- Duane Schuler
- Polyansky
- Rafail Kasimov
- Miracle on 34th Street
- Herman D Koppel: Ørkenhyrden
- Mischa Elman
- Massimo Checchetto
- Pierre Joubert
Fresh and Varied
GEOFF PEARCE is glad to come across the wind music of British composer Brian Elias
'... the performances are superb ...'
I was unfamiliar with the music of Brian Elias (born 1948) so I thought I would educate myself and review this disc. The music here is unashamedly contemporary, but nevertheless engaging and exciting to listen to.
The first work, Capriccio for bassoon and string orchestra, was written in 2020, and this recording features the fine bassoonist Adam MacKenzie and the excellent Chamber Domaine and directed by Thomas Kemp. It is recorded in three sections, each getting progressively longer, and the entire piece takes about sixteen minutes. The music is fresh and varied, and the performance is very good, with the soloist producing an excellent sound, which is at times soulful and at other times puckish or explosive in nature, befitting this music. The string orchestra is taut, decisive and adds much to the atmosphere. The accompanying booklet gives a good insight into the nature of the work and its inspiration.
Listen — Brian Elias: I (Capriccio)
(SIGCD796 track 1, 0:01-0:47) ℗ 2024 Signum Records Ltd :
The second work, Arioso, for solo baritone saxophone, was written around the same time as the previous work. It opens reflectively, but it breaks out to a livelier section before reverting back to a more soulful reflective episode. There is a sort of sandwiching of slow reflective and faster sections throughout the piece, a kind of aria and contrasting recitatives. This is an effective solo piece.
Listen — Brian Elias: Arioso
(SIGCD796 track 4, 5:44-6:41) ℗ 2024 Signum Records Ltd :
The next work, the oboe quintet, was written in 2016 and is in five alternating fast and slow sections. It is played by the excellent forces of Nicholas Daniel and the Sacconi Quartet. The composer remarked that Mozart's Oboe Quartet set a formidable precedent. Also referenced in the attached booklet are similarly scored works by Elliott Carter and Quincy Jones in a more modern musical language. Brian Elias treats the oboe more like a concertante instrument, to which the strings provide an accompaniment, although, as the booklet points out, not always supporting it.
Listen — Brian Elias: II (Oboe Quintet)
(SIGCD796 track 6, 2:40-3:26) ℗ 2024 Signum Records Ltd :
This is a work with a wide range of emotions and textures, and whilst I doubt that you will be whistling any passages from it, you will be entranced by the work and its performance here.
Listen — Brian Elias: V (Oboe Quintet)
(SIGCD796 track 9, 0:15-1:03) ℗ 2024 Signum Records Ltd :
Birds Practise Songs in Dreams arose from a study by American researchers into the brain activity of sleeping zebra finches in the year 2000. The resultant piece in six sections, played on a solo clarinet, features snatches of birdlike melodies and extensions and variations of these. The six sections are each between one to just over two minutes in length. Mark Simpson is an admirable clarinettist who brings his deft fingering and wide range of colours to this intriguing work.
Listen — Brian Elias: I (Birds Practise Songs in Dreams)
(SIGCD796 track 10, 0:26-1:04) ℗ 2024 Signum Records Ltd :
Finally, Five Bagatelles, from 2021 and scored for clarinet (Mark Simpson) and bassoon (Amy Harman), consists of short light-hearted pieces which are quite playful and inventive on the one hand - I, III and V - and reflective and soulful at other times - II and IV.
Listen — Brian Elias: II (Five Bagatelles)
(SIGCD796 track 17, 0:59-1:44) ℗ 2024 Signum Records Ltd :
This is a very interesting recording, the music is inventive and holds one's attention, the performances are superb, the recording quality very good and the accompanying notes informative but not too long-winded. I am rather glad to come across Brian Elias' music. I think the oboe quintet and five bagatelles will become standards in the repertoire.
Copyright © 21 September 2024
Geoff Pearce,
Sydney, Australia
