Big Sky
Hat Trick (flute, viola and harp trio)
rec. 2023, Sendesaal Bremen, Germany
Reviewed from download 24/96
Bridge 9595 [59]

This excellent recording has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance category. In my opinion, it certainly deserves that nomination. Formed in 2013, Hat Trick is a virtuosic flute-viola-harp trio whose members are equally at home as chamber musicians, soloists, and agents of audience engagement. Hat Trick presents works commissioned by and for the ensemble, performs music from the classic trio repertoire, and also brings to life more eclectic works. The trio aims to broaden the flute, viola, harp repertoire and showcase its individual and collective strengths. This is their second album; the first was called Garden of Joys and Sorrows released in 2016 (review).

All the pieces here are, with one exception, from living composers. The selection of music illustrates that a lot of thought must have been given into the choice of the pieces to produce such a varied and entertaining programme, which shows off the trio’s skills. One of them, the Bax Elegiac Trio, was on an album played by the Terzetti trio and reviewed by John France who says “Even the most cursory hearing of the works on this CD reveals a great potential for richness of musical colour and tone. It is an instrumental combination that must be a gift to any composer who wishes to write a piece of evocative music that nods towards impressionism, the mysterious or the exotic.” That description could apply equally well to this recording, as it features lots of new, and specially commissioned works.

Thea Musgrave’s Sunrise starts slowly with the alto flute leading a dark dream-like section with a theme that is marked rubato, seductive. This section has mysterious, eerie feel until eventually the tempo quickens as the harp adds a new theme which the others soon copy. A new section svegliato (awakening) follows where the harp and viola encourage the flute to join them in a sprightly scherzo which grows to a climax to herald the sunrise, despite the change in tempo and dynamics the piece retains its mystical feel. After the flute has echoed this melody, the mood quietens, and in a peaceful coda, the flute ‘remembers’ the theme from the very opening: it is now bathed in sunlight and is marked luminous. 

Sunrise is dedicated to flutist Carol Wincenc and was commissioned to celebrate her fortieth anniversary on the concert stage. Wincenc’s trio (Les Amies) premiered Sunrise at New York City’s Morgan Library on February 22, 2010, and the work received warm press reviews. Since then, Musgrave’s widely available score has not, in my view, received the attention it merits.

Daniel Dorff’s woodwind music has entered the repertoire and is frequently performed and recorded worldwide. Over fifty flutists have shared performances of his Sonata (Three Lakes) on YouTube, where there are also over fifty performances each of his In A Deep Funk and Nocturnes for the Nativity. Performers have uploaded over 600 YouTube and social media videos of his compositions and arrangements, which have received over 1.5 million views.

In August 2019, Hat Trick approached Dorff to commission a new work from him. Unfortunately, subsequent delays in the form of COVID stepped in. However, during January 2023, after a hiatus, Hat Trick assembled in New York City to explore Dorff’s newly-finished commission, titled Big Sky.

Unlike Musgrave, Dorff doesn’t provide a description of the music of Big Sky, suggesting that his movement titles provide the only necessary program note: “I. Montana Morning; II. Dancing Under the Stars.” With a distinctively American flavour, Big Sky is “music that sparkles and cajoles in its tuneful caressing of the ears” – exactly as Fanfare Magazine has described Dorff’s compositional style. The first movement is a lovely blend of the three instruments creating a gentle piece that feels fresh, with the promise of a new day. The second movement, Dancing Under the Stars, is longer and for much of the piece livelier than the first. It contains many jolly melodies but ends in a quieter, more mournful, way. The idea of “dancing under the stars” perhaps suggests a freedom evoking a wide array of emotions, from euphoria and bliss to nostalgia and longing. Dorff invites listeners to bring their own meaning to the piece.

Arnold Bax composed Elegiac Trio during the spring of 1916 as a direct response to Ireland’s Easter Uprising. Of independent means, he never needed to teach or conduct. He was a fine pianist but his main interests were composing music and poetry. His strong affinity for Ireland led him to spend considerable time in that country, which influenced his outlook and music. The 1916 Easter Uprising in Ireland and its brutal suppression, which included the execution of several of his friends, was to have a profound influence upon him. He is remembered mostly for his orchestral compositions but he wrote a great deal of chamber music. His music shows many influences, of which perhaps the strongest in this piece is Impressionism. 

The Elegiac Trio was clearly meant as a memorial to the friends he had lost in the rising. There is no violence or high drama to be found here. Rather, the music is dreamy and reflective and in one long movement, divided into two sections. In the first section, the flute and viola present long-lined melodies over the accompaniment of arpeggios in the harp. The second section is slower. Here the viola and the harp together sing a noble elegiac melody while the flute flutters around it. Elegiac Trio has become one of the most beloved and standard pieces of the flute-viola-harp repertoire. I find it a soothing and beautiful work.

Another Hat Trick commission, Jessica Meyer’s My Heart is the Churning Sea showcases Meyer’s fresh, engaging, modern style. Meyer describes her exciting, evocative piece as follows: “My favourite movement of Claude Debussy’s trio for the same instrumentation has always been the third. I deeply love every chance I get to rock out those jazzy rhythms and flourishes as a violist! It was a pleasure to write this fun little roller-coaster of a piece inspired by the waves, and how they can represent the intense feelings of the heart.” The piece is certainly packed with energy and Hat Trick play it enthusiastically; it’s delivered with great finesse creating an almost humorous feel with several unusual musical twists.

The Eye of Night was commissioned in 2010 by Art of Elan in San Diego for The Myriad Trio. The composer David Bruce describes his piece: “It is a series of four tender movements, each in their own way a kind of nocturne.”

The Eye of Night is probably my favourite piece on the album, demonstrating as it does the potential for richness of musical colour and tone that this combination of instruments allows, the whole piece having a mystical yet delicate and calming feel to it. The first movement is marked “tender, sensual, quietly plaintive” and has a definite “eastern” feel to it with its delicate and gentle nature gradually picking up pace as it does. In the second movement marked “tenderly” you can hear the harpist tenderly picking at the strings with a lovely light touch, the mystical feel to the music is maintained throughout by the rhythm of the movement. The third movement is marked “With a lilt”; it’s the most energetic of the four movements. It’s played with a bit more urgency in which the melody begins with the flute and then passes onto the viola; it’s a great light, lively song. The fourth and final movement is marked “A Tempo – Hushed, with great inner intensity – Calmo”. It’s a slow, mournful piece; calm but strangely intense, restful and reflective.

Angélica Negrón describes her composition thus: “Drawings for Meyoko is a piece inspired by the black and white illustrations of Ecuadorian artist Melissa Murillo (aka Meyoko). The piece intends to evoke an atmospheric and dreamy world in which her bizarre characters could exist by the use of playful patterns and voices mostly mumbling nonsense syllables. Drawings for Meyoko incorporates found sounds and micro-samples from my previous pieces to create electronic soundscapes that constantly evolve through shifting rhythms. This process responds to my interest in exploring different ways of controlling temporality by capturing, evoking, and retaining specific moments in time through my music. The piece was written for Janus, an acclaimed flute-viola-harp trio.”

When Hat Trick approached Negrón about making the second recording of Drawings for Meyoko, she warmly approved, noting, “For me, it’s the piece that started it all. The first one I wrote in which I started to embrace all parts of myself in my music– which is something that has significantly shaped my career and my life.” During the recording everyone sings and wears headphones to synchronize their parts to Negrón’s pre-recorded electronic track. For added colour, the violist plays banjo. The flutist exclusively plays alto flute, offering a deep range, velvety textures, and percussive rhythmic effects, alongside idiomatic flute lines and birdlike treble flourishes. The piece opens and closes with musicians crumpling paper. From my perspective, it once again shows off the potential of this combination of instruments to create new, innovative, mystical and engaging music; the addition of voices also works well. In a quote from the notes that accompany the CD “Negrón’s delightful work takes the trio into unprecedented territory.” From my perspective it’s a fascinating piece.

Hat Trick provide interesting and informative notes in the CD booklet; I have drawn freely on them in compiling my review of this wonderful CD. 

Ken Talbot

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Contents
Thea Musgrave (b. 1928)
Sunrise (2010)*
Daniel Dorff (b. 1956)
Big Sky* (2019 – 23)
Arnold Bax (1883-1953)
Elegiac Trio (1916)
Jessica Meyer (b. 1974)
My Heart is in the Churning Sea (2023 -24)*
David Bruce (b. 1970)
The Eye of the Night (2010)
Angélica Negrón (b. 1981)
Drawings for Meyoko (2010)
*First recordings

Performers
April Clayton (flute, alto flute, bass flute, vocals); David Wallace (viola, tenor banjo, vocals); Kristi Shade (harp, vocals)