photo Chris Leck
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Review
American Record Guide May/June 2004
Guide to Records p.171
SVOBODA: Clarinet Chamber Works 1
Michael Anderson, Todd Kuhns; Kristen Halay, fl; Edward McManus, hn;
Thomas O'Connor, ob; Steve Vacchi, bn; Tomas Svoboda, (p) North Pacific
16--67 minutes
Mark Lehman and Jack Sullivan have handled the bulk of the Svoboda
reviews over the last six or seven years, the former finding the
com-poser moderately interesting, the latter much more than that. I
find myself, if possible, be-tween these poles. Mr Lehman rightly
points out that Svoboda doesn't really sound like any-body else, yet
his influences are detectable everywhere. Mr Sullivan seems most taken
with the complexity and craftsmanship of the composer, considering the
Czech-American composer (now retired as Professor Emeritus at Portland
State University) a major talent.
A major talent these days is indeed quite a find, as most of the
so-called major talents that have been composing since my birth are
writ-ing music that barely qualifies as music. Svo-boda won't set the
world ablaze with his inspi-ration, but it would be a grave mistake to
ig-nore someone who has found his voice, despite my inability to
categorize him. Several things do come through loud and clear. He knows
his style and sticks to it; he writes with a remarka-bly confident
authority and maturity; he is prolific in a number of forms and genres;
and he writes with sincerity--there are no pas-sages that seem like
passagework. Stylistically, Shostakovitch, Prokofieff, and Bartok all
make brief appearances, but I would counter that the main influences
are Hindemith and folk music. Let's call it Hindemith light, as much of
that composer's tanginess has been removed.
But this is no bad thing, as the Clarinet Sonata demonstrates so well.
What starts out as pure Hindemith in I changes to a falsified jazz
flavor by the time we get to III, but it is always interesting and
entertaining. The two pieces for solo clarinet, Folk Dance and
Con-fession, are very nice examples of how to write for a solo
woodwind, the former especially relying on certain key pedal notes to
set off the melody the same way Bach does in his solo string writing.
The second work, as an exercise in atonality, is not quite as
persua-sive, though its expressive qualities are quite pronounced. The
Conversations for two clarinets is a real hoot. The notes tell us that
the best way to per-form this work is on the stage, with each player
acting out the part he or she is playing. I can see where this would be
very entertaining, but it works as pure music as well. The writing
again is complex but affable, easy to follow, and cleverly done. Summer
Trio for oboe, flute, and bassoon, opens in a remarkably similar
fashion to Barber's Knoxville, if not in instru-mentation, then
certainly in spirit, and per-haps initially even in design. This is a
most attractive work.
Finally we come to the unusual Concerto for Woodwind Quintet. What
Svoboda has done is to give each instrument a mini-concerto in this
five-movement work. Kiss Hindemith good-bye in this oneÑit could have
been writ-ten by Diamond, Creston, or any number of American composers
with a penchant for exu-berance and wide-eyed optimism. One of the
things most notable about this composer is his comfort in a variety of
formatsÑhe displays equal prowess in almost any instrumental
combination.
The notes are well done, and the sound is excellent. This is
Volume 1, chamber works with clarinet, so I assume we have a lot coming
down the pike. Michael Anderson is a fine player (as are all the
players here), and the Oregon Festival of American Music must be an
attractive place to be every year if the quality is this high. Svoboda
has much to offer, and while this is my first exposure to him, I can
definitely recommend it to newcomers.
RITTER
Copyright 2004 by Record Guide Productions. All rights reserved.
Reviewed by Steven E. Ritter
Engineer, Producer, Composer & NPM founder, specializing, since
1991, in out-of-the-main-stream, art music, concerts and mixed-media
events, recording, mastering, production, marketing and promotion of
classical, avant garde, world, jazz and new-world-age music, at
affordable rates to discerning musicians, composers and organizations
-- artistically inspired, attitude-free professionalism from session
planning to market-ready productions with free consultation on all
production aspects: marketing standards in packaging, licensing,
copyrights, AFM & work-for-hire protocols -- credited with
productions of
"...audiophile quality."
as written in an American Record Guide, Sept./Oct. 2001 review of Tomas Svoboda - Piano Works Vol.1 - NPM LD
006.
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solutions, while serving as principal recording engineer since 2000.
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