{"id":51344,"date":"2018-03-01T23:05:26","date_gmt":"2018-03-02T04:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=51344"},"modified":"2018-03-01T23:05:26","modified_gmt":"2018-03-02T04:05:26","slug":"record-keeping-nac-orchestra-encounters-suffers-bad-program-notes-but-good-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2018\/03\/01\/record-keeping-nac-orchestra-encounters-suffers-bad-program-notes-but-good-music\/","title":{"rendered":"RECORD KEEPING | NAC Orchestra Encounters Bad Program Notes But Good Music"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"ENCOUNTERS.
ENCOUNTERS. Staniland: Phi, Caelestis. Liz\u00e9e: Keep Driving, I\u2019m Dreaming. Lau: Dark Angels. National Arts Centre Orchestra\/Alexander Shelley. Analekta AN2 8871-2 (2 CDs). Total Time: 87:02.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Several years ago the National Arts Centre developed a project called Encounters to bring together three composers and three choreographers as part of the commemoration of Canada\u2019s 150th-birthday. The three collaborations, in the form of an evening of one-act ballets, were given their premieres in April, 2017. Ideally, these new dance pieces would have been filmed and released on a DVD, so that one could appreciate how the dancing and music fit together; one assumes that raising the extra money required for filming was the reason this was not done. That said, with this Analekta CD, we at least have three major new musical compositions to consider.<\/p>\n

The composers of these pieces have supplied their own notes for these recordings, which \u2014 as is often the case \u2014 tend toward the pretentious and obscure, throwing dust in our eyes when they should be giving us a way into the music.<\/p>\n

Andrew Staniland tells us that the unifying theme of his piece is \u201cthe golden ratio, or Phi.\u201d He goes on to say that, \u201cfor me, Phi was a catalyst and inspiration both in terms of both extra-musical beauty and literal usage in Phi-inspired melodies and harmonies.\u201d Reading this word salad, I am reminded of the doubletalk that Sid Caesar tossed off so masterfully years ago. Except that he was funny. There is not much fun in either Staniland\u2019s prose or in his music. Phi<\/em> makes use of minimalist pulsations in the first movement, a sort of homage to Le sacre du printemps<\/em> in the second movement, and a timpani-driven climax in the last movement. This last movement \u2013 titled Eden<\/em> \u2013 also features \u201celectronic sound files created with recordings of poet Jill Battson reading quotes from mathematicians speaking about beauty.\u201d I have no idea what that is all about, especially since the words being spoken are incomprehensible.<\/p>\n

Nicole Liz\u00e9e seems to suffer from the same affliction as Andrew Staniland when it comes to writing about her music \u2014 namely, an aversion to writing in plain French (or English):<\/p>\n

Keep Driving, I\u2019m Dreaming<\/em> draws tone and timbre from the neo-noir cinema of the 1980s and 1990s [\u2026] in the hyper-stylized way motion and travel scenes are filmed and treated [\u2026] romanticized inertia into hyperkinetic neon rage.<\/p>\n

This kind of bafflegab was of no use to me before I heard the piece and after listening to it, I still haven\u2019t the faintest idea what she is talking about. This is unfortunate because the piece itself is often beautiful and mesmerizing with lyrical episodes that are fresh and soothing. While Liz\u00e9e is working with contemporary techniques, including electronics, her music manages to be immediately accessible. The quiet opening, with voices and orchestra, is very effective and she integrates the electronic bleeps and gurgles with real mastery. While much of the piece is rhythmically static, there are also surprises, such as a reminiscence of a Tchaikovsky waltz emerging from the texture.<\/p>\n