? I still harbour some of thosethoughts, but having listened to the Schubertand Beethoven quartets included on theirinaugural release (Bridge 9363) I am willingto at least grant them credibility. It turnsout that the quartet, like its namesake,was formed at the Orford Music Centrein Quebec, in this instance in the summerof 2009. It is comprised of principalsand former principals of the OrchestreSymphonique de Montréal and the TorontoSymphony, violinists Jonathan Crow andAndrew Wan, violist Eric Nowlin andcellist Brian Manker. Unlike the originalOrford which for more than 25 years wasdevoted exclusively to being a quartet, theNew Orford dedicates only specific periodseach year to working together. There are anumber of surprises on this recording: thatthe Bridge label doesn’t only record themusic of living American composers andmusicians; that Schubert, Beethoven’s juniorby 27 years, finished his 15th string quartetin the same year that Beethoven wrote hisown 16th (the two being paired on thisrecording); and that a “part-time” quartetcan play so well together! The disc featuresunusual and insightful liner notes by cellistBrian Manker and the exceptional soundquality was captured at the Schulich Schoolof Music, McGill.Founded in 1997, Montreal’s MolinariQuartet has established a solid reputationas a voice for established and emergingcomposers working in the genre of thestring quartet. One of its lasting legacies isthe triennial Molinari Quartet InternationalCompetition for Composition which in thefist 10 years has received over 600 newquartet scores from 60 countries. The onlyremaining founding member, first violinistOlga Ranzenhofer, has surrounded herselfwith a fine crop of new partners — violinistFrédéric Bednarz, violist Frédéric Lambertand cellist Pierre-Alain Bouvrette — fora 2 CD set of string quartets by AlfredSchnittke (ATMA ACD2 2634). The German/Russian composer (1934–1998) was one ofthe original voices of the new eclecticismand this is well demonstrated in his fourquartets spanning the years 1966 to 1983.These important works receive convincingperformances here. My only qualm is theordering of the quartets on the recording.Usually re-arranging works is a result ofthe time constraints of the medium. Thatis obviously not the case in this instance(3-1-2 on one disc) so we assume it was anaesthetic choice, perhaps to do with theparticularly alluring opening of the thirdquartet. That quibble aside I find it very easyto recommend this set to both those who arefamiliar with the material and those whohave not yet encountered the quartets of thisexceptional composer.we welcome your feedback andinvite submissions. CDs and commentsshould be sent to: The WholeNote, 503–720Bathurst St., Toronto ON, M5S 2R4. Wealso encourage you to visit our website,www.thewholenote.com, where you can findadded features including direct links to performers,composers and record labels, “buybuttons” for online shopping and additional,expanded and archival reviews.—David Olds, DISCoveries Editordiscoveries@thewholenote.com60 thewholenote.comOctober 1 – November 7, 2011
