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Phillip T Young Recital Hall
September 25, 2022
"The Icelanders are the most intelligent race on earth, because they discovered America and never told anyone."
Whether one agrees with Oscar Wilde's verdict — or, indeed his reasoning — there can be no doubting that Iceland (or, to give it its proper name, Ísland) is different.
Consider that this relatively tiny island sites atop the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the North American plate meets the Eurasian plate; that it is almost as large as Cuba, but its population is smaller than that of the Capital Regional District; that its telephone directory is ordered by first name; and that the first Icelandic performance of Charles Ives's "Concord" Sonata was broadcast on national TV[Footnote]. How could it not be other?
It is hardly surprising, then, that the music produced in Iceland is also unique, whether it is the eccentric vocal stylings of the country's most famous export, Björk, or the fascinating textures of Anna Thorvaldsdottir, whose music provided the backbone of Sunday's season opener from Aventa, which included no fewer than four North American premieres.
The evening opened with the first of the four: Thorvaldsdottir's Ró, scored for two violins, viola, cello, flute, clarinet, two percussionists and piano. This was my first encounter with her music and it left me eager to hear the other two works on the programme. Very slow-moving, the variegated sonic textures were undoubtedly the main focus with some unusual methods of sound-production (e.g. brushing drums with the hands) which were effective and did not seem in any way gimmicky. For the most part the music was quiet, although there were occasional percussive interjections from the piano.
Mesmerising.
Rolf Wallin's Topologie d'une cité fantôme was also being heard for the first time on this continent. Inspired by the 1976 novel of the same name by Alain Robbe-Grillet, the music — scored for violin, clarinet, horn, cello and piano — consists of seven mainly very brief and pithy movements.
The music was sometimes sparse, sometimes very busy and violent. As I observed in my notebook, there was frequently no apparent relationship between what the various instruments were playing — until there was.
Fascinating.
Hrím was the second piece by Thorvaldsdottir being premiered in North America. Written as a companion piece for Ligeti's Chamber Concerto (scheduled for Aventa's final concert of the season, in April) it utilises two violins, viola, cello, double bass, flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, trombone and piano.
Opening with a long, growling crescendo, much of the music consists of long, sustained chords interwoven with sinuous wind lines and occasional frantic, yet restrained interjections.
I have no idea exactly how long the piece was, only that it held my attention throughout and did not even come close to outstaying its welcome.
Bent Sørensen's Deserted Churchyards has been previously performed by Aventa, in October 2005, but in this instance they appended, seamlessly, his more recent Funeral Procession.
Deserted those churchyards may be, but they are clearly haunted by the Spirit of Music Past, as musical fragments arise and then disappear before apparently coming to any fruition. There were moments of considerable beauty — and I especially enjoyed the tintinnabulatory duet between the piano and glockenspiel — there were also some extremely lively and energetic passages and, unless I am mistaken the slow, descending glissando only achievable on a Swanee whistle.
I could not tell you where one work ended and the other began, but the close of Funeral Procession with its decaying piano, was most effective.
The evening's eponymous work was Thorvaldsdottir's Aequilibria (not a premiere) another slow-moving work featuring captivating textures. I shall limit myself to mentioning just one: the extraordinary subterranean combination of bass clarinet, horn, trombone and double bass. There were even times, particularly in the cello part, when one could almost feel the composer steadfastly resisting the temptation to provide an actual melody, although she undoubtedly came close.
Although by now it should go without saying, it is nevertheless worth pointing out that all of this often extremely difficult music was played with apparent ease (although I'm sure it was far from easy) by the musicians of Aventa and directed with his usual surefootedness by Bill Linwood.
All-in-all, a fine way to spend the evening of my birthday.
Aventa Ensemble: Müge Büyükçelen, Tyson Djoknas (who, remarkably, filled in at mere days' notice for an indisposed member of the ensemble), violins; Mieka Michaux, viola; Alasdair Money, cello; Darren Buhr, double bass; Mark McGregor, flutes, piccolo; Russell Bajer, oboe; AK Coope, Keith McLeod, clarinets; Darnell Linwood, horn; Scott MacInnes, trombone; Aaron Mattock, Sandra Veilleux, percussion; Roger Admiral, piano.
Footnote: I know this for a fact, because the pianist in question was my old friend John Lewis, who I can clearly remember beginning to learn the piece during the time we were living in the same house in Finsbury Park, London, in the Spring of 1972.
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