Search - Harrison Birtwistle, Nicolas Hodges :: Harrison Birtwistle: The Axe Manual

Piano music big and small

Klingsor Tristan | Suffolk | 08/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A curious mixture, this disc. Half this collection is what, in the Nineteenth Century, would probably have been called Album Pieces, dating from Birtwistle's teenage years (Ookooing Bird) almost up to the present. These are slight pieces, all interesting, all reflecting the composer's uncompromising style, but not enough to delay the listener much longer than the time it takes to play them. And then there are two major works - Harrison's Clocks and The Axe Manual.



Both these pieces' titles are typical Birtwistle puns. The first refers to the famous horologist who created timepieces that allowed mariners to accurately fix their longitude as much as to its composer's christian name. It is a series of explorations of the kind of musical clockwork mechanisms that Birtwistle often uses to drive his material (cf. Silbury Air, Carmen Arcadiae, Pulse Sampler, large sections of Yan Tan Tethera etc.). Fiendishly difficult to play, one suspects, with their complex overlayering of rhythms, but hugely satisfying to listen to.



The Axe Manual was originally written for Emanuel Ax (hence the pun) and Evelyn Glennie. It is a thrilling piece in which the percussionist gradually works their way round a semi circle of instruments from drums through marimba to wood blocks, etc. and back again, conjuring a huge array of colours and textures as well as rhythms.



All the performances on this disc are impeccable. Nicolas Hodges is a pianist who specialises in modern music and has had many works written specifically for him. He has that rare ability with new and unfamiliar pieces not only to get his fingers round the notes (tough enough in many of these works), but also to communicate with true musicality. He makes Harrison's Clocks even more approachable and exciting than Joanne McGregor did on her pioneering recording. For the Axe Manual he is joined by the Australian percussionist, Claire Edwardes, and the two of them provide a performance every bit as mesmeric and thrilling as in their live UK premiere performance. A highly recommendable disc.

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