Conducting is the Oliver Knussen, a brilliant composer in his own right.For those as yet unfamiliar with the young giant... Peter Lieberson is slowly gaining a reputation as one of the more important composers of the day. His music has developed slowly and steadily over the past thirty-odd years, and this CD of his works samples much of what has the concert public talking. These works are of the chamber mode and as such are closely aligned with Lieberson's long affiliation with the Buddhist faith - beauty is in and of itself sufficient, with all the technical finesse surrounding it in homage. Lieberson is currently in Los Angeles as the artist in residence with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and together with chamber works performed under the highly respected Green Umbrella Series, his newest commission 'Neruda Songs' has now had its world premiere. It is a larger scale work for orchestra and mezzo-soprano based on love poems by Pablo Neruda. It was commissioned by the LA Phil and the Boston Symphony Orchestra and is dedicated to his wife Lorraine Hunt Lieberson who sang the premiere. It is a work of extraordinary beauty - lithe, sensual, soulful, passionate songs of love that have some of the sense of the Strauss 'Four Last Songs' while also suggesting the ethereal vocal resonance usually associated with the French songs of Ravel, Berlioz, Hahn, etc. They are mentioned here as a heads up to collectors as they most assuredly will be recorded soon. Lieberson's language is now more subtle and more luminous than the works on this CD. But that is just applause for the steady progress in this composer's output. Keep you eye and ear on him. Grady Harp, May 05
The Concerto for Four Groups of Instruments was Lieberson's first acknowledged chamber work. Like most of the works on this disc, it is brief (weighing in at a mere eight minutes); unlike most it is a fairly strict piece of Wuorinen-esque serialism. Even if it is not representative of Lieberson's mature writing, it is interesting to see that some of the characteristics of the later works (particularly the writing for woodwind and piano) are here in embryo.
A much more sharply defined work is Accordance for Eight Instruments, completed in 1976. This features more melodic writing in comparison to the pointillism of the Concerto, more explicit concentration on tonal centres, and a much more explicit harmonic underpinning of the work.
The three songs of 1981 are almost Webernian in their brevity. They continue the tendency towards greater clarity shown in Accordance, and are delicately orchestrated.
Drala, a 1985 pseudo-symphony written for the Cleveland Orchestra, is at 17 minutes the longest work on this disc, and possibly the best. This begins with an Invocation which sets out the musical material of the work, follows it with a dramatic Gathering and a longer slow movement entitled Offerings and Praises. The finale, Raising Windhorse, is a tumultuous orchestral tour-de-force. This would be a good place for newcomers to Lieberson to start--the language is largely tonal and the orchestration (focusing particularly on woodwind and pitched percussion) delightful.
The remaining works are shorter: Ziji, for clarinet, horn and piano quartet dates from a year later, and was one of Lieberson's last serial works. It's a vigorous, exuberant piece. In comparison, the following year's Raising the Gaze is a little more restrained, though the musical language is similar enough that the casual listener would probably not have spotted that it was no longer serial.
Fire, a fanfare for the Cleveland Orchestra--and first movement of a proposed five-movement work--is an energetic four minutes of orchestra that at times almost reminds me of Copland or Stravinsky, while the final work, Free and Easy Wanderer is a wide-ranging six minutes, ending with a slow chorale.
The performances here are exccellent, with Oliver Knussen conducting the Cleveland Orchestra, the ASKO Ensemble and the London Sinfonietta. If I can't get overly enthusiastic about this disc, it may be more personal preference than anything. However, I simply don't find Lieberson's style and musical material as captivating as I do with some similar composers (particularly Knussen). Others may disagree, though--and I wouldn't wish to discourage anyone from buying this disc if it appeals.
