Cikada Live – Huddersfield/Donaueschingen
Rolf Wallin (b. 1957)
Seven Disobediences, for Piano and Ensemble (2018)
Klaus Lang (b. 1973)
Parthenon (2018)
Richard Barrett (b. 1959)
The Empire of Lights (from Dark Matter) (2000-2001)
Khasma (from Dark Matter) (1999-2001)
Stirrings (1999-2001)
Kenneth Karlsson (piano), Cikada
rec. live, November 2001, St Paul’s Hall, Huddersfield, UK (Barrett); October 2018, Strawinsky Saal, Donaueschingen, Germany (Wallin, Lang)
LAWO Classics LWC1262 [74]

On the face of it this might seem to be an unpromising disc focused upon artist (admittedly the stellar Norwegian contemporary evangelists once known as The Cikada Ensemble) as opposed to repertoire; I state this as the three works here just appear to have been thrown together more than anything as souvenirs of a pair of gigs performed in Britain and Austria some seventeen years apart. Apart from Cikada’s involvement there is nothing obvious to connect them. But why should there be? The programme actually turns out to be both stimulating and enjoyable. It is a given that Cikada’s playing is exceptional.

Having bleated on about pretentious, impenetrable booklet notes in the course of a review of another Lawo release only last month, may I first  say how much of a pleasure it was to read the four ‘essays’ accompanying this music. The first is Kenneth Karlsson’s whimsical, insightful and understated reminiscences of the two concerts from which these performances were drawn, which as I metioned were separated by the best part of two decades. Without even trying he manages to conspiratorially inveigle the reader into the lived experience of your average contemporary music group as it caravans across the globe showcasing ‘difficult’ works in small venues in one-horse towns. The enthusiasm for the repertoire seems to be the predominant guiding force. Maybe that’s all they need. I was among those present at the Huddersfield show in 2001 and it was spellbinding. Karlsson’s piece is a delightful read. Then there are the introductions (essays they are not) to the music by the three featured rcomposers; in each case Messrs Wallin, Lang and Barrett tell you exactly what you need to know in clear, succinct and wry terms.

Rolf Wallin’s Seven Disobediences for piano and ensemble amount to an expansion of his earlier solo piano collection, Seven Imperatives, Wallin’s response to the character piece tradition associated with the likes of Grieg and Debussy. In that work the individual numbers have four letter ‘instruction’ titles such as ‘Seek’, ‘Push’ or ‘Stab’; here the same titles are applied as edicts to the ensemble issued by an ‘authoritarian’ soloist – Kenneth Karlsson, sardonically referred to in Wallin’s note as “The Emperor” given that the piece parodies the heroic/adversarial nature of standard concertante repertoire. At certain points they acquiesce, so in the initial ‘Seek’ the players seem to be searching for a soioist, when Karlsson turns up the descending string glissando suggests playful disappointment or even disapproval. Conversely in ‘Sink’ they gravitate against the soloist’s descending motifs with insolent, almost furtive ascent. At eight minutes the penultimate piece ‘Lean’ is by far the most extended; it’s delicate, immersive and haunted by enigmatic tickings and knockings.  The confection concludes with ‘Quit’, a curt 20 second dismissal rendered by Karlsson. Listeners who respond to the pianistic language of composers such as Bent Sørensen will find much to enjoy in this simultaneously cogent yet diffuse ‘concerto’.

In his note Klaus Lang emphasises the influence of Japanese and especially Greek philosophy and aesthetics upon his music. Pythagorean formulae underpin the quest for beauty in his stately ensemble piece Parthenon, a word which inevitably suggests ideal proportion and architectural grace. In this twenty minute diptych Lang seeks to apply the geometric principles which determine the constitution of the friezes often found in Greek temples. The opening motif of Parthenon, a rising figure in piano and strings over a subterranean drone uncannily recalls John Tavener’s Protecting Veil, but Lang’s edifice develops very differently. It’s slow moving but intriguingly detailed; long sustained textures and harmonies are constantly and subtly disturbed by gentle percussive vibrations under the shimmering surfaces and by a microtonal gravitational pull which proves wonderfully disarming. I’ve become familiar with a fair few of Lang’s pieces over the years (his remarkable Missa Beati Pauperes Spiritu was recorded by Col Legno back in the day –  review, whilst a pair of outstanding monographs are to be found on Kairos – 0012862KAI and Another Timbre – AT190), but Parthenon is especially impressive and utterly worthy of its imposing title.

Whilst I found Richard Barrett’s big orchestral triptych Vanity somewhat elusive when NMC released it on a CD single (NMC D041) almost thirty (!) years ago  I vividly recall being far more impressed by the pieces Cikada introduced at their Huddersfield concert in 2001, the first two of which turned out to be components of his monumental Dark Matter cycle, which I swiftly snapped up on its eventually release by NMC in 2012 (NMC D183). The entire sequence was destined for an inter-continental collaboration between Cikada and their Australian cousins from the mighty Elision Ensemble, whose initial meetings Kenneth Karlsson amusingly documents in his note. Both The Empire of Lights and Khasma were penned originally for Cikada alone. The former (the first section of Dark Matter) opens with instrumental textures informed by ancient music (Barrett alludes to Egyptian mythology in his notes for the NMC disc – that recording also incorporates an atmospheric vocal part which did not feature in this Huddersfield reading) but a percussive explosion seems to materially change the mood of music which becomes increasingly dependent upon Karlsson’s agreeably clunky, funky piano shapes, grimy string textures and ethereal flutings. Khasma follows without a break, a collage of high-pitched pointillism, synthesised industrial and water sounds (not remotely as challenging aurally as this might suggest) and intricately worked out string meanderings. Once again the iteration on the NMC disc incorporates some pretty substantial revision (including an eerie solo soprano part). Stirrings, a half-dozen minute-long fragments independent of the Dark Matter concept completed Cikada’s Barrett trilogy in Huddersfield. These tiny distillations of the composer’s sonic palette are by turn abrasive and arresting.

The seventeen year hiatus between these live performances is barely detectable in terms of the consistency of Lawo’s fine engineering; sonics are clean and uncluttered throughout. The odd cough in West Yorkshire is noticeable but not remotely disruptive. As far as I’m concerned the whole package adds up to an attractive seventy minute programme of gripping new music. Some converts to the genre may find Richard Barrett’s music to be a bit more edgy than the couplings; in any case I fervently commend Klaus Lang’s magisterial Parthenon to all-comers.

Richard Hanlon

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