CZERNOWIN Wintersongs
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Chaya Czernowin
Genre:
Chamber
Label: Kairos
Magazine Review Date: 08/2017
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 58
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 0015008KAI
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Five Action Sketches, Movement: No 1, Breathe |
Chaya Czernowin, Composer
Chaya Czernowin, Composer International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) Jeffrey Gavett, Baritone Kai Wessel, Countertenor Steven Schick, Conductor |
Five Action Sketches, Movement: No 2, So Narrow |
Chaya Czernowin, Composer
Chaya Czernowin, Composer International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) Jeffrey Gavett, Baritone Kai Wessel, Countertenor Steven Schick, Conductor |
Five Action Sketches, Movement: No 4, Sliver |
Chaya Czernowin, Composer
Chaya Czernowin, Composer International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) Jeffrey Gavett, Baritone Kai Wessel, Countertenor Steven Schick, Conductor |
Five Action Sketches, Movement: No 5, Sand |
Chaya Czernowin, Composer
Chaya Czernowin, Composer International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) Jeffrey Gavett, Baritone Kai Wessel, Countertenor Steven Schick, Conductor |
Wintersongs, Movement: No 2, Stones |
Chaya Czernowin, Composer
Chaya Czernowin, Composer International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) Jeffrey Gavett, Baritone Kai Wessel, Countertenor Steven Schick, Conductor |
Wintersongs, Movement: No 4, Wounds/Mistletoe |
Chaya Czernowin, Composer
Chaya Czernowin, Composer International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) Jeffrey Gavett, Baritone Kai Wessel, Countertenor Steven Schick, Conductor |
Wintersongs, Movement: No 5, Forgotten Light |
Chaya Czernowin, Composer
Chaya Czernowin, Composer International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) Jeffrey Gavett, Baritone Kai Wessel, Countertenor Steven Schick, Conductor |
Author: Liam Cagney
Wintersongs (2003 14) is a cycle of five chamber works. Three of them are present here, alongside four of the brief Five Action Sketches (2014), which serve as interludes. Despite its title, Wintersongs is wholly instrumental except for Wintersongs V, where a baritone and countertenor sing wordless vocables. Continuity in the cycle is provided by the core ensemble: Wintersongs I is scored for a predominantly low septet (featuring bass flute, bass clarinet and bass trombone) and each of the subsequent works adds to this ensemble in different ways.
This is music almost entirely based on extended techniques and textural layering. Sound categories blur. Scored for two septets, an octet and two singers, Wintersongs V: Forgotten Light periodically features an enormous cluster spanning the registral space. This gives way at times to percussive tremolos with countertenor and baritone whispering unintelligibly. The piece ends with all the performers scraping combs’ teeth in a strangely soothing way. Make no mistake, it’s forbidding stuff, but it rewards repeated listens. The other two Wintersongs are similar in aspect but vary in forces: Wintersongs II: Stones features undulating timpani, bowed cymbals and various percussive attacks and resonances, while Wintersongs IV: Wounds/Mistletoe adds to the low initial septet a higher septet of ululating winds.
The disc comprises live recordings made on the occasion of the premiere of Wintersongs IV and V at Miller Theatre in New York City. The performances are brilliantly committed, though occasionally there is a slight lack of clarity in the instrumental profiles.
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