Classical
A work by acclaimed composer Steve Reich might change minds about minimalism.
From Colin Currie Group, Synergy Vocals and Leonie Holmes
The debut release from a new label, Colin Currie Records, is a cracker. Brilliant playing, an iconic composition and excellent engineering combine in Steve Reich Drumming to offer 55 minutes of unfaltering energy and excitement.
Reich, from the first wave of American musical minimalists, is acclaimed as one of Western music’s most influential living composers. According to John Adams, one of his highest-profile inheritors, he “didn’t reinvent the wheel so much as show us a new way to ride”.
Drumming was composed in 1970/71, and in 2006, Scottish percussionist Colin Currie pulled together his virtuosic eponymous group to play the work for a BBC celebration of Reich’s 70th birthday. It’s been a pillar of the group’s repertoire ever since and this studio recording, reportedly from 32 takes, is a fitting launch for the new label.
The piece is classic minimalism; the compositional process is worked out beforehand, the whole developed from a single drum rhythm with Reich’s trademark out-of-step “phasing”. Four players begin on four sets of bongos, the rhythm increasing in complexity; a second section for three marimbas seamlessly overlaps the first, women’s voices reinforcing the timbre. Another overlap shifts us into the music-box world of glockenspiels, with piccolo and whistling, and just when it all seems too high, spare and discordant, Reich puts it all together with the rich texture of the whole 11-musician ensemble.
Time passes quickly, the music pouring forth in both an audible process and what Reich calls “mysteries – the impersonal, unintended, psychoacoustic by-products of the intended process”. These crossrhythms and apparent new melodies contribute to an edifice of, in Currie’s words, “delicacy, audacity and power”. If minimalism hasn’t rung your bell yet, this release may signal your conversion.
STEVE REICH DRUMMING, Colin Currie Group, Synergy Vocals (Colin Currie Records)
Percussion and a hint of minimalism is found in the final track of a new recording from Auckland-based composer Leonie Holmes. Her muchperformed Recitative II for viola and percussion is played here by Robert Ashworth and Eric Renick. Soulful viola and rapid, rhythmic percussion pull each other into their different sound worlds.
Holmes is in fine control of her craft in this chamber-music collection, writing for a wide range of instruments.
She enjoys exploring instrumental possibilities, creating incandescent colours in Is There Anybody In There? for winds and piano.
Outstanding playing by local musicians is a feature of the release. The NZTrio demonstrate their flair for atmosphere in the well-constructed title track … When Expectation Ends. Musicians from the trio offer fine solos, too – cellist Ashley Brown brings beauty and power to the anguish of The Fourth Station, and Sarah Watkins conjures piano splendours in Nocturne, an evocation of a majestic moth.
Contrast is found in the comedy and pathos of A Tedious Brief Scene: Bottom’s Dance. Written for four pianists on two pianos, the piece has the bumbling energy of Shakespeare’s “rude mechanicals”, and the Auckland ensemble Estrella revel in Holmes’ sure-footed keyboard writing. It’s followed by Fragment II for string quartet in which another young ensemble, the talented Strata Quartet, offer rich string tones and lots of vibrato.
The performance highlight of this collection is from the wind ensemble Zephyr. Five of this country’s top wind players draw us into the controlled drama of Ritual, starting low and slow and building to a ritualistic dance. Again, Holmes shows her skills, weaving instrumental lines into a taut fabric while maintaining the individual colours.
WHEN EXPECTATION ENDS, Leonie Holmes (Atoll)