I started this project in June, where I post what new, interesting, or inspiring music discoveries I found during the last month. The second set, here is Intriguing Tunes, Vol. 2!
“Cuban Landscape With Rhumba” – Leo Brouwer
The first one comes from Cuban composer Leo Brouwer, performed by the Dublin Guitar Quartet. It combines the traditional, folky music of Cuba with modernist, aleatoric and atonal elements. I don’t know exactly what the performers are doing, but the guitars are “prepared” in some way– the opening section has a metallic, steel-drum sound that reminds me of John Cage’s early prepared piano music.
There is also a companion piece titled “Cuban Landscape With Rain” which is less dance-like and more atmospheric and “cascading.” Both are great.
The Dublin Guitar Quartet is probably better known for their performances of the choral and instrumental Philip Glass and Arvo Pärt on guitar.
“Desh: Bleeding Soles” – Jocelyn Pook
The music here is haunting and expressive and comes from a score by Jocelyn Pook to accompany the contemporary dance/concert piece DESH by the Akram Khan Company from 2011. Here are a few words about the project.
Moving between Britain and Bangladesh, Khan weaves threads of memory, experience and myth into a surreal world of surprising connection. At once intimate and epic, DESH explores fragility in the face of natural forces, and celebrates the resilience of the human spirit in the rhythms of labour, in dream and story, and in transformation and survival.
It’s gripping music that, in this movement, never loses momentum. The divine and spiritual vocals from Natacha Atlas are supported by an evolving ensemble– at one moment, a full orchestra; at another, harp and chorus.
Jocelyn Pook also scored Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 film “Eyes Wide Shut,” and has written traditional concert music.
“St. Carolyn By The Sea” – Bryce Dessner
To round this list out, I’ll end with more guitar! This time, it’s with two electric guitars and the Copenhagen Phil on “St. Carolyn By The Sea,” composed by Brookyln composer Bryce Dessner.
Here is the program note, and it gives perspective to the wandering journey that the piece takes.
St. Carolyn by the Sea is based on an episode in the book Big Sur by the Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac. The composer translates Kerouac’s surreal hallucinations into an evocative soundscape. “When I wrote the piece I was in a state of emotional trauma”, admits Dessner. “It has a slight romantic intensity about it and it does shift states. It starts in this kind of sweet longing and then it moves into the more aggressive section and it has, obviously, a kind of triumphant ending.”
Dessner came onto the stage with a Kronos Quartet commission titled “Aheym,” and has since been commissioned to write for other high-profile ensembles, including the LA Phil, Sō Percussion, and eighth blackbird. Classically trained at Yale, he’s also a rock guitarist in The National. Understandably, his music reflects a diverse musical training.
See you next time for Vol. 3 of Intriguing Tunes!
