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Fanfare

Kevin Malone and Richard Whalley are both “activist” composers, concerned with issues touching the environment, social justice, and the like. However, as Whalley observes, “Art and music cannot solve these problems, and in any case that is not their purpose.” As true as this may be, it is not to say that composers are not influenced by their beliefs, and these often show up in the music in one way or another. The concept of whether music could express anything outside of itself generated a good bit of debate back in the 19th century, with the followers of Eduard Hanslick pro­moting the absolutism of music by such composers as Brahms, while the coterie around Wagner be­lieved that music had the ability to express non-musical concepts. A century and a half after these often heated debates, the dust seems to have settled largely in the camp of Hanslick (a noted and in­fluential Viennese critic), and the consensus of today’s musicologists holds that extra-musical asso­ciations of non-vocal music are largely if not entirely culturally derived. Thus, I do not believe that I ought to devote space to a discussion of how “successful” the music by these two composers is in portraying their political beliefs, but confine my comments to the quality and musical style of the works. Indeed, all six works are worthwhile solely on musical grounds.

The disc opens with the first of two settings of “When the World’s on Fire,” a folk-like song originally written in the 19th century under the title of “Oh, My Loving Brother,” later reshaped into “This Land is Your Land” by folk icon Woodie Guthrie. Malone’s setting is clever and imaginative, using the tune in many contrasting ways that display a good bit of energy. The following Water Protectors features some rather duck-like squawks in the soprano saxophone created through pitch bends. The other instruments undergird these with an atonal tapestry of unusual sounds, giving this work a much more austere atmosphere than the preceding one. The Ebonit Saxophone Quartet is given plenty of opportunity in this work to show off its considerable abilities in creating unusual tex­tures and sonorities. The piece is a great deal of fun to listen to and brings back fond memories of the neighborhood goose pond that my wife and I used to walk over to in order to feed the denizens thereof. The geese were generally gathered on the far side of the pond, but when they saw us arrive, they would fly across the pond at breakneck speed, accompanying their traversal with frantic honk­ing in their anticipation of a meal of stale bread. At 18 minutes, this is the CD’s longest work, and may also be my favorite.

Charles Ives gave us The Housatonic at Stockbridge, and Malone follows it up with his Housatonic near Sandy Hook. Sandy Hook, as most Americans will recall, was the site of a tragic shooting in which a deranged young man killed 26 people, most of them children. Thus, the mood of this work is somber and reflective as it attempts to depict the young lives snuffed out. The com­poser employs several folk songs from the region to represent some of the things that these children were deprived of with their early deaths. The style of the music is quite chromatic, and often borders on the atonal, and it makes a powerful impact upon the listener.

The booklet notes do not mention whether Richard Whalley and Kevin Malone deliberately set out to write works based on the same tune, but it certainly seems appropriate that having done so, Whalley’s setting of “When the World’s on Fire” should complement the eponymous work by Malone. Whalley’s version layers material from Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” and the Yardbirds’ “Shapes of Things” in and around the 19th-century theme used by both composers. It be­gins with a flurry of ascending non-tonal scales that eventually settle into a statement of the tune in the tenor saxophone adorned by non-diatonic sequences of notes in the other instruments. Altogether it’s less tonally conceived than is the setting by Malone, even though in Whalley’s version the tune stands out more readily.

The Iapetus Suture is a major geological fault found far beneath the surface of the Earth, and is thought to have been formed 300 million years ago when two continents collided. The work features mysteriously wandering lines punctuated with fascinating ear-grabbing gestures from all four instru­ments. An unmistakable feature of this work occurs just before its four-minute mark, when one hears (doesn’t hear?) an extended silence of more than a half-minute’s duration. Because of my attenuated hearing, I wasn’t actually certain when the Ebonit Quartet resumed producing sounds, so quiet were they (almost to the point of making me put my hearing aids in—which normally I do not need nor want when listening to music). This quartet, should there be any Doubting Thomases out and about, belies the myth that the saxophone is incapable of producing a true pianissimo. Once I began hearing sounds again, there was an extended section of subtle dissonance that never exceeded that dynamic and often halved it. This almost 18-minute work forms Whalley’s major contribution to the recital. Despite what the composer is portraying in this music, I find no fault in the piece. (Hmm … was there a pun in there somewhere?)

Being the technological troglodyte that I am, I cannot accurately provide the title to the disc’s closing work. It begins with two words, Refugees Welcome, then comes a little heart icon, so the reader will have to imagine that. The composer intends this to be an empathetic and welcoming work, and to that end has employed Arabic modes and West African rhythmic gestures along with his own material. The piece’s freely atonal style is quite similar to that of the previous work to the point that initially I hadn’t realized a new work had begun. While I like the work a great deal, I couldn’t help thinking with a smile that if this work were broadcast along U.S. border’s entry points, a good number of those seeking refuge might decide to seek refuge elsewhere. A lot of the music I like is decidedly not music for the masses.

Composers Malone and Whalley might be separated by nationality (they’re American and English respectively) and chronology (born in 1958 and 1974), but they are certainly of a mind in both politics and musical style. While there is variety to be heard through the course of this recital, if I were told that all of these works had been written by the same composer, I could easily believe it. Each work has a subtle profundity that will reward repeated hearings, and the Ebonit Saxophone Quartet is a top-flight Dutch ensemble whose artistry and technical prowess will impress saxophone enthusiasts and others. On such grounds, it is easy and expedient to give this disc a hearty recommendation.