Danish Resonances
José Valente (accordion)
rec. 2025, Concert Hall, Royal Danish Academy of Music & 2026, Garnisonskirken, Copenhagen, Denmark
Dacapo 8.224777 [69]
Rather than needlessly paraphrase, I quote the CD blurb as a neat summary of the contents of this release: “Four chapters across generations: Danish Resonances sets accordion works by Hans Abrahamsen, Niels Rosing-Schow and Per Nørgård against four newly commissioned world-premieres by Anders Skibsted, Loïc Destremau, Matias Vestergård and Gustav Bjerre. [Portuguese-born, Danish-resident-accordionist] José Valente threads them into a single, unfolding journey that moves by turns lyrical, virtuosic, introspective and expansive, revealing the full expressive range of the classical accordion.”
As such, the structure of this recital is designed to “encompass four large chapters, each consisting of two works – the whole entity thus resembling ‘a single, extended composition with four large movements’”.
I confess to finding this album…challenging, in that I am not particularly fond of either the instrument or many of the idioms employed – in which case the reader may reasonably question why I am reviewing it. Curiosity, yes; I am too frequently constrained by my conservative taste to listening to and reviewing established classics, but the adventurousness of the writing for the instrument here is certainly intriguing: clicking, wheezing, sighing and tapping are employed and much of the music is spookily atonal and given to minor keys and weird intervals. A peculiarly plangent melancholy is the prevailing mood but that is interspersed by some quite driven and aggressive interludes as, for example, with the conclusion to Spiral Ladder, which then dwindles into nothingness. The fourth piece, According to the Bellows, does indeed seem to be focused on surprising the listener’s ear with the sheer variety of sound which can be achieved by cunning manipulation of the mechanics of the bellows and by exploiting the instrument’s range.
Drowning Preludes is a strange, stuttering, shimmering piece which floats around seemingly seeking melody but latches only briefly onto fragments. The coda, “Static” flirts with silence. The whimsically named Anatomic Safari, begins with the just the eerie sound of heavy breathing as the prelude to the depiction of the accordion as a living creature. It is perhaps the most striking and original work on the whole album. The listener will probably not be aware that composer Per Nørgård employs his “regular compositional device, the so-called ‘Infinity Series’ – a constellation of notes mapped according to a mathematical pattern.” The frequent tapping is first suggestive of skittering footsteps, which then mutates into tango-rhythm; it is space age, sci-fi stuff, highly atmospheric and indeed culminates in a so-called ‘Fantasy’, concluding incongruously with more overt dance rhythm.
The final work is in my estimation the most accessible to the general listener, being a formally constructed sojourn through the standard Baroque dance suite with variations based on the traditional hymn by German poet and composer Heinrich Albert, “Holy Ghost, dispel our sadness.” The tune is played with and almost cast aside before becoming again semi-recognisable in the final Gigue.
The dexterity and versatility of José Valente’s playing throughout is remarkable and the sound is impeccable. You will perhaps be able to gauge from the sound-snippet samples available on the Presto website whether this somewhat niche repertoire is to your taste; devotees of contemporary music for accordion may not be many but they may well want this.
Ralph Moore
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Contents
Hans Abrahamsen: Canzone (1977-1978)
Anders Skibsted: Graf Plot (2023)*
Niels Rosing-Schow: Spiral Ladder (1997)*
Loïc Destremau: According to the Bellows; Cycles of Discording Echoes (ABCDE) (2023)*
Mattias Vestergård: Drowning Preludes (2023)*
Per Nørgård: Anatomic Safari (1967)
Gustav Bjerre: Helligånd, vor sorg du slukke (2023)*
*World premiere recording
