Fanfare Reviews
from July/August 1993
Reviews: De Leeuw
DE LEEUW: Symphonies of Winds1. Haiku II, for Soprano and Orchestra2. Résonances3. Edo de Waart conducting the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra1. Ed Spanjaard conducting the Hague Philharmonic Orchestra2,3; Elena Vink, soprano2. COMPOSERS' VOICE HIGHLIGHTS CV 23 [DDD]; 60:51. Produced by Donemus. (Distributed by Records International.)
Thank goodness Composers' Voice is still actively promoting Dutch music. Lately they have been issuing composer-profile CDs, comprised of mostly reissued material--but often including at least one new work.
This disc of the music of Ton de Leeuw (b. 1926) is simply outstanding. He's a composer you should know. In 1961 he was sent by the Dutch government to study classical Indian music with the idea of exploring a closer contact between Indian and Western forms. De Leeuw was profoundly affected by the experience, and most of his works since then have adopted an organic form of variations not aligned with typical Western exposition and development. His modal music, with its emphasis on tones and tensions between chords and melodic lines, has a time-resistant quality to it that one writer described as being "regulated by a hidden system."
The Symphonies of Winds (1962-63) is an eleven-minute piece for quadrupled wind instruments except for a single tuba. Commissioned by the Pittsburgh-based American Wind Symphony Orchestra, it is a brilliant work, at once a ravishing display of modal wind sound and, as the title indicates, an intended tribute to Stravinsky. The music begins tranquillo with a solo flute; then a horn enters, a clarinet, and so on until a broad spectrum of wind timbres is built up through a crescendo that breaks off and the haunting brass chords of Stravinsky's Symphonies of Wind Instruments are heard. The winds chirp, gambol, and punctuate in an almost improvisatory way, producing vistas ranging from far-flung space to dense clustering.
The six-movement Haiku II for soprano and orchestra (1968) is a more physically spatial work: four obbligato winds are placed strategically at the front and back of the stage, the orchestra is divided into five groups, and the soprano moves throughout the orchestra and sings at six different locations. The text is taken from five haikus translated into English, but Haiku II is no traditional song cycle in which songs are sung one after another and the listener follows along with the printed text. Instead the words from the poems are intermingled, forming new sentence structures and meanings that are essentially unintelligible, though each haiku is heard at least once in its original form. Thus, the music creates a more or less free association of text fragments and instrumental sound that is sometimes responsorial and other times antiphonal. Haiku II is an exceptional piece. (Complete texts are provided.)
Symphonies of Winds and Haiku II are new recordings of works available on old Donemus LPs. But Résonances for orchestra (1985) is a disc premiere--and what an impact it made on me. It was written for the 100th anniversary of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1988 and was somewhat prematurely premiered in January 1986. The score is rich and dark, with an almost antediluvian feel. Surprisingly, for de Leeuw, it is stocked with more than the usual share of Western musical precepts such as climax, contrapuntal behavior, and thematic development. It carries late-Romantic swells and instrumental activity and is absolutely riveting in its sonic ardor. Initiated by an incongruously, William Schuman-like section of scurrying strings and brass pronouncement, the final two minutes of Résonances build monumentally to a climax--the abrupt termination of which gave me a few seconds of "free-fall" sensation and led me to immediately listen to the work again from the beginning. These thirty-eight minutes are alone very worth the price of this CD.
Don't miss this release. There is nothing about this production (except for a misnumbered listing of cues in the booklet) that is not first-rate. Edo de Waart and Ed Spanjaard lead committed, inspired performances. Elena Vink's voice delivers the desired hypnotic temperament. The sound has depth, warmth, and concert-hall presence. Even large modern-music collections that already have the Symphonies and Haiku II will be glad to have these stunning new performances. Commit yourself to owning this CD.
Stephen Ellis
Copyright © 1993 by Fanfare, Inc. Reprinted by permission from Volume 16, No. 6 (July/August 1993), pages 131-132.
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