Beautiful Passing, for violin and orchestra; Mnemosyne’s Pool, for symphonic orchestra. Anthony Marwood, violin; David Roberston, Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Canary Classics CC22.
By Karl W. Nehring
What we have here is something of an international mix, which is certainly not uncommon in the world of classical music. The composer, Steven Mackey (b.1956), was born in Germany to American parents and raised in California. According to Wikipedia, not only is he a composer and a professor of music at Princeton, he is an accomplished electric guitarist who has performed on that instrument along with the Kronos and Arditti Quartets as well as the New World and Dutch Radio Symphonies. The violin soloist, Anthony Marwood MBE (b. 1965) was born in London and has made more than 50 commercial CD recordings. Adding to the international mix is of course the Australian orchestra, led by American conductor David Robertson (b. 1958), who was the orchestra’s chief conductor at the time these recordings were made (2015 and 2017). Some classical music lovers might recall that Robertson led the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra from 2005 though 2018, and adding to the international dimension, was director of the Paris-based Ensemble Intercontemporain (EIC) from 1992-2000.
Mackey explains that “Beautiful Passing was inspired by the experience of watching my mother die. She was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2004. She was treated with chemo and radiation, won the first round, and was able to dance with me at my wedding in 2006. She remained cancer-free until a recurrence in 2007. Around that same time, we found out that we were expecting our first child. My mom was so excited and vowed to fight the cancer (again) and meet her grandchild.” Sadly, Mackey and his wife lost their pregnancy, and when they told his mother, she replied that although she felt confident that they would go on to have a family, she would not be able to hang on another year to meet her new grandchild. A mere week later, she called Mackey to tell him it would be her last day. He spent that final time with her at her apartment, working on his laptop at her insistence. One of her final instructions to him was that he should “please tell everyone I had a beautiful passing.” Although Mackey’s account might lead to the assumption that this concerto would be a soft, reflective, peaceful composition, it is actually for the most part more on the brash, boisterous side. The violin gets some lyrical lines to play, but is often seemingly attacked by harsh outbursts from the orchestra. It is not easy listening; however, it is not harsh and dissonant. The solo violin part is entrancing throughout, with Marwood really getting a chance to chance to show what he can do on his instrument.
Despite Beautiful Passing being given title billing for this release, it is actually the shorter of the two compositions included, coming in at 24:33 versus 42:50 for the five-movement Mnemosyne’s Pool. about which Mackey writes, “deals with memory within the music itself, and in so doing it deals with our memory, the human capacity for memory and the act of remembering.” (Mnemosyne was the mythical Greek goddess of memory – it is in her honor we term a memory aid a “mnemonic device.”) Like the concerto, it is richly scored, dynamic – but more varied in mood and sonority. After the brash opening movement, tiled Variations, the second, Déjá vu (Medley), offers a nicely melodic contrast. The briefer third movement, appropriately titled Fleeting, is infused with rhythmic energy and functions much like a symphonic scherzo. The mood becomes more serious in the following movement, titled In Memoriam A.H.S., which Mackey says he composed as a memorial movement for his father-in-law. Moving but not morose, it is the emotional highlight of the composition. The final movement is the longest and most musically complex. Titled Echoes, it could likely stand on its own as a nearly 13-minute concert piece that showcases what the orchestra can do. It makes quite the sonic impression, which has been well captured by the recording team, as is the rest of the program on this disc There is not enough deep bass to challenge subwoofer setups, but that would seem to have more to do with scoring than engineering. This may not be an audiophile demonstration CD, but it is perfectly suited for conveying musical enjoyment. Recommended to all but the more strongly conservative musical tastes.
KWN
Despite Beautiful Passing being given title billing for this release, it is actually the shorter of the two compositions included, coming in at 24:33 versus 42:50 for the five-movement Mnemosyne’s Pool. about which Mackey writes, “deals with memory within the music itself, and in so doing it deals with our memory, the human capacity for memory and the act of remembering.” (Mnemosyne was the mythical Greek goddess of memory – it is in her honor we term a memory aid a “mnemonic device.”) Like the concerto, it is richly scored, dynamic – but more varied in mood and sonority. After the brash opening movement, tiled Variations, the second, Déjá vu (Medley), offers a nicely melodic contrast. The briefer third movement, appropriately titled Fleeting, is infused with rhythmic energy and functions much like a symphonic scherzo. The mood becomes more serious in the following movement, titled In Memoriam A.H.S., which Mackey says he composed as a memorial movement for his father-in-law. Moving but not morose, it is the emotional highlight of the composition. The final movement is the longest and most musically complex. Titled Echoes, it could likely stand on its own as a nearly 13-minute concert piece that showcases what the orchestra can do. It makes quite the sonic impression, which has been well captured by the recording team, as is the rest of the program on this disc There is not enough deep bass to challenge subwoofer setups, but that would seem to have more to do with scoring than engineering. This may not be an audiophile demonstration CD, but it is perfectly suited for conveying musical enjoyment. Recommended to all but the more strongly conservative musical tastes.
KWN
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