Artist notes: When I was asked to write a column for The Hong Kong Cellist Society, I knew immediately that I wanted to do something that promoted new music for cello. I had been keeping a list for the last 20 years or so of pieces in the repertoire that I felt received nowhere near enough attention, and my aim with this column is to bring these pieces to light. This also offered me the opportunity to work and collaborate with composers from around the world.
I have been writing the column for a bit over two years, introducing one new piece every month. This puts the current total at 26 pieces [25 for solo cello, one for cello and piano]. Nearly all have been written by living composers but a few 'classics' [Ernst Krenek, David Diamond to name a few] have crept into the ongoing list. It wasn't easy to narrow down this list to the seven pieces you will hear on this recording.
The two opening pieces, George Lam’s Cello Suite and Henry MacPherson’s Interlunar share some wonderful ‘nocturnal’ characteristics, and I thought they paired well together to open the album. That being said, they both approached writing ‘night music’ in rather different ways. Interlunar has this slow growing melody that traverses the range of the cello while George’s piece, in the last movement titled Nocturne, the writing recalls the quiet strumming of a lute or guitar at the end of a long day. To fill out the A-side, I chose one of the first pieces that I recorded for this project by Argentinian composer Aitana Kasulin. This three-movement work opens with a strong declamatory piece that includes tapping on the body of the instrument, which adds a subtle percussive element to the work. The middle movement serves as the most virtuosic movement of the work highlighting cool quartal harmonies that the composer exposes while nimbly shifting through distant keys. For me, the more memorable elements about the piece are the melodies. The third movement has a beautiful slow and flowing lament played on the D string. Many natural portamenti are apparent and these show off one of the cello’s strongest features.
The B-side opens with Steven Crino’s A Gateless Garden, which I found to be just a beautiful simple piece in G major, one of the cello’s most resonant keys. While there is a climax and dynamic growth to the piece, overall the mood is one of quiet contemplation, introspection, and peace. Crino’s meditation acts as a nice prelude to Katheryn Blake’s Threnody… a piece that takes us through some very dark writing for the instrument. What I loved about learning this piece was the composer’s careful treatment of the interval set that ties the piece together. It not only functions to create a continuity throughout the work but also works as a kind of common language with which to express the composer’s emotions. This powerful piece ends in another wonderfully resonant key for the cello, C major, which consequently is the opening key of Sylvina Wainszelbaum’s So Ham. So Ham is a beautiful meditation, a synchronisation of performer, instrument, and breath. Listen closely and you will hear several sections where the performer is asked to sing while playing! The final piece on the album is by New Zealand composer, and former teacher of mine, Anthony Ritchie. His piece Dedication weaves great melodic writing, challenging rhythmic interplay, and curious (gamelan?) harmonies together seamlessly. It is great fun to play and so fun to listen to.
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