Crossings: Duos from Baroque to 21^st Century
Patricia McCarty (viola)
Bill Zito (guitar)
rec. 2022/23, Troy, USA
Ashmont Music CD 1224 [78]

The title of this disc is partially explained in the brief (and anonymous) notes provided with it. “John Hawkins […] composed Crossings in 2020 for Patricia McCarty and Bill Zito and notes that the title refers to the crossings between strings, the crossings between forceful and lyrical and the crossing of ideas between the two instruments’”. Another, less obvious, reference implicit in the word ‘Crossings’ is hinted at in words by Roberto Sierra regarding his two-part work Primera Cronica del Descrubrimento (First Chronicle of Discovery): “These two pieces are the first of a series of chronicles that I composed on the subject of the meeting between the aboriginal Indian culture of the Caribbean islands and the Spanish Conquistadores. The image of surprise and bewilderment from both sides in the 1490s”. That in turn prompts thoughts of the Atlantic Slave Crossings (without which we wouldn’t have blues and jazz, and much Latin American music would be rather different).

‘Western’ Classical Music is now not exclusively Western; it is a world of inter-cultural crossings. We expect to see and hear performances by Chinese pianists such as Lang Lang and Yuja Wang or music composed by Japanese composers like Toru Takemitsu or Akira Nishimura; we listen with pleasure to South Korean violinists like Kyung Wha Chung or Julia Hwang. Lists such as these might be extended enormously.

McCarty and Ziti have cast their net appropriately wide in choosing the repertoire to record for this disc. Geographically it ranges from Germany (Telemann and Braun) to Spain (Granados and de Falla), from Austria (Paul Kont) to Cuba (Joaquin Nin). Historically the disc ranges, as its sub-title declares “from the Baroque (Telemann) to the 21^st Century (John Hawkins). By no means all of the music was originally written specifically for viola and guitar. The Telemann duos which open the programme were originally written for two (unspecified) melody instruments and are more often heard played by two violins or, for example, flute and oboe. Günter Braun’s Sonatine was originally written for oboe and guitar, the oboe part being adapted for viola by Patricia McCarty.

From the very varied programme on offer, I particularly enjoyed de Falla’s Danza Espanola No.1 from La Vida Breve, originallyintended for violin and piano, but hereplayed in an arrangement by Patricia McCarty and Bill Zito for viola and guitar. The guitar seems more appropriate than the piano for the four Spanish dances – ‘Vieja Castilla’, ‘Murciana’, ‘Asturiana’ and ‘Andaluza’ – which make up the sequence of Joaquin Nin’s Seguida Española. Of the pieces by lesser-known composers, I enjoyed Ballade by Paul Kont. The Austrian-born composer was a student at the Vienna Conservatoire and later had lessons in Paris with Messiaen, Milhaud and Honegger. He was Professor of Composition at the Vienna Academy of Music (1969-1986). Much of his music (but not Ballade) is essentially serialist. Ballade is in five short movements: ‘Abälard’, ‘Tanz am Hofe’, ‘Der Liebesgarten’, ‘Tanz om Freien’ and ‘Heloïse’. As those titles suggest the suite responds to the famous story of Abelard and Heloise. There is some emotionally expressive writing for the violin, and at times the guitar as made to sound distinctly lute-like, especially in the ‘dance’ movements; the partnership of McCarty and Zito is heard at something like its best here. Günter Braun’s Sonatine is a more abstract work, in which two slowish movements, marked Poco Andante and Largo, are succeeded by a vivacious Allegro. This a well-made work which gets an engaging performance from Patricia McCarty and Bill Zito.

Though there is a good deal of attractive music on ‘Crossings’, the overall effect is too ‘bitty’. 23 short tracks, 18 of which are less than 3 minutes long don’t satisfy the listener. I found myself wanting to hear some more sustained music-making from McCarty and Zito, both of them obviously talented musicians, who play with a well-developed sense of dialogue.

Glyn Pursglove

Contents
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Canonic Duos (1738)
Nicolo Paganini (1782-1840
Sonata Concertata in A Major (1804)
Paul Kont (1920-2000)
Ballade (1950)
John Hawkins (b.1949)
Crossings (2020)
Günter Braun (1928-2005)
Sonatine (1979)
Roberto Sierra (b.1953)
Primera Cronicá del Descubrimiento (1991)
attrib. Luigi Legnani (1790-1877)
Canzonetta Italiana
Enrique Granados (1867-1916)
Intermezzo from Goyescas (1911)
Manuel de Falla (1876-1946)
Danza Española No.1 from La Vida Breve (1904-05)
Joaquin Nin (1879-1949)
Seguisa Española (1930)