Tania León (b. 1946)
Horizons (1999)
Raíces (Origins) (2024)
Stride (2020)
Pasajes (2022)
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Edward Gardner, Karina Canellakis, Dima Slobodeniouk
rec. 2023-25 Royal Festival Hall, London
Reviewed as a download
London Philharmonic Orchestra LPO0135 [56]
This newest release from the LPO label, which is celebrating twenty years of operation, concentrates on music by Cuban-born American composer Tania León. She has been composer-in-residence with the orchestra for the last two seasons, and the record has four of her pieces they have performed in that period. León turned eighty years of age in May 2023 just before she started her relationship with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Horizons dates from 1999 but the other three works are all more recent vintage. On this record we get to hear the LPO’s music director in two pieces but a couple of exciting guest conductors in the remaining ones, too. It is an excellent disc, showcasing the orchestra’s work in contemporary music as well as profiling Tania León, a name you may not be familiar with.
León left Cuba in her mid-twenties and settled in the US. She worked a great deal with Dance Theatre of Harlem and wrote several ballets over a long period for them. In 1994 she took part in Henze’s Munich Biennale and her opera Scourge of Hyacinths was premiered there. This work was also given in other venues, perhaps most notably the Grand Theatre, Geneva in January 1999. I don’t believe Scourge of Hyacinths has ever been recorded but many readers may have the wonderful Dawn Upshaw album The World so Wide which contains an aria from the work. I dug this out before the review. Didn’t Dawn Upshaw make some lovely records? This one is a gem, and the track “Oh Yemenja” sung by Tiatin in the opera is a touching heartfelt scene. I would like to hear more.
Horizons, performed first on the new CD, dates from way before the other music on the disc; in fact, from five years after the opera. It was another commission from Germany. In the notes, Tania León likens its structure to a stream, widening and narrowing unpredictably and taking unexpected directions, perhaps. It is a lively piece, for sure; there is a lot of activity for the percussion section and they really propel the piece forward. The woodwinds are treated to some spotlighting, too, in this rhythmically alive music. At 5:00, however there is an interlude of calm and peace. A bedrock of chords in violins and violas is established, upon which León slowly builds things up again. The work is not tonally anchored to any key; some might say it is difficult music to get a hold of and I wouldn’t disagree. Themes seem to come and go, and I couldn’t see the plan so easily at first. Going back to Tania León’s River analogy, however, with its winding courses and below-surface currents, helped me understand it a little better.
Raíces or Origins was given its world premiere at London’s Royal Festival Hall in March 2024 and that first performance is what we hear on this disc. At 17:23, this is the longest piece on the record and probably my favourite. León talks in the booklet notes about her own roots or origins. She tells us these are not only Cuban but Spanish, Chinese, French, too. Beginning very quietly with high violins playing harmonics. It moves into the first of three sections. This is called “Jovial”; it is bouncy and dance based. The music does feel Cuban, and it is infectiously good. We move gently into the second section, which is dominated by woodwind figurations over low brass chords and pounding rhythms. This middle section is likened to a forest walk by the composer. I once went to Cuba and was indeed surprised at how much of the country is covered in forest. The final section of Raíces begins at 11:52. It is a moving blend of diverse themes and influences. Again, the winds are pitted against all manner of percussive devices to create a jazzy syncopated effect I find very impressive. In between the three sections and at the end, León keeps bringing back that contemplative calming state with which she begins the piece. I understand that after introducing the work in a concert that went under the heading “Dance Reimagined”, featuring Ravel’s La Valse and, enticingly, Szymanowski’s splendid little ballet Harnasie, the LPO and Gardner took it on their US tour.
León won a Pulitzer for her next work, Stride. It was first performed in February 2020 just before the lockdown by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. The inspiration behind Stride was American social reformer and activist Susan B. Anthony, an early suffragette. León was impressed by Anthony’s determination and how she walked ever forwards with sure firm steps until she had achieved her aims. This “striding” forward is the essence of the piece. In Stride, the LPO is conducted by the exciting Dima Slobodeniouk. The music begins quietly high in the strings again and we hear brass fanfares and swirling textures underneath. León’s tell-tale love of percussion is once again prominent as she paints her colours vividly. The central part of the work seems to be based on a passacaglia that has a strong but slow-moving bass ostinato with hyper-active winds above it. Wah-wah effects in the brass add more tonal variety as we relentlessly move forward. The strides never really accelerate but the music does always push ever forwards and I can see where she is going with it. It is a very accomplished composition – it is clear why it won her so much praise.
The final work on the disc is Pasajes (Passages) – a beautiful creation. The harmonies she sets up in the strings are quite magical in the opening motifs and lead to an evocative birdsong episode that is very lifelike and ingeniously crafted. Plucked strings and brass add interest, León calls it a pulse of Caribbean culture. The mood is happy and joyful. Rhythm is so important to this composer and is the lifeblood of all the music on this record. After some turns and shifts, Pasajes ends with a timpani cadenza and carnival music. The brass fanfares sound very North American, but the soul is Latin. I enjoy it very much.
The sound on all four works is remarkably consistent given the different dates, seating positions and orchestral complements. Notes and biographies included are balanced and useful. What a splendid idea to feature their outgoing composer-in-residence as one of the discs issued in this mini-series of anniversary releases from the LPO’s home label. The record is well worth searching out and investigating.
Philip Harrison
Buying this recording via a link below generates revenue for MWI, which helps the site remain free
