Search - Gerard Grisey, Kwame Ryan, Ensemble Recherche :: Grisey: Talea; Vortex Temporum

One of Grisey's less successful ensemble pieces together wit

Christopher Culver | 02/14/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This Accord disc features two works by Gerard Grisey that are typical of his spectralist outlook, where the story the music tells is that of the very sounds that make up the piece. wame Ryan leads the Ensemble Recherche, which consists of Barbara Maurer (viola), Klaus Steffes-Holländer (piano), Lucas Fels (cello), Martin Fahlenbock (flute), Melise Mellinger (violin) and Uwe Möckel (clarinet).



"Vortex Temporum" for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, and piano (1994-95) quotes a brief passage from Ravel, considers it as a pure sound wave instead of a series of distinct notes, and then subjects it to a myriad of spectral variations. The climax of the first movement comes with a long piano that fiercely represents the sound as a square wave. In the second movement, the same processes appear, but slowed down enormously. Here is where I don't think this is one of Grisey's best pieces, as even attentive and experienced listeners are unlikely to recognize the exact relationship of the second movement to the first, and Grisey's music usually has much more gestalt. In any event, the piece could have ended here, but the long third movement seems to have little new to say, and no other mature ensemble piece by this composer has me looking at my watch like this. In terms of the performance by Ensemble Recherce, their reading is competent, but I generally prefer that by the Ensemble Risognanze on an Stradivarius disc, which is rather more confident.



"Talea" for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano (1985-86) is a great deal more successful with an elegant arc-like form. Two gestures, a rough ascending interval and a descending overtone series, are gradually forced into a period rhythm and reconciled to each other. In the second half of the piece, the piece then proceeds back towards contrast with a piano tremolo announcing each successive stage of the process. The ending, where the overtone sequence reappears out of thunderous piano tones, is dramatic. All in all, a memorable piece.



If you are new to Grisey, the recordings of his masterpiece "Les Espaces Acoustiques" are a better introduction to his art. This disc is best left to those building a comprehensive Grisey collection, as "Talea" isn't widely recorded."