Search - Vladimir Godar, Andrew Parrott, Capella Istropolitana :: Godar: Concerto grosso; Partita

A pleasant (albeit disconcerting) discovery

Neil Ford | Sydney, Australia | 05/11/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Another bargain CD that turns out to be not only great value but a great discovery. The music on this record is certainly modern and experimental, but not Modernistic in the ideological sense, for which I am grateful. Bartok is an obvious touchstone here, as is the east European miserablism of Schnittke, but Godar in his academic life is an expert on earlier musical forms, and so the choice of early music specialist Andrew Parrott as conductor is surprisingly appropriate to the material (and Godar's brief affair with overt polystylism is more organic and convincing than Schnittke's).



The Concerto Grosso is the more notable piece here, perhaps because it is more compact, certainly because each of the three movements is radically different. The first movement strikes the listener as bizarre: strings with extreme vibrato at first sound like music for a carnival spookhouse. Then the moaning notes remind one of the distinctive folk fiddle style of Eastern Europe. At last one decides that a heavy wind storm is being evoked: wind in trees, through rocks, across steppes.



The second movement uses a Baroque, Vivaldian motif, with dissonant variations, so that the music is alternately pleasant and disconcerting. Conductor Andrew Parrott delivers a great momentum here, and certainly gets the toe tapping. The final movement begins almost inaudibly with eerie minor strings, and gradually a recognisable figure emerges to grow slowly over the course of the piece.



The Partita continues to demonstrate Godar's interest in producing atmospheres by use of sustained string tones, and is certainly effective in this regard. It struck me while listening to this that Godar could be an effective composer of movie soundtracks. I also wondered whether he was a fan of horror movies or gothic novels, given the sense of enjoyable creepiness that he demonstrates here.



It turns out that this Slovakian composer does write soundtracks, but unfortunately these films are rarely seen in the English-speaking world. He has also composed a number of other concert pieces. This CD has certainly whetted my curiousity, and I will be seeking out further of his work in the future."