(+++) IT’S ALL ABOUT THE SOUND

Music for Organ by Holst, Elgar, Florence Price, Chris Martin, Dan Locklair, and Léon Boëllmann. Alexander Ffinch, organ. Divine Art. $16.

Music for Pedal Harp and Lever Harp by Lauren Scott, Maurice Ravel, Grace-Evangeline Mason, J.S. Bach, Rüdiger Oppermann, and Monika Stadler. Lauren Scott, pedal harp and lever harp; Elizabeth Bass and Eleanor Turner, prepared pedal harp; Keziah Thomas, pedal harp; Alexander Rider, pedal harp and prepared pedal harp. AVIE. $19.99.

Rick Sowash: Trios Nos. 11-13 for Clarinet, Cello and Piano. Upland Trio (Christopher Bade, clarinet; Josh Aerie, cello; Greg Kostraba, piano). Kickshaw Records. $15.

     Some recordings are essays in sonority more than explorations of repertoire. The specific works performed are, of course, necessary to provide the performer(s) with a  basis for presenting the quality and sound of their instrument(s). But that quality, that sound, can sometimes supersede the importance of the music chosen – a state of affairs that is particularly evident when multiple pieces are arranged to take advantage of an instrument’s sonic palette instead of being heard as their composers intended. A new Divine Art recording featuring first-rate organ performances by Alexander Ffinch (who here plays the organ of Cheltenham College Chapel) is packed with material arranged for the organ: Holst’s Jupiter from The Planets, arranged by Thomas Trotter; Paradise by Chris Trotter (born 1977), arranged by Ffinch himself; Elgar’s Nimrod from his Enigma Variations, arranged by William H. Harris, and Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1, arranged by Edwin Henry Lemare, and Chanson de Matin, arranged by Herbert Brewer. These individual pieces are scattered among three multi-movement works: Suite No. 1 by Florence Price (1887-1953), Rubrics by Dan Locklair (born 1949), and Suite Gothique by Léon Boëllmann (1862-1897). The mixture of older and newer material, more-extended and shorter works, and music of very different provenance and character, produces in toto a certain degree of sonic whiplash, with the CD held together by Ffinch’s fine playing and, to an even greater extent, by the aural exploration of the organ made possible by the disparate elements of the recital. The more-extended pieces are, on the whole, more interesting than the arrangements – though it is worth noting that all individual components of the longer works (four each in the Price and Boëllmann pieces, five in Locklair’s) are quite short, none exceeding five minutes. This gives the totality of the disc something of a feeling of perpetual encores – although Ffinch’s ability to bring out the subtleties of sound of the various elements keeps everything eminently listenable. Price’s work is notable for its stylistic eclecticism: there are snatches of hymns, spirituals, jazz and more. Locklair’s piece offers a succession of strongly contrasted moods, with the quietude of the fourth movement, “The Peace May Be Exchanged,” especially noteworthy. And Boëllmann’s impressive suite – a staple of the organ repertoire – is notable for its pervasive grandeur and consistent attentiveness to the majesty of which the organ is capable. What Ffinch does on this recording is present, to very good effect, the many moods and sounds of which the organ is capable: although the entirety of the disc is somewhat meandering and disconnected, with works that do not quite gel as a totality, the underlying theme of the beauty and power of the foundational organ sound is clearly displayed throughout.

     The much lighter and more ethereal sound associated with the harp is the major element of the attraction of a new AVIE disc featuring Lauren Scott as performer, composer and arranger. In fact, the CD showcases harp sound, or rather sounds, in some unexpected ways. In addition to the pedal harp, with which listeners are likely familiar from many classical compositions, Scott performs here on the lever harp, a smaller and less-complex instrument often used by beginning players and in folk music; and she and colleagues also offer some works on the prepared pedal harp – which, like the prepared piano, starts with the standard instrument and modifies it to produce sounds of which it is not normally capable. Scott-composed works here include Sea of Stars, Printemps, Neeps and Tatties, On a Blue Hill, and The Sun and Her Flowers. Scott’s arrangements are of the traditional Be Thou My Vision; Ravel’s Laideronnette, Empress of the Pagodas (from Ma Mère l’Oye); the prelude from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 2, played on lever harp; and the traditional The Wayfaring Stranger, arranged by her and Andy Scott. This relatively short disc – 48 minutes – is clearly Scott-dominated as well as harp-focused, although it does also include Glass Cathedrals by Grace-Evangeline Mason, Breathing with Harp by Rüdiger Oppermann, and No One Can Stop Me Now by Monika Stadler. The individuality of the works tends to be subsumed within the sound of the various harps, and that seems to be the main point here: it is interesting to hear harp solos of Ravel and Bach, and the cross-genre material shows that the harp is capable of a greater variety of sounds and techniques than audiences may know. The bell-like tolling that pervades the expansive Mason work, the soft near-silence of Oppermann’s piece, and the percussive elements of Stadler’s strongly jazz-influenced music are all attractive. And Scott’s own works certainly show her ability to explore and exploit the full range and capabilities of her instrument. However, nothing in the music itself is especially notable here: this is an instrument-and-performer-focused CD whose pleasures derive from extended immersion in its specific sonic environment. It is a treat for harp fanciers (and harpists!) but rather thin gruel from a strictly musical standpoint.

     The aural environment into which Rick Sowash (born 1950) immerses listeners on a new Kickshaw Records CD is a combinatorial one, made up of the unusual mixture of clarinet, cello and piano. The three trios on this disc are the last of a series of 13 that Sowash has composed: Nos. 11 and 12 date to 2003, No. 13 to 2004. The three works are quite different despite their commonality of instrumentation. No. 11 is in a rather compressed four-movement form that starts with a Prelude whose opening actually sounds as if it is played on a harp rather than a piano. Indeed, the piano has a harplike (or fortepiano-like) sound throughout the movement, which is succeeded by Bells of Morn, A Pretty Air and Tango Finale in a work whose overall title is We Sang, We Danced – a pretty good summation of the contrasting sounds of, for example, the gently swaying second movement and the rhythmically fluid finale. Trio No. 12, also in four movements, is called Voyageurs and is intended by Sowash to reflect early French-Canadian fur traders and explorers. A significantly longer work than No. 11 – 31 minutes compared with 18 – Trio No. 12 gives the piano a much more central role than it has in Trio No. 11, where the clarinet and cello tend to dominate. Structurally, both of these trios build to their final movements, which are their longest. In Trio No. 12, though, the shortest movement, placed third, has the most interesting combination of instrumental sounds: its title, Starshadows on the Snow, portends something quietly evanescent, and that is indeed the overall sonic quality of the material. The extended finale does not quite live up aurally to its title, A Majestic Land, but the mixture of instruments, here as throughout these works, is expertly handled and pleasingly varied. Trio No. 13 is quite different from the other two, being a 17-minute, two-movement Passacaglia and Fugue that opens with an extended cello solo to which a dark clarinet line is added before the piano eventually enters. Despite the movement’s title, it sounds more like a three-instrument fantasia than like anything Baroque – and while the following, much shorter movement does indeed follow fugal precepts, its bright and upbeat nature serves mainly as a contrast to its predecessor and an opportunity for the three instruments to spend considerable time playing in ensemble. The Upland Trio presents all these works with understanding and a fine sense of cohesiveness and balance, offering listeners aurally interesting experiences in which the attractiveness comes as much from the sound of the instruments as it does from the specific notes being played.