Search - Michael Torke, Marin Alsop, Royal Scottish National Orchestra :: Michael Torke: Rapture; An American Abroad; Jasper

Yowza!

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 01/24/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Poor Michael Torke has a hard time being taken seriously, largely because he writes uniformly optimistic, pop-tinged, lively, soul-easing music. But then Gershwin had the same problem in his era. Torke's time will come, I strongly suspect. And this release will help.Someone has called him 'the American Ravel'. That's over-reaching a bit, but I can see their point. Torke is a master orchestrator (possibly the best currently working in America, although John Adams is right up there with him), and there is an insouciance that we generally associate with 20th-century French composers. He can write a meltingly beautiful tune, and he is a master of complex recognizably _American_ rhythms, some of them Latin American. He has been fortunate to have had wonderful recordings of his music; I'm thinking now of that string of Argo releases featuring David Zinman and the Baltimore Symphony.For several years Torke was composer-in-residence for the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and all three pieces on this CD were written for them. The title of the first, 'An American Abroad', reminds us of Gershwin's 'An American in Paris', but that's about the only similarity - and there are no taxi horns in the score! The predominant feeling in this 21 minute piece is that of an American, fresh-faced, curious, naïve, full of wonder wandering from place to place in a journey abroad. There are some invigorating rhythms (always a feature of Torke's music) and a middle section, rather more reflective, that has one of Torke's patented tunes, the kind that get in your head and won't leave you alone. There is a touch of melancholy in this section; it made me think of the sadness of leaving wonderful travels behind when it's time to go home. But then there is the excitement of going back to familiar places and people. Hmmm, I've just described a 21st Century tone-poem, haven't I? Liszt and Richard Strauss would be proud.The shorter second piece, 'Jasper', is a set of informal variations on a simple tune, one that uses each of the notes of the diatonic scale only once. The tune gets dressed up in varying rhythms and instrumentation, but retains its recognizability. The final piece, the longest on the disc at 28 minutes, is a percussion concerto, entitled 'Rapture', written for and performed by the brilliant young (very young: he's only 26, and was only 23 when he premièred it) Colin Currie. A percussionist friend tells me that 'he beats Evelyn Glennie all hollow'; I'm not prepared to say that, but he certainly is hugely talented. I only wish I could _see_ him performing the piece. The concerto has an unusual form in that each of the three movements features a different subset of the percussion family. The first is subtitle 'Drums and Woods', the second 'Mallets', and the last 'Metals'. You get the idea. Needless to say, Torke's rhythmic vitality and ingenuity get a real workout here. The insistent rhythm in the first movement leads eventually to a kind of hypnotic state in the listener, the 'Rapture' of the title. This, in itself, is not my own cup of tea, but I did get caught up in the jittery excitement of it all. The second movement, the one with mallet instruments, is less frenetic and more intrinsically melodic, lots of deep marimba, lots of chords of the ninth. I will admit that it was my favorite; I guess I'd been a bit worn out by the first movement. But we're off to the races again, this time with a salsa beat, in movement three and the whole thing ends up in a flurry almost unbelievable virtuosity on the part of Currie. Hoo boy!One personal note: whenever I am really down and am having real trouble remembering that this is a wonderful world, I often put on something of Torke's - my long-time favorite has been 'Javelin', which he wrote on commission for the Atlanta Olympic Games (and which they inexplicably did not use!) - and my spirits come bubbling up; it is simply impossible for me to stay down with this music in the air."

Michael Torke and the rebirth of art music

Jim Rickman | Sudbury, MA USA | 12/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The cacophony in art music that prevailed for most of the 20th century can now be seen as simply an expansion of the musical pallette and a taming of technique under the rigors of admittedly academic formalisms. Unfortunately for composers who have embraced the methods of Second Viennese School, the devotees and listeners of "classical" music have found it exceedingly difficult, sometimes excruciating, and usually quite unsatisfying to relate to the skewed sounds of the dodecaphonic/cacophonic music, no matter how much the composers of that music write articles about how tightly and logically constructed their music is and how incredibly ingenious their "solutions" have been. Ultimately, most of this music has been a monologue the composer did with himself/herself and the narrow group of those who "understood" his/her music.
Ultimately, music should communicate without the need for programmatic essays by the composer. If the music doesn't convey its meaning and wholeness to its listeners beyond the printed word, then it will cease to be listened to. That's a fact of life, especially with music being played in concert halls. The new movement among composers of art music toward more tonally conceived sounds is an acknowledgement of that truth. Tonal music has a basis in harmonics that 12-tone music and freer cacophony lack - while tonal music sounds natural, the other seems artificially contrived. It also hasn't helped that most of the dodecaphonic/cacophonic music, lacking any understandable reference points for most listeners, sounds dark, brooding, pessimistic, and ultimately incomprehensible.Having written all this, I should also let those reading this know that I once spent many years writing in the 12-tone style and mannerisms of the 2nd Viennese School. Having spent a lot of time with this sound, I have developed an understanding and appreciation for the music of Schoenberg, Berg, Webern and others who spent most of their lives writing in this style. But communicating with audiences has been extremely problematic - the sounds come off as strange and, because of that, hides whatever the composer wanted to say...However, the music of Michael Torke, and the more tonal music of others over the last decade or so, is immediately approachable and quite often satisfying. Really, art music does not have to be difficult sounding or somehow beyond the pale of human experience to be masterful. After listening to Torke and others who write with more tonal sounds, you leave the concert hall with the sense that much of what you heard found an immediate and unspoken understanding within you. And that's what music should do - COMMUNICATEThe 3 pieces of music on this CD are well-conceived and thoroughly enjoyable. Also highly recommended is Torke's "Book of Proverbs; Four Proverbs". As an introduction to his music, one has only to listen to "Book of Proverbs: Opening" to come away with a smile and an abiding interest in his music. Michael Torke should be taken very seriously by all of us who are optimistic about the future of art music."

Bright Lights, Big Deal

Sam Bridges | 04/19/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

""Rapture" is unrelenting in its sameness throughout, and the rest of this CD sounds like a pale copy of work that this gifted composer created during the late 1980's. I am sad to give it a pass."