WIMproacht/negen CD 030304
Fred Van Hove’s almost forty years as an innovative force in avant-garde piano have not lead to an evolution in his style. His Vogel recordings of 1972-74, recently reissued on Atavistic, show him already in full command of a prodigious and exploratory technique. This new double set exudes a modicum of introspection amid Van Hove’s customary pyrotechnics; lines merge, intertwine and disentangle with even more internal clarity and playfulness than on earlier recordings, possibly as a result of Van Hove’s many hours logged at the organ. Even the layout of the two discs bespeaks both a unifying intellectual rigor and a deep mischievous streak.
The first disc, called “Spraak”, sports song titles without vowels, but neither rocket science nor fluency in Torah Hebrew is necessary for pattern recognition -- “FST”, “FSTR”, “FSTST” being only one series in a Boulezian labyrinth. Or is it Joycean? Do I hear some retrospective self-reference in “BLLS”, or is Van Hove really alluding to the first suite for Vogel, employing similarly extended piano preparation, rather than to the FMP Balls? Hard to say, but Boulez and Stockhausen are certainly present in the quick and staccato phrasing, the serio-comic silences, the layers of counterpoint and terraced dynamics all shot through with an unflagging virtuosity. All of this is, however, subservient to gesture; these fifteen tracks do not sing, drone or hum -- they speak in all manner of dialects.
The second disc presents music as different from the first as are its titles. Texture here is dense but minimal, the main focus being melodic complexity on a grand scale. “Roll” is a three-part suite, the last of which clocks in at a surprisingly fast-moving forty-six minutes. Dubbed “Roll Over” to complement the disc's two other tracks --“Roll On” and “Roll Off” -- that’s just what the piece does. It’s a large but abortive crescendo and decrescendo, beginning in a low register with pedal-produced counterpoint, rising steadily with growing force and subdued brutality, but we barely get above middle C! The circle closes with a relative whimper, almost a stutter. Approaching and retreating from the apex, the sonority is massive, monolithic, never overly loud but absolutely concentrated and often moving. As with the other two pieces on the disc, Ligeti’s micropolyphonic clusters and rock and roll’s sinewy syncopations are simultaneously referenced: another extended twist in Van Hove’s serpentine construction. It is a brilliant closer to a set which attests to his awe-inspiring talents both as an improvising musician and as a composer.
~ Marc Medwin
Posted by marc on September 29, 2004 4:24 PMWhat's "pedal-produced counterpoint"?
Posted by: mke at October 1, 2004 6:26 AMWell, on organ you can play lines with your feet on the pedals, but if van Hove's on piano on that track I don't know the answer.
Posted by: ND at October 1, 2004 8:01 AMHe's on piano throughout. I think it's an excellent set, though I prefer the shorter pieces on disc 1 to the long one on disc 2.
I think what Marc is referring to is VH's use of the sustain pedal, very Xenakis
I guessed it was the sustain pedal too, but I'm having trouble imagining its usage as counterpoint.
Posted by: mwanji at October 2, 2004 7:02 AMMaybe he meant to write "pedal point" (in which a sustained or repeated note in the bass is accompanied by changing notes in the right hand).
Posted by: walto at October 4, 2004 1:40 PMBut "pedal-produced pedal point"?
Posted by: mwanji at October 5, 2004 6:51 AMmwanji - "pedal-produced pedal point?" indeed. If the original post has not been edited what it says up there is "pedal-produced counterpoint," which, as Walto says, is counterpoint through the use of suspension or repetition of a bass note over a developing phrase/motive. You might then ask whether all pedalpoint is not, in any case, counterpoint making the latter's use redundant but I can't see you pushing things that far.
Posted by: gnhrtg at October 5, 2004 8:23 AMmwanji - "pedal-produced pedal point?" indeed. If the original post has not been edited what it says up there is "pedal-produced counterpoint," which, as Walto says, is counterpoint through the use of suspension or repetition of a bass note over a developing phrase/motive. You might then ask whether all pedalpoint is not, in any case, counterpoint making the latter's use redundant but I can't see you pushing things that far.
Posted by: gnhrtg at October 5, 2004 8:24 AMCould be the central pedal on a grand which only sustains notes which have been pressed - so you could have counterpoint between sustained and unsustained notes?
Posted by: Nat at October 6, 2004 11:11 AMIt was very difficult for me to articulate the precise nature and production of what I was hearing. The sustain pedal is at the heart of the sound-blocks I attempted to describe, but it seems not to have been used in an on/off fashion--rather the pedal itself served as the means of production for a counterpoint which itself had densely textured underpinnings. I meant it to relate to the terraced dynamics I referenced elsewhere.
Posted by: marc medwin at October 7, 2004 1:16 AMDifficult to describe? Ha!! As if any of this music is easy to describe. Pardon me.
Posted by: marc medwin at October 7, 2004 1:29 AM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................