Poul Ruders, Vol. 9 - Amiable Chamber Music

Poul Ruders, Vol. 9
David Starobin, guitar; Daniel Druckman, percussion; David Holzman, piano; Amalia Hall, violin; Hsin-Yun Huang, viola, Sara Rothenberg, piano
Bridge Recrods
The two words that sprang to mind as I listened to this collection of Poul Ruder's chamber music was "amiable atonality." These chambers works move well beyond tonality, without a hint of academic dryness. Every work had real personality, often full of warmth and gentle humor.

Guitarist David Starobin and Poul Ruders have enjoyed a long and fruitful collaborative relationship, and Starobin brings his deep understanding of Ruders' music to two works. The "New Rochelle Suite" for guitar and percussion is a witty composition, and Starobin and percussionist Daniel Druckman perform it with a sometimes wink at the audience. Ruders scores imaginatively for percussion, making non-tonal instruments such as the castanets and tom-toms (among many other) add nuanced shading to the guitar's wide-ranging melodies.

"Schrödinger's Cat" is a set of 12 canons for violin and guitar that reflect the ambivalence of the title. In quantum mechanics, Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment illustrating the paradoxical concept that particles can be in two states simultaneously until observed. So, too, these canons seem to shift back and forth until they suddenly collapse into a final cadence. Starobin and Amalia Hall perform these canons in an unadorned fashion, just presenting the facts -- which seem to change before our ears.

"Romances for viola and piano" is romantic in nature, but the expressive yearnings of the melody get their poignancy from decidedly post-tonal chromatic inflections. Violist Hsin-Yun Huang and pianist Sarah Rothenberg make a great team, though, bring out the emotion in the music without being too emotive.

David Holzman performs "Twinkle Bells - Piano Etude No. 2" with a light, deft touch. He makes the cascading thirds that make up the bulk of the etude shimmer and tinkle like tiny bells. He also brings the album to a close with Ruders' "13 Postludes." These are wonderfully-crafted short little works that evoke the spirit of Chopin -- in an amiably atonal way.

Starobin: New Music with Guitar, Vol. 8 - A personal program

New Music with Guitar, Vol. 8
David Starobin; Paul Lansky; Poul Ruders; George Crumb
David Starobin, guitar
Bridge Records

David Starobin's New Music with Guitar series has done much to expand the repertoire for the instrument. Volume 8 continues the same high standards set for composition and performance set by the previous volumes. Only this time it's personal.

It's sort of a Bridge family release. David Starobin, in addition to being the featured artist (and one of the composers), is also  the co-founder of Bridge Records. Bridge has long championed the compositions of Poul Ruders, and is releasing an on-going series of George Crumb's music. And all four composers share the same manager.

That collegial relationship gives the record, despite the disparity in styles, a unified and somewhat intimate-feeling program. (at least to my ears).

The album starts with David Starobin's "Nielsen Variations" for solo guitar. It's the most tonal of the selections, probably because of the source material. Starobin is an imaginative composer -- especially when he's writing for his own instrument. A delightful work from start to finish.

Paul Lansky's "Partita" for guitar and percussion, is quite accessible. Lanksy's music has a New York City feel to it -- not quite Broadway, but quite cosmopolitan, sophisticated, and full of bustling energy.

"Six Pages" by Poul Ruders is just that -- six short epigrams. The whole piece only takes about seven minutes to play. Still, these are no slight pieces. Ruders carefully constructs each "page" using minimal music resources to maximum effect.

"The Ghosts of Alhambra" is classic George Crumb. This work for baritone, guitar, and percussion reminds me somewhat of his "Madrigals" and "Ancient Voices of Children." It has that same atmospheric sound and use of extended techniques that gives Crumb's music its unique character.