|
Andrew Farach-Colton, Gramophone, July 2009:
Staggering eclecticism from a true musical renaissance man
You might say that Derek Bermel (b1967) is the quintessential 21st-century musician. A composition student of Henri Dutilleux, Louis Andriessen and William Bolcom (among others), Bermel is also an accomplished jazz clarinettist, has travelled the world exploring folk traditions, and performs (singing and playing keyboards and percussion) in a rock band. This staggering eclecticism is apparent in all four works recorded here.
Dust Dances (1994) developed out of the composer's study of the gyil, a xylophone-like instrument from Ghana. Powered by a series of syncopated ostinatos, the music has a distinctive African flavour that's enhanced by vibrantly colourful orchestration.
Thracian Echoes (2002) was inspired by an extended visit to Bulgaria. In the score's opening section, closely overlapping melodic lines create dark sonic pools that gradually swirl and deepen. Then, from what seems like the depths of despair, the mood seems to brighten, bringing the promise of a joyful conclusion. At the moment of truth, however, the music's resolve falters, sinking into quiet waves of uncertainty.
Elixir (2006) is a lush, pastoral tone-painting that seamlessly mixes orchestral and electronic sounds. Serene at first, its lulling atmosphere is soon disturbed by cries from a gathering chorus of instrumental birds and beasts.
In Voices (1997), both Bermel's solo clarinet and the orchestra make sounds that mimic human speech and song. It's a delightfully clever, often amusing concerto, yet a quite serious one too. The slow movement, based on an Irish folk tune, is gorgeous.
Given the very wide range of inspiration at work in these four pieces, the consistency and coherence of Bermel's musical language is particularly impressive. He's definitely a composer I'm eager to hear more from. I just hope that future performances are as authoritative as these by Gil Rose and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. The SACD recording is thrillingly vivid.
Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, March 22, 2009:
"Bermel's music is intricate, witty, clear-spoken, tender and extraordinarily beautiful. It also covers an amazing amount of ground, from the West African rhythms of "Dust Dances" to the Bulgarian folk strains of "Thracian Echoes" to the shimmering harmonic splendor of "Elixir." And as a sumptuous finale, there's "Voices," an elaborate clarinet concerto mixing free jazz, Irish folk melody and funk. In the hands of a composer less assured, all that globe-trotting would seem like affectation; Bermel makes it an artistic imperative."
Allan Kozinn, The New York Times, May 10, 2009:
DEREK BERMEL: ‘VOICES,’ OTHER WORKS
Derek Bermel, clarinetist; Boston Modern Orchestra Project, conducted by Gil Rose. BMOP/sound 1008; hybrid SACD/CD.
DEREK BERMEL, like many composers born in the late 1960s, is a natural eclectic who uses classical forms and timbres as his principal medium and draws on jazz, pop and world music when he wants a particular melodic, harmonic or rhythmic twist.
But Mr. Bermel makes his colleagues seem almost passive in their style hopping. “Dust Dances” (1994), the vigorous opening work here, is the fruit of a four-month visit to Ghana, where Mr. Bermel studied the gyil, an African xylophone. A fascination with Bulgarian folk music took him to Plovdiv, Bulgaria, to study it for six months. That experience yielded “Thracian Echoes” (2002), an exotic tour that begins with sliding string figures that evolve into modal, often mournful themes, then makes its way to a set of manic, richly orchestrated folk dances.
Mr. Bermel’s influences are closer to home as well. When “Dust Dances” is not evoking the gyil in a blend of Western percussion and strings, it is gliding through passages that could almost pass for Gershwin. More recent jazz informs “Voices” (1997), a three-movement clarinet concerto in which Mr. Bermel is the colorful, virtuosic soloist and Gil Rose’s band swings along freely.
The polished and the vernacular mingle in the bent-note evocations of speech — flirting, taunting, shouting and bantering — that open the concerto, as well as in the slow movement, based on an Irish folk melody, and the wild, unabashedly down-and-dirty jazz jam that ends the piece.
Mr. Rose and his Boston new-music band play it all with natural vitality. The recording, beautifully detailed, packs a solid punch in stereo and is even more strikingly visceral in surround mode, which puts the orchestra around you but preserves the listener-ensemble distance of the concert hall.
|
|
