Pastoral 21: Gabriel Prokofiev, Ludwig van Beethoven (CD Review)

by Karl Nehring

Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 “Pastoral” (1^st Movement, arr. for string sextet by M. G. Fischer); Gabriel Prokofiev: Breaking Screens – Green Into Red | Fivatak | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | ChangeUp | Sad Colours 1 | Memory Fields | Reflessivo; Beethoven: Symphony No.6 (5^th Movement arr. for string sextet by M. G. Fischer); G. Prokofiev: Pastoral Reflections - I. Allegro ma non troppo (escape into nature) II. Andante con moto (nature reserve with canalised stream) III. Allegro Mechanico (Mega-farm, cyber village) IV. Vivace (Sturm) V. Allegretto (Stadtpark, faint hopes); Breaking Screens – Mobocracy. Gabriel Prokofiev, synthesizers, electronics; UNLTD Collective (Songha Choi, violin; Çiğdem Tunçelli Sinangil, violin; Martin Moriarty, viola; Kinga Wojdolska, viola; Alfredo Ferre, cello; Antonin Musset, cello). Signum Classics SIGCD761

 

The British composer, producer, and DJ Gabriel Prokofiev (b. 1975) was born in London to an English mother and Russian father. (And yes, in case you were wondering, he is related to the famous Sergei: Gabriel is in fact Sergei’s grandson.) After completing his musical studies at Birmingham and York Universities, he grew increasingly dissatisfied with what seemed to him to be the insular world of contemporary classical music. In response, he developed his own parallel musical career as a dance, grime, electro, and hip-hop producer. This background in dance music combined with his classical roots gives his music a unique and strikingly contemporary sound. He has built up a growing body of orchestral and chamber works and has composed seven concertos (three featuring turntables), as well as many electronic works, often combining synthesizers and samples with classical instrumentation. We’ve reviewed some of his compositions previously here at Classical Candor, including one of his turntable concertos (you can read that review here), a “symphonic remix” of the finale of Beethoven’s 9^th(review can be found here), and most recently, a composition of his was included on an album by viola player Hiyoli Togawa (review here). Looking back over those releases, we see a composer adept at writing for both electronic and traditional instruments, capable of blending them together or deploying them separately in service of his musical vision.

 

In this newest release, we hear both the traditional classical sound and contemporary electronic elaborations centering around Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony. Prokofiev remarks in the CD booklet that “today, the concept of ‘pastoral’ is bittersweet. We can still experience the beauty of nature, but the traces of humanity and industry are always present, and the spectre of the ever-increasing climate crisis is looming.” The most straightforward, traditional presentation of the symphony – “the beauty of nature” – is provided in its arrangement for string sextet, with its opening and closing movements represented in fine, flowing performances by the UNLTD Collective. Between these two straightforward interpretations of Beethoven’s familiar music are inserted five relatively short movements of Prokofiev’s Breaking Screens, music that is intended to transport the listener away from Beethoven’s countryside into the 21^st century, where, as Prokofiev maintains, “we spend more time looking at screens than the real world.” Although that description might sound a bit abstract – even daunting – the music is an imaginative blend of acoustic and electronic sounds. (There is plenty of bass energy in screen world, apparently, which makes it a fun place to visit for those listeners with whoopee woofers…)

Prokofiev considers his composition Pastoral Reflections to be "a direct response to the Pastoral Symphony, which explores what the concept of ‘Pastoral’ means to us today in this time of climate crisis… Imagine if Beethoven came back to the same locations outside Vienna in the 21^st century… Though he would still find some beautiful scenes of nature, he would certainly be shocked by the omnipresence of modern industrial life: The inescapable background noise of motorways, aeroplanes overhead, insistent signs of human presence in plastic waste, metal fences, concrete-bordered streams, tarmac roads… For Pastoral Reflections I decided to follow most of the tempi of Beethoven’s original, and focus on the same themes for each movement, but with a contemporary view. In addition to the string sextet I have used field recordings that illustrate humankind’s omnipresence.” 

Little doubt, his description will sound daunting to some potential listeners, but the music is not as cacophonous as Prokofiev’s provocative prose might make it out to be. For the most part, it is the sound of the string sextet that leads out; the electronic element is there – at times quite noticeably, as intended – but never overbearingly so. No, this is not a work that the most conservative of Beethoven fans will take pleasure, but most listeners should at least find interesting, and some might even find fascinating. 

For whatever reason, the album then concludes with Mobocracy, a brash and bouncy two-and-one-half minutes of primarily synthesized music – the final movement of Breaking Screens. Although Prokofiev discusses all the other music on the program in the CD booklet, he makes no mention of this one. Strange, maybe even a bit ominous… Overall, though, Pastoral 21 is a refreshingly different release that cast a musical gaze upon on past, present, and future.