Convergence
Patrice Rushen (b. 1954)
Fanfare and Fantaisie
Andre Myers (b. 1973)
Changes (2011)
Michael Abels (b. 1962)
Nope: Suite from Film (2023)
Valerie Coleman (b. 1970)
Umoja: Anthem of Unity (2019)
Michael Abels (b. 1962)
Global Warming (1995)
Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra/Andrew Sewell
rec. 2024, Capital Theater, Madison, USA
Albany Records TROY2002 [55]
Convergence is the second chapter in ‘Musical Landscapes in Color’, which began in 2023, and is the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra’s five-year initiative highlighting the extraordinary range of African American composers. The orchestra, which was founded in 1960, is clearly a high-class group which under director Andrew Sewell is producing programmes of work which other ensembles could learn from. Convergence was performed and recorded live on Friday, October 10, 2024.
The disc opens with Fanfare and Fantaisie by Patrice Rushen. Rushen is a classically trained pianist who originally found success in the 70s and 80s with her signature fusion of jazz, pop and R&B. Her hit song, “Forget Me Nots” from 1982 has frequently been covered and sampled by other artists, including Will Smith for the film “Men in Black” and George Michael’s “Fast Love”. In demand internationally as a jazz pianist, she is currently on the faculty of the USC Thornton School of Music
In interviews, she seems quite reserved in talking about her orchestral works which she need not be, as her they demonstrate a sure grasp of orchestration and musical form. The work here is less fanfare and more fantaisie but is celebratory and exciting with lyrical touches. The composer says she hopes that “it’s just fun for people to listen to” and indeed it is, and even though I did at times worry about the intonation on the horns, that can only be expected in a live concert.
Andre Myers is a California-based artist on the faculty of the University of Redlands Conservatory of Music. He is graduate of the Eastman School of Music and the University of Michigan. His principal teachers have been Samuel Adler, Joseph Schwantner, Bright Sheng, and William Bolcom. Changes began work in 2004 as a clarinet quintet written to accompany an exhibition of minimalist art but was reimagined for the Michigan Philharmonic in 2011. Not surprisingly, then, the influences on the tightly constructed meditative tone poemseem to be John Adams and Philip Glass. The composer describes the work as being influenced by autumn and winter seasons and as “a meditation on the beauty change.” It is a really lovely work, given a magical performance here, and it deserves a wide audience.
Michael Abelsis anEmmy- and Grammy-nominated composer best known for his scores for the Jordan Peele films Get Out, Us and Nope. Both Us and Nope were shortlisted for the Oscar for Best Original Score. Abels is also active in the concert hall and his opera Omar won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2023.
Nope is the suite taken from Jordan Peele’s film of the same name (2022). It focuses on humanity’s fascination with spectacle, where a brother and sister from a family of horse trainers for media productions attempt to capture evidence of aliens using techniques they’ve learned in the business. What follows is part family drama, part science fiction adventure, part horror film, and part Western. The seven-movement score is brilliant in its eclecticism in exploring all of those genres and styles. Highlights for me are the opening Jupiter’s Claim depicting the horse ranch and which pays homage to the likes of Elmer Bernstein’s Western scores. It may be tongue in cheek, but it is done with love and care. The Run, which in the film accompanies the excitement of riding a galloping horse through a scenic valley, while being chased by a giant flying alien, begins with the strings imitating a John Adams pattern before the brass brazenly enter with a funky syncopated pattern – and that is it; before you know it, it’s over. It is shockingly effective in its simplicity and the orchestra has fun imitating a session band. The final movement, Nope, is a homage to the great Ennio Morricone, whose influence is quite clear in the scoring. No spoilers, but the score perfectly captures the mood of the film’s closing scene. The orchestra under Andrew Sewell is excellent in capturing the very varied styles of each movement.
Valerie Coleman is an award-winning flautist and composer currently on the composition faculty of the Juilliard School in New York. Umoja, is the Swahili word for unity and the work began as simple song for women’s choir. In 2019, it was reimagined as a fifteen-minute work for the Philadelphia Orchestra. The reimagining is considerable, as the work is brilliantly and imaginatively orchestrated. The unearthly sound of the bowed vibraphone opens the piece and supports a solo violin which introduces the melody in its simplest form and is reminiscent of Appalachian folk music. Therein, the melody appears in various guises throughout the different instrumental families. The notes tell us that the dissonant sections represent “the clash of injustices, racism and hate that threatens to gain a foothold in the world today.” The melody overcomes this, and the work ends with a bold call of unity that harks back to the original simple song. The evocative scoring and memorable melody make the work seem far shorter than fifteen minutes. The orchestra relishes its solo opportunities which are sensitively caught by the engineers.
The disc ends with a much earlier work by Abels Global Warming. which was written, as the composer tells us, in 1990, at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Cold War was ending, and he had become aware of the phenomenon called “global warming. This all coincided with his interest in music from different cultures, so he decided to write a work exploring musical cultural similarities and used the title Global Warming as a play on words to represent that. The piece works well as a global tone poem with music from different cultures appearing and disappearing in different landscapes, desert, jungle etc. My pet hate, faux Irish folk music, makes an appearance part way through, but happily it does not stay long. The composer makes us think the work will end joyfully, but in an about turn, it ends quietly, returning to the folk fiddle sound of the opening, seeming to pose a question. As in the film suite, Andrew Sewell does a good job of pulling the disparate folk styles together.
As I am a fan of Jordan Peele’s films, I am ashamed to say that the only composer I knew of here was Michael Abel, but I am pleased to have made the acquaintance of the others. It is good to know that there are composers out there still writing instantly communicative music that does not patronise its audience.
Paul RW Jackson
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