manuscripts, designed
manuscripts, designed with colours and ornaments,which are beautiful in themselves.As with Bird’s first collection, the chant hasbeen compressed to produce a faster movingmelody line, which follows the intervals of thechant more quickly and renders them instrumentallyin arrangements that are based ona main voice usually played on a harmonica.There is no singing.There are eight separate numbers, andeach features a very precise scoring of thesolo harmonica line, recorded and performedmeticulously with a limited vibrato, plusanother instrumental line which varies fromnumber to number, and forms organumand pedal effects and echoes surroundingthe main melody, with strings in the first,trumpet in the third, and we hear sectionswith electric guitar, sruti-box, [tiny] pipeorgan and even a harp, but all in contemplativeflowing, very simple and clear lines.The intense meditational focus eventuallycreates an obsessive, mesmerizing quality, buteach of the numbers ends abruptly, usuallyfading back before the next piece withoutany cadential process. This disc could be aneffective background of calming music playedon repeat. The single sleeved album has aminimum of notes, but is very elaboratelydecorated, as is the CD itself.Michael DoleschellJ. S. Bach – The Well “Tampered” ClavierBook One (arranged Sam Post)Sam Post; Ralitza PatchevaAcis APL53516 (acisrecordstore.com)! Sam Post, andhis piano-playingpartner RalitzaPacheva, play asensational Book 1of J.S. Bach’s Well-“Tampered” Clavierhere. More aboutthat title later. Bothbooks (24 preludes and fugues) work throughthe 12 major and 12 minor keys on the instrumentas it was constructed at that time.Unequalled in the profligacy of theirinventiveness, the books were intendedpartly as a manual of keyboard playing andcomposition, partly as a systematic explorationof harmony, and partly as a celebrationof tuning technique – the “Well-tempering”that enables playing in any key withouthaving to retune the piano. The twist in thetitle may sound whimsical, but it is not as itrestores the Pythagorean (and other mathematicalelements) of the composition. As theelements of melodic line, harmonic constructionand rhythmic invention are unfurled andunfettered, the “Tampered” vs “Tempered”title makes its charm even clearer.Post’s and Ralitza’s quirky and clever interpretationjoins the annals of great recordings– Glenn Gould’s and Friedrich Gulda’sto cite a couple – of this masterful compositionalinvention. The fugues, in as manyas five voices, are brilliantly constructedand full of dance-like passages and strong,concise melodies, and the preludes can beseen as palimpsests of the poetic distillationsof Chopin’s Préludes and Études. Post andRalitza exploit the full range of the piano’ssonorities; crisp, hard touch is used for themore rhythmically motorised preludes.Raul da GamaErnst Gernot Klussmann – Piano Quintet;String Quartet No.1Kuss Quartet; Péter NagyEDA Records EDA 055 (eda-records.com/177-0-CD-im-Detail.html?cd_id=100)! In the bookletaccompanyingthis first-ever CDdevoted to ErnstGernot Klussmann(1901-1975), CarstenBock suggeststhat the neglectof Klussmann’sextensive output in all genres is “due to thestigma attached to artists who worked inGermany during the Nazi era.” Klussmannhad joined the Nazi party in 1933 but, insistsBock, he “was anything but a Nazi… a timidperson who was careful to observe the rulesand laws.”After listening to these two early works, Isubmit instead that Klussmann’s “timidity”and “careful observation of the rules” led himto creating music that despite its intrinsicmerit is dismissed for too closely imitatingthe composers he admired – Brahms, Mahlerand Schoenberg.Klaussmann’s Piano Quintet in E Minor,Op.1 (1925) opens with a yearning violinmelody that could have been written byBrahms. Brahms reappears in the movement’stumultuous development and the rhapsodicAdagio molto e cantabile as well as the noble,vigorous anthem and fugal section of thedramatic Finale. This thoroughly enjoyablework might easily have entered the repertoirehad it been premiered a generation earlier.Just a few years later, in his String QuartetNo.1, Op.7 (1928-1930), Klussmann abandonedBrahms for the long-lined, chromaticdissonances of Mahler and the Schoenberg ofVerklärte Nacht.Pianist Péter Nagy and the Berlin-basedKuss Quartet make a persuasive case for thesesubstantial works, both over half an hour,both well worth hearing even if you’ve “heardit all before.”Michael SchulmanEdge of the StormTelegraph QuartetAzica ACD-71381 (azica.com/albums/edge-of-the-storm)! This CD’s threequartets date froma decade whentheir composerslived on the “edgeof the storm” –World War Two.Benjamin Brittencomposed hisremarkable String Quartet No.1 in D Major,Op.25 (1941) in California, having chosen, asa pacifist, self-exile from the U.K. Filled withfresh melodies, surprising irregular rhythmsand strikingly original sonorities, it featureseerie, high-pitched shimmers over cellopizzicati, an energized syncopated dance, adriving scherzo abruptly punctuated by rudeoutbursts, an extended elegy and a skittish,exuberant and eventually triumphant finale.In 1939, Mieczysław Weinberg fled fromPoland to the U.S.S.R. There, he composedhis String Quartet No.6 in E Minor, Op.35(1946), a memorial to the millions of innocentskilled, including his parents and sisterwho were murdered by the Nazis. Bittersweetfolk-like tunes contrast with violent turmoil,a wailing klezmer melody, a grief-strickenprayer for the dead, a ghostly Yiddish dance(played using mutes), ending with a grandiloquent,Shostakovichian proclamation ofsurvival after tragedy. Banned from performanceby Soviet authorities, this monumentalwork wasn’t premiered until 2006!During the Nazi occupation, GrażynaBacewicz participated in Poland’sUnderground Union of Musicians, which latercommissioned her String Quartet No.4 (1951).Wistful melodies and optimistic passionemerge from initial gloom, pulsating shadowsdrift mysteriously and a spirited rondo basedon a Polish oborek dance accelerates to ajoyous conclusion.Thanks to the virtuosic Telegraph Quartet,quartet-in-residence at the University ofMichigan, for this superb CD.Michael SchulmanNightfall and Midnight Revels – NewChamber Music from Two CenturiesPaul Cohen; Various artistsRavello Records rr8117 (ravellorecords.com/catalog/rr8117)! Sadly, in theworld of chambermusic, the saxophoneis usuallynot in the pictureat all; even in 2025the standard stringsand wind instrumentsusually takeprecedence. Famous exceptions would beWilliam Walton’s brilliant Façade or various46 | November & December 2025 thewholenote.com
transpositions of Bach, Hindemith andother works.Paul Cohen’s Nightfalls and MidnightRevels does an excellent job of rectifying thisby highlighting many obscure works andpresenting “a distinguished array of music oldand new, including chamber works for trio,quartet and quintet.” Cohen plays sopranoand alto saxophones in addition to the “conno-sax,”a straight design in “F” (saxes arenormally tuned in B-flat or E-flat) which wasproduced for only one year (1928). Otherinstrumentation includes piano, violin, viola,cello and other saxophones, and includespieces from 1932 to 2021.There are several beautiful gems in thiscollection – for example Wolfgang Jacobi’srecently discovered Kleine Stucke (1932) andJohn Sichel’s Piano Saxophone Quintet (2021)– and I heartily urge everyone to give it alisten: you will be surprised and intrigued.Ted ParkinsonMODERN AND CONTEMPORARYOmar Daniel – Game of Couples: Chambermusic and songsVarious ArtistsCentrediscs CMCCD 34124 (centrediscs.bandcamp.com/album/game-of-couples)! Toronto-bornOmar Daniel,currently associateprofessor ofcomposition atWestern University,reliably rewardslisteners with hispatented formulacombining strikingmelodies with dynamic rhythms, often, as inthis latest release, adding ingredients fromthe music of his parents’ homeland, Estonia.Violinists Erika Raum (Daniel’s wife) andEmily Kruspe perform Giuoco delle coppie/Game of Couples (2014). This “game” isanything but “fun.” Six movements, all underthree minutes, range in expressive contentfrom the abrasive argument of the openingAllegro barbaro (a favourite Daniel designation)through distressed pleading, emphaticassertions, depression, anxiety, finally endingin a lonely, despairing, near-silent Adagio.Pianist Lydia Wong joins Raum in thefive-movement Metsa maasikad/WildStrawberries (2009). With titles includingHorse Game, Spinning Song, Grew into aHerder and The Mouse Goes to the Forest,insistent rhythms and spiky melodies suggestthe rustic folkloric music of a lusty peasantcommunity.More folkish melodies appear in Daniel’sÜhekse eesti regilaulud/Nine Estonian Rugo-Songs (2008, rev.2021), comprising songsof harvest, cooking, games and a lullaby.Soprano Xin Wang’s unrestrained hoarseyelps – over innovative, discordant instrumentalsonorities provided by Raum, violistSharon Wei and cellist Thomas Wiebe – makethis a wildly exhilarating work!Raum and Wiebe return in two Nocturnes(2020-2021), a grim Adagio and an Allegromolto that begins raucously but graduallyfades to a funereal hush. When will theToronto Symphony and/or the CanadianOpera Company commission a major work bythis most-deserving composer?Michael SchulmanWhat I Saw in the WaterChromaDuoNaxos 8.574578 (arkivmusic.com/products/assad-bogdanovic-brouweriannarelli-kavanagh-what-i-sa)! Five 21st-centuryworks by fiveguitaristcomposersarelovingly performedby Canada’sChromaDuo, guitaristsTracy AnneSmith and RobMacDonald.Simone Iannarelli (b.Rome 1970) sayshis Siete pinturas de Frida Kahlo “tries torecreate the images, atmosphere, inside feelingsor background of these works of Frida,”beginning with the rippling, impressionisticLo que vi en el agua, the source of the CD’stitle. The flamenco-flavoured Unos cuantospiquetitos is followed by five mostly inwardlookingpieces which offer pleasant listeningbut are considerably understated comparedto Kahlo’s flamboyantly phantasmagoricpaintings.The remaining works were writtenexpressly for ChromaDuo. The Circle Gameby guitar icon Leo Brouwer (b.Havana 1939),inspired by Margaret Atwood’s poetry collectionof the same name, enigmatically mixesminimalist pulsations with fragmentedphrases, interrupted by sudden silences.The four-movement Sonata No.2 by DušanBogdanović (b.Belgrade, 1955) offers briefhints of Indian music, some jazzy riffs andtantalizing snatches of several near-recognizableold pop songs.In the warm-hearted, ballad-like tonepoem, The Ghost of Peggy’s Cove, Op.14, DaleKavanagh (b.Halifax 1958) depicts the NovaScotia legend of a woman whose ghost hauntsthe shore where she drowned herself afterseeing her husband die when he fell whiledancing on the rocks.This multifaceted CD ends with the threemovementDyens en trois temps, a tribute bySérgio Assad (b.São Paulo 1952) to his friend,Tunisian-French guitarist-composer RolandDyens (1955-2016), echoing, in turn, Dyens’treatment of jazz, French songs and the musicof Brazil.Michael SchulmanWhat we're listening to this month:thewholenote.com/listeningHeart MusicGeorge Crotty Trio“Heart Music” is a transatlantictravelogue of creative encounterswithin jazz, Hindustani raga, andcontemporary chamber music,telling a story of curiosity andexploration.Je suis calme et enragé-eNour Symon“… wholly monumental… dense,edgy storytelling…” six worksexploring “positions of distressand malaise in response to History,scale of humanity and ecologicaldisasters”Cosmic CliffsWhispering WorldsAn album that soars with serenity,which is an apt proposition in thepresent socio-political context.Brahms, Balkans & BagelsOktopusLet yourself be carried away bythis colourful album, straddlingclassical and folk traditions —from Brahms to the Balkans, fromMahler to klezmer!thewholenote.com November & December 2025 | 47
