Arcadian Winds: Windswept
Navona Records

VA: Patterns
Navona Records

Conceptually, Patterns is held together by the loosest of threads—most music, after all, involves patterns, be they melodic, rhythmic, or otherwise—but that in no way lessens the many satisfactions this eclectic, multi-composer collection provides. Seven chamber works are presented, three of them scored for guitar and the others marimba, snare drums, string trio, and bassoon quartet, respectively. In this all-acoustic collection, the seven composers show how truly unlimited the range of possibilities is within the contemporary chamber music realm.

The guitar works by James William Stamm, Georges Raillard, and Santiago Kodela begin with Stamm's Asymmetry, which receives an exquisite performance by David William Ross and Adam Levin. Executed at a brisk clip, the six-minute work is structured with asymmetrical rhythms and counterpoint; the listener, however, will less likely attend to the formal aspects of the material and instead cotton to the work's crystalline guitar sound and rhythmic lilt. Ross returns for Raillard's Disintegration, which also makes good on its title by having a melody repeatedly disintegrate into dissonance; that said, the piece is similar to Asymmetry in quickly moving beyond its formal design to engage the listener directly with the repetition of its haunting figure and contrasts in pacing and dynamics.

Performed by the composer, Kodela's Two Lords is a three-part suite based on the works of two non-classical guitarists, Allan Holdsworth (1946-2017) and Fredrik Thordendal (b. 1970). The opening “Of Textures” accentuates intricate counterpoint and intertwining polyrhythms; the transitional “Of Colours” pays homage to Holdsworth in focusing on the harmonization of chords, specifically unusual chords and tonalities favoured by the late guitarist, after which “Of Mechanics” trades the contemplative feel of the central movement for a propulsive closer rich in syncopation and informed by the concept of designed rhythmic-cells, a technique associated with Thordendal.

Daniel Adams's Road Traversed and Reversed engenders a mid-album shift into percussion territory, with the single-movement setting featuring marimba playing by Robert McCormick and Lee Hinkle. A restrained, explorative intro sets a ruminative scene, after which thematic patterns emerge, some of them swinging but all of them unfolding like some impassioned conversation where ideas spill forth rapidly. Up next is David Arbury's infectious Four Snares, which, performed by the McCormick Percussion Group, makes a compelling argument for the wealth of sounds that can be generated from an instrument not typically recognized for that range. In playing snares of different sizes and makes, the four players maximize the pitch potential of the drums and maintain listening interest.

In the album's final third, two multi-movement pieces for string trio and bassoon quartet, respectively, reinstate the album's melodic emphasis, the first a two-parter by Bunny Beck and the second a three-part piece by Jan Järvlepp. Performed by violinist Sarah Dennis, violist Meredith Treastor, and cellist Laura Usiskin, Beck's Suite for Sarro is rooted in real-life events suffered by married couple Iris and Christ Sarro: the latter, a dancer, gradually declined from a condition that affected him physically and cognitively and ultimately died. After opening in lyrical tango mode, “Tango for Trio” sees a brief flicker of “Shortnin' Bread” surface before the music returns to tango mode, this time more plaintively. “Serenity Marked by Discomfort” fluctuates between the kind of emotional states typically following the death of a loved one, from sorrow and longing to bittersweet acceptance.

Brought to life by Janet Underhill, Meryl Summers, Naho Zhu, and Susie Telsey (the latter also on contrabassoon), Järvlepp's Bassoon Quartet ends the release memorably, with the high-spirited energy of “Cadillac” pumping like some high-powered muscle car. The rhythmic vitality of the opener's countered by “Reaching,” a brooding, at times eerie centerpiece that requires the players, all now on regular bassoon, to inhabit the instrument's highest register. Capping Patterns is the third movement, “Jig,” which casts aside the second's darkness for buoyant dance variations based on the traditional, triple-time European jig.

A natural through-line connects Patterns to Windswept by Arcadian Winds. Another vibrant three-part work by Järvlepp, Woodwind Quintet, inaugurates the collection, which also features pieces by Ferdinando DeSena, Craig Peaslee, David MacDonald, and Kenneth Kuhn. While both releases are chamber sets, a variety of instrumentalists appears on Patterns whereas Arcadian Winds performs all the material on Windswept. A wind quintet consisting of Vanessa Holroyd (flutes), Jennifer Slowick (oboe, English horn), Rane Moore (clarinet), Clark Matthews (French horn), and Janet Underhill (bassoon), Arcadian Winds formed at Boston University in 1987 as a woodwind trio comprising flute, clarinet, and bassoon before expanding to its current formation two years later. One of the best things about the group's sound is the timbral contrast between the five instruments, which results in a rich sound where each voice is distinctly heard.

Similar to Järvlepp's Bassoon Quartet (on which Underhill also plays), Woodwind Quintet follows the classic fast-slow-fast format often adopted for three-movement works. Similar too is the composer's penchant for titling his movements suggestively, “Rollercoaster,” “Solitude,” and “Pyrotechnics” all suggesting their individual characters before any notes sound. The rousing first movement is naturally animated, with lively, staccato lines intertwining and pulsing for six action-packed minutes. The mood shifts for the ponderous “Solitude,” the overall tonality darkening due to the bassoon's lead role and the change from flute and oboe to alto flute and English horn. Downplaying melody, the rambunctious third movement explodes in swirling patterns that suggest fireworks and the up-and-down movements of, yes, a rollercoaster.

All four of the subsequent works are single-movement settings, starting with DeSena's lyrical Sonorous Earth, which, as intimated by its title, emphasizes lower pitches. Again alto flute and English horn are used, this time in tandem with French horn, bass clarinet, and contrabassoon, the cumulative combination of which lends the Miami composer's nine-minute piece a rather regal quality. The title of MacDonald's Stumpery refers to a type of garden where the upturned roots of dead trees are displayed, the intricacy of their interweaving made visible. Here the independent lines of the five players interflow like tree roots, at times branching away from one another and then weaving back together. Peaslee's Dirge & Second Line exemplifies the character of a New Orleans jazz procession with all the improvisational quality that implies, despite its formal notation as a classical chamber work. Jazz rhythms do, in fact, emerge, most emphatically in the lively section that follows the sober opening. The material allows for blustery roar from Matthews' French horn, New Orleans-styled wail from the woodwinds, and even handclaps.

September 2019