Anna Clyne (b. 1980)
Within Her Arms (2008-9)
Abstractions (2016)
Restless Oceans (2018)
Color Field (2020)
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Marin Alsop
rec. 2017-21, Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore, USA
Naxos 8.574620 [53]
One of the many pleasurable aspects of this new album from Naxos is the reminder it delivers of Anna Clyne’s utterly accomplished treatment of the orchestra. The range of moods and schemes is diverse throughout and for each Clyne seems to provide a new set of combinations, colours and timbres. It’s enthralling writing, executed with sensitivity and not a little wit.
The pieces on the disc are presented chronologically, and we begin with Within Her Arms, written in the aftermath of the death of Clyne’s mother in 2008. Scored for 15 solo strings and based simply on scalic passages, its fragile poignancy underscored by a tension created by the independent lines of the instruments moving between the six notes of the tone cluster. The Baltimore strings here under Marin Alsop judge dynamic and momentum to perfection, very much playing with the ‘softness and elasticity’ requested in the score, a lovely luminescence pervading the conclusion, violins and violas playing natural harmonics and fading away.
There is a similar mood evoked in Marble Moon, the first of the five movements of Abstractions, each of which was inspired by a contemporary work from the Baltimore Museum of Art and a local private collection. Here, Clyne plays with the idea of light and eclipse portrayed in the prints of the title, conveying an impression of majesty and awe where the woodwinds sing over a pedal point sustained by the rest of the orchestra. Auguries, with its multiple glissando based melodies, effortlessly evokes birds in flight. Seascape is the most impressionistic of the movements, a witty Debussian homage. River depicts almost frighteningly strong currents with its frenetic string writing, a sense of calm established in its last few bars reinforced by the sound of Tibetan singing bowls. Three, based on Brice Marden’s abstract, beautifully coloured lines in his painting of that name, is a tour de force of orchestral exhilaration, building on a set of arpeggiated string chords and gradually becoming more forceful and wilder as it builds to its ending. Alsop doesn’t play safe here and the result is thrilling.
Restless Oceans was written for the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum at Davos in 2019. It’s a work of almost primitive power, of the same lineage as The Rite of Spring, its almost savage rhythmic intensity (underlined by foot stomping at key points) contrasted with melodies which carry a spiritual force. The musicians are also required to vocalise on a neutral vowel while playing. It might sound gimmicky but in performance the effect is striking and the power that’s packed into its four minute duration is remarkable.
Color Field, as you might have been able to guess from the title, is inspired by Mark Rothko’s series of paintings, specifically his Orange, Red, Yellow from 1961. Clyne explored synaesthesia in her approach to this composition, correlating sound and colour, using Scriabin’s pitch-colour associations for its three movements. The first, Yellow, has a gauzy quality to it projected by the single high D played by the first violins creating a semi-transparent veil over woodwind melodies. Red, by contrast is a six minute exercise in sustained ferocity, where the performers are instructed to play ‘with fire and drive’. It culminates at a point which Clyne labels in the score ‘Wild Outburst’ where the various musical ideas are driven towards a shattering climax. Finally, Orange opens with the score marked ‘Spacious Warmth’ and the introduction of a simple woodwind motif, eerily supported by vibraphone. At the same time the last desk of each string section is instructed to create a ‘hazy cloud’ by playing high harmonics on their G strings, sliding from note to note over sustained bows. As the music develops the rest of the string section traverse a dizzying spiral ascent before a gradual fade to nothing but quiet vibraphone chords. It’s an original, cogent musical representation of the visually abstract and a brilliant way to end the suite. The performance here is a recording of the premiere in October 2021 and is meticulously realised by Alsop and the orchestra.
In what has been a strong year for recordings of contemporary orchestral music (see here and here for example) I would put this new disc right at the top. It’s consistently engaging and communicative and superbly played. Apart from Within Her Arms, all the performances are live, and the Naxos recording conveys the atmosphere and excitement generated on the night in Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall extremely effectively.
Dominic Hartley
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