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World music CD DVD shop and Classic distribution
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ID: MSV28513
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Kolektion: Contemporary musicSubkolektion: Oboe
Works for oboe and strings (either string trio or quartet) form a considerable part of the oboe's historic repertoire. Works first appeared in the 1750s and by the 1770s were very popular. Over 100 works survive from this period; the most famous being the Mozart Oboe Quartet in F K370. It is not, however, until the 20th century that works are once again written for this ensemble, many for the renowned British oboists Leon Goossens and Janet Craxton. Surrounding these figures a substantial body of music for oboe and string trio or quartet has been written, the most well known work being Britten’s Phantasy Quartet op 2. The works for oboe and strings represented on this CD, while in many ways being part of this great tradition, offer significantly different ways of writing for the ensemble; taking different compositional and stylistic approaches to the music and particularly in their writing for the oboe. These various approaches demonstrate the potential of this medium; its artistic and aesthetic range. Of the other three works, Finnissy’s two pieces present the oboe as a soloist with an ensemble accompaniment and Redgate’s Éperons for oboe and one percussionist offers a different approach to writing for the instrument in a chamber music setting. Since his time as a student at the Royal Academy of Music, Christopher Redgate has specialised in the performance of contemporary oboe music. This specialisation has inspired many composers to write for him and as a result he has given premiere performances of a great number of works. His performing career has taken him all over the world, working as a soloist and in many ensembles. His performances frequently include the use of electronics and especially of the laptop computer and for many years now he has been including improvisation as a significant part of his recitals. He has been active as a teacher both of oboe and in workshops for composers. He broadcasts regularly for BBC R3 and has several solo CDs available. He has recently contributed three articles to an edition of Contemporary Music Review, is working on a book on the interpretation of contemporary oboe music and contributing a chapter in a new book on the music of Michael Finnissy.
Clarke, James:
Quintet for Oboe and String Quartet,Kreutzer Quartet
Finnissy:
Greatest Hits of All Time / Ceci n’est pas une forme, Ensemble Exposé
Fox, C: Oboe Quintet, Kreutzer Quartet
Redgate, R: Quintet for Oboe & Strings, Kreutzer Quartet / Éperons, Julian Warburton (percussion)
Skempton: Garland for Oboe and String Trio, Roger Redgate (violin), Bridget Carey (viola) & Robin Michael (cello)
Christopher Redgate (oboe)
The Kreutzer Quartet includes:
Peter Sheppard Skærved (Violin)
Mihailo Trandafilovski and previously Gordon MacKay (Violin)
Morgan Goff and previously Bridget Carey (Viola)
Neil Heyde (Cello) |
| 12.00 eur Buy |
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ID: CC2015
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Subkolektion: Oboe
The 24-page CD booklet has a 6,000 word programme note in English, with a description of the works, the performers, and many photographs.
Oboe+' brings together a group of works for oboe that, with the exception of Berio’s Sequenza VII, have not been recorded before. Sequenza VII was written at the end of the 1960s, a time that had seen a great deal of experimentation with composers exploring the wide range of new sounds available. The Sequenza is an exceptional work that brings together many of the sounds and techniques of the period and integrates them into a work of extraordinary beauty and power. Alongside the development of new sounds and extended techniques came music that demanded from the performer a great deal technically, musically and emotionally. The other works recorded here are fine examples of music from this genre. The ‘new sounds’ can be divided into different categories: Firstly there are the sounds that are easy to make on the instrument. The only example on this CD is the use of key-clicks - this is simply produced by tapping the keys of the instrument hard enough to make a noise. An obvious example of this on the CD can be heard in Argrophylax at 5:10 or 16:18. In the second example the sound is also amplified. Secondly, there are the new sounds that are an extension of techniques that already exist: double, triple and flutter tonguing, range extension and quarter tones. A combination of double and triple tonguing can be heard in Argrophylax at 9:20, while flutter tonguing can be heard in Ausgangspunkte at 2:9. The extension of the range can be heard in Ausgangspunkte at 6:20. Quarter tones are used extensively in many of the works, but a particularly fine example can be found in Pavasiya at 4:17. Sequenza VII uses a few microtonal trills an example of which can be heard at 1:14. Thirdly, sounds that take the oboe into new territory: multiphonics. The performer, through a careful use of exotic fingerings and careful control of the embouchure, creates several pitches simultaneously. Every work on the CD uses these sounds often in combination with other techniques. Recoil uses multiphonics extensively from the opening bar while in Sequenza VII the multiphonics are almost ‘ghost like’ at 6:50. You can also find examples of trilling between different multiphonics in Ausgangspunkte at 10:06. Circular breathing, the technique which allows oboists to maintain very long phrases without seemingly taking a breath is also used - the most obvious example can be found in ‘…sting of the bee…’ One of the striking feature of the music on the CD is the way in which the composers are thinking about and writing for the instrument, often creating a sound world that many would not relate easily to the traditions of the oboe. In a masterclass a few years ago I was demonstrating the highest notes of the instrument and was told that it 'didn’t sound like an oboe’. A better comment would have been ‘I have never heard an oboe sound like that before’. While the other composers on the CD may not necessarily point to Berio as an influence in their work, the Sequenza is a good starting point for music that explores some of the most technically challenging music in the repertoire. Berio had a great interest in virtuosity, which is expressed and explored in his series of Sequenzas. He emphasises, however, that this virtuosity is not simply that of fast fingers but a virtuosity of the intellect as well. Similar statements could be made about the other works on this CD. This is music that demands a great deal of listener and performer alike. It is virtuoso music in the sense that there are many notes and great technical challenges, but unlike much music that could be placed under the banner of ‘virtuoso’, this music is neither frivolous nor is it easy listening. There is great passion here, focused intensity, intellectual depth, it is music that is exuberant, moving and challenging. Michael Finnissy talks in his programme note for Pavasiya of stretching the ‘virtuosic limits of the oboe(s) to the utmost’. This statement could equally be applied at different levels to the other works on this CD, each of which stretches not only the instrument but also the performer. During the course of these works you will hear most of the significant technical developments that have taken place in recent years. One of the aims I had in the recording was to maintain the physical nature of this music. An essential aspect of a number of these works is that they live on the edge of being unplayable. In live performance things do go wrong, notes are missed, the performer can sound as if he/she is struggling to play the works. In this recording I have tried to maintain this quality by not editing out some of the struggles and obvious areas where I find the works technically challenging. The CD opens with one of my solo improvisations. Most of my recitals include improvisation not only in works that demand it, but also improvisations that I myself have developed over a period of time. Improvisation in the ‘classical’ world is seen usually to be the domain of the organist or of the expert baroque specialist, all of which I welcome. In my case however I perform solo (and sometimes duo/trio) improvisations to which I give names. Each improvisation has elements that I wish to explore. These can be technical ideas, formal ideas, pitch ideas etc, and the music is frequently a mixture of many different elements. But improvisation does not stop here. Many of the works on the CD have some elements of improvisation. The Berio asks for an improvisatory approach to the placing of some of the pitches within a very strict framework - the performer’s response to the written text is a vital part of the performance of this work. Young’s work also has a great deal of improvisation both in terms of choice of pitches and the pacing of the work through to the response to the computer’s input. copyright 2006 Christopher Redgate |
| 21.00 eur Buy |
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