Tags
Language
Tags
March 2024
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
25 26 27 28 29 1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31 1 2 3 4 5 6

Gerard McChrystal - Aria (2011) works by Handel, Michael Nyman, Villa-Lobos, Debussy, Ravel, Philip Glass, Faure, McGlynn

Posted By: Designol
Gerard McChrystal - Aria (2011) works by Handel, Michael Nyman, Villa-Lobos, Debussy, Ravel, Philip Glass, Faure, McGlynn

Gerard McChrystal - Aria (2011)
with Shiroma de Silva, piano; Craig Ogden, guitar; Smith Quartet
Codetta; Trinity Laban String Ensemble; Nic Pendlebury, conductor

EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 311 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 197 Mb | Scans included
Classical, Chamber, Saxophone | Label: First Hand | # FHR13 | Time: 01:13:40

This brilliantly devised CD from Gerard McChrystal is a deeply personal album; at times mystical, the music is always beautiful and captivating. Indeed 'Aria' has similar qualities to Jan Gabarek's 'Officium' (which sold 1.4 million copies) and will appeal to this fan-base. Featuring soprano and alto saxophone with a colourful array of different ensemble accompaniments — string orchestra, choir, guitar, piano, solo, string quartet and electronics. Baroque music blends seamlessly with contemporary; Handel resolves into Michael Nyman, Debussy's Syrinx morphs into Ravel's Piece en forme de habanera. All the tracks lead to the next by key or by starting and ending on the same note. Other works include Philip Glass Façades, Faure Les Berceaux, Bozza Aria, as well as original works by Billy Cowie, Karen Tanaka, Andy Scott and Michael McGlynn (from the vocal group Anúna who featured in Riverdance). Accompanying Gerard on this album are some of the UK's finest classical musicians including the Smith Quartet and the No. 1 best-selling classical artist, guitarist Craig Ogden. Gerard McChrystal is a multi-award winning saxophonist who has performed as a soloist in over 30 countries with many of the World's leading orchestras and ensembles.

“I’ve always been fascinated by reflective music,” writes saxophonist Gerard McChrystal in his introduction to his new CD, Aria . He goes on to explain that he used to spend hours putting together compilations of favorite works designed to flow smoothly from piece to piece. One such was called Slows . One could be forgiven for immediately fearing one of those sonic wallpaper CDs sold to encourage relaxation. Happily, this is nothing like that. A concept album of music designed to “touch us to our cores,” it honors the memory of McChrystal’s younger sister, Paula, who died in 2004. There is little of jazz influence—for those expecting that in a saxophone recital—and not a great deal of contrast in tempo. The key changes between works will never jar. However, the selections are so wide-ranging that this in itself provides contrast, and the sheer brilliance of the playing will keep one enthralled.

McChrystal is Irish—Derry, Northern Ireland to be precise—and is professor of saxophone at Trinity Laban, London. He studied with two of the greats: John Harle at the Guildhall School in London and Fred Hemke at Northwestern University. The flawless, golden tone and the elegant, searching phrasing are clear evidence of this. He works in projects, where programming is a question of how a piece fits into the musical flow or develops an idea, rather than one of chronology or composer. As a result, even where sets of works are performed, as the Michael Nyman excerpts from his film score for The Diary of Ann Frank or the three Billy Cowie romances, they are not done sequentially or even contiguously. The stream of music includes a remarkable mix of styles and periods, from Baroque to Impressionist to modern; from unaccompanied to accompanied by piano or orchestra to works with chorus or an electroacoustic work illuminating a poetic reading. There are transcriptions of works for flute, for voice, and for oboe. There are a few standards written for the likes of Marcel Mule (Eugene Bozza’s haunting Aria ), Claude Delangle (Karen Tanaka’s otherworldly Night Bird ), and Jack Kripl (Philip Glass’s Façades from Glassworks ), but most were written for, or arranged for or by, McChrystal. Many of these are pleasant discoveries, but what is amazing is how well the diversity creates a satisfying whole.

The musical connections the program reveals are fascinating. Who would have guessed that a concerto grosso movement by Handel would so seamlessly segue into a song by Michael Nyman, or that Debussy’s Syrinx (as arranged by Jean-Marie Londeix) could serve as such an effective prelude to Ravel’s Pièce en forme de Habanera ? Of course, with such diversity there will be favorites. I am much taken with McChrystal’s stylish—though of course not period style—Handel transcription. The hypnotic Glass Façades is beautifully shaped and all the more effective for being understated. The romances by Billy Cowie are gems—pensive works of simple beauty and charm (in truth, playing them in sequence enhances this impression)—and the Aria from Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, accompanied by guitar as in the 1947 arrangement by the composer, is as lithe and graceful as in the classic Salli Terri recording with Laurindo Almeida. Guitarist Craig Ogden deserves special mention here.

Some quibbles? I don’t really respond to Lemn Sissay’s poetry, at least the self-pitying verse, so Andy Scott’s performance piece, My Mountain Top , doesn’t work for me. Others may react differently. Other objections involve recorded sound. Michael McGlynn’s Aisling (Gaelic for “a dream,” the soloist informs me) would be stronger, and still dreamlike, without the enshrouding reverberation. Especially since, on the evidence of the clearer Behind the Closed Eye , the fine choir deserves the closer scrutiny. The reverberation added to Night Bird is done according to the instructions in the score, but Delangle’s recording on BIS, made in the presence of the composer, eschews it. I prefer it without. Karen Tanaka’s electronic accompaniment envelops the soloist most seductively without the artificial assistance. A final sound issue, most noticeable if the tracks are played out of the published order: The volume has not been well normalized, so there are noticeable variations in the level of the soloist from track to track.

None of these issues are really significant. This is a superb program of seldom-heard and new repertoire for the soprano and alto saxophone. Gerard McChrystal is a major artist who presents this varied fare with conviction and skill. I can’t remember a recent recital on disc with comparable range. McChrystal’s many collaborators, each named in the headnote, are all artists of the first rank as well. This is all reflective music, to use the soloist’s term, and after his sequence is appreciated for what it offers, one will want to go back and appreciate what isolated experience of the works reveals. Nice concept. Paula, rest in peace. Highly recommended.

Review by Ronald E. Grames, FANFARE Magazine


Gerard McChrystal Website

Gerard McChrystal, saxophone
with
Shiroma de Silva, piano
Craig Ogden, guitar
Smith Quartet
Codetta
Trinity Laban String Ensemble
Nic Pendlebury, conductor

Tracklist:

George Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759)
01. Largo, HWV 313 (arr. McChrystal) (3:52)

Michael NYMAN (1944-)
02. Why? (arr. Humphries) (3:46)

Michael McGLYNN (1964-)
03. Aisling (3:44)

Heitor VILLA-LOBOS (1887-1959)
04. Aria (Cantilena) from Bachianas Brasileiras No.5 (arr. McChrystal) (5:01)

Philip GLASS (1937-)
05. Façades (6:57)

Andy SCOTT (1966-)
06. My Mountian Top (8:27)

Eugène BOZZA (1905-1991)
07. Aria (3:37)

Billy COWIE
08. Romance No.2 (3:08)

Michael McGLYNN
09. Behind the Closed Eye (4:07)

Gabriel FAURÉ (1845-1924)
10. Les berceaux, Op.12 No.1 (arr. McChrystal) (2:48)

Billy COWIE
11. Romance No.1 (3:52)

Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918)
12. Syrinx (arr. Londeix) (2:50)

Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
13. Piece en forme de habanera (arr. McChrystal) (2:59)

Karen TANAKA (1961-)
14. Night Bird (8:16)

Michael NYMAN (1944-)
15. If? (arr. Humphreys) (3:18)

Billy COWIE
16. Romance No.3 (3:55)

Michael McGLYNN
17. From Nowhere to Nowhere (3:05)


Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 1 from 15. November 2010

EAC extraction logfile from 16. February 2012, 20:48

Gerard McChrystal / Aria

Used drive : Optiarc DVD RW AD-7203A Adapter: 4 ID: 1

Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No

Read offset correction : 48
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000

Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 128 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\FLAC\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -T "COMMENT=Ripped by GFox" -8 -V %s


TOC of the extracted CD

Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 3:51.57 | 0 | 17381
2 | 3:51.57 | 3:46.09 | 17382 | 34340
3 | 7:37.66 | 3:43.39 | 34341 | 51104
4 | 11:21.30 | 5:00.51 | 51105 | 73655
5 | 16:22.06 | 6:57.21 | 73656 | 104951
6 | 23:19.27 | 8:26.71 | 104952 | 142972
7 | 31:46.23 | 3:36.69 | 142973 | 159241
8 | 35:23.17 | 3:07.52 | 159242 | 173318
9 | 38:30.69 | 4:07.19 | 173319 | 191862
10 | 42:38.13 | 2:47.39 | 191863 | 204426
11 | 45:25.52 | 3:51.42 | 204427 | 221793
12 | 49:17.19 | 2:49.72 | 221794 | 234540
13 | 52:07.16 | 2:59.14 | 234541 | 247979
14 | 55:06.30 | 8:16.11 | 247980 | 285190
15 | 63:22.41 | 3:18.07 | 285191 | 300047
16 | 66:40.48 | 3:54.44 | 300048 | 317641
17 | 70:35.17 | 3:04.57 | 317642 | 331498


Range status and errors

Selected range

Filename D:\EAC\Gerard McChrystal - Aria.wav

Peak level 98.8 %
Extraction speed 0.1 X
Range quality 100.0 %
Test CRC F5408E33
Copy CRC F5408E33
Copy OK

No errors occurred


AccurateRip summary

Track 1 not present in database
Track 2 not present in database
Track 3 not present in database
Track 4 not present in database
Track 5 not present in database
Track 6 not present in database
Track 7 not present in database
Track 8 not present in database
Track 9 not present in database
Track 10 not present in database
Track 11 not present in database
Track 12 not present in database
Track 13 not present in database
Track 14 not present in database
Track 15 not present in database
Track 16 not present in database
Track 17 not present in database

None of the tracks are present in the AccurateRip database

End of status report

==== Log checksum 8A6139EEFF1A5A8913F46F772790EF5651AA86F6EC110BFD8F78028A42B97288 ====

[CUETools log; Date: 14.12.2017 1:34:50; Version: 2.1.4]
[CTDB TOCID: meNa2EXKYaW5Qq_Nkn3FOSoSSrY-] disk not present in database.
[AccurateRip ID: 002f2df3-0252a263-e6114311] found.
Track [ CRC | V2 ] Status
01 [bfdda53b|443f0697] (0+1/1) Accurately ripped
02 [6f6f07bd|0177b7df] (0+1/1) Accurately ripped
03 [fd94d05e|ba5b6cfe] (0+1/1) Accurately ripped
04 [6ae6912a|ec281ad8] (0+1/1) Accurately ripped
05 [6232c81d|2551de25] (0+1/1) Accurately ripped
06 [87e78d60|fb8c7940] (0+1/1) Accurately ripped
07 [8f201b3e|2253b2f1] (0+1/1) Accurately ripped
08 [eba2d802|79cd63e2] (0+1/1) Accurately ripped
09 [93206bc5|a71d0c5a] (0+1/1) Accurately ripped
10 [adcc6e8a|d0a9f8c1] (0+1/1) Accurately ripped
11 [73440d21|56c88a12] (0+1/1) Accurately ripped
12 [0622c14d|8ef03a6c] (0+1/1) Accurately ripped
13 [d1e724bf|9b622ccb] (0+1/1) Accurately ripped
14 [36d7af08|d87e7776] (0+1/1) Accurately ripped
15 [88585c6c|b95f72c6] (0+1/1) Accurately ripped
16 [866c8469|6b1f77e7] (0+1/1) Accurately ripped
17 [ed5c5edb|f6045a4a] (0+1/1) Accurately ripped

Track Peak [ CRC32 ] [W/O NULL] [ LOG ]
– 98,8 [F5408E33] [8CEBBB66] CRC32
01 91,2 [3C1BD482] [E9DBC969]
02 80,4 [4A1CAA67] [009CC549]
03 86,1 [45528490] [AB769AD4]
04 87,9 [BFE6860A] [75AFB2E6]
05 84,4 [10E8DF3D] [9DDCD786]
06 70,4 [0EDE7F49] [81875D33]
07 93,9 [2CFB534C] [93799D4F]
08 91,4 [C7D2E22F] [6BCF6401]
09 94,2 [6CDED31E] [262862DB]
10 89,2 [13D400D6] [AC31C374]
11 77,8 [960A28E7] [322187F1]
12 76,4 [65925433] [1CC0F864]
13 75,3 [98872A94] [0A942D07]
14 77,2 [169B8032] [CDFFFC39]
15 57,9 [80B23A5A] [5B8B9938]
16 98,8 [D9392DAA] [ACF34E5C]
17 71,5 [CBDDC712] [65702C80]

foobar2000 1.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2017-12-14 01:14:38

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Gerard McChrystal / Aria
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR9 -0.80 dB -14.66 dB 3:52 01-Handel - Largo, HWV 313 (arr. McChrystal)
DR11 -1.89 dB -16.28 dB 3:46 02-Nyman - Why? (arr. Humphries)
DR9 -1.30 dB -14.92 dB 3:44 03-McGlynn - Aisling
DR10 -1.11 dB -17.24 dB 5:01 04-Villa-Lobos - Aria (Cantilena) from Bachianas Brasileiras No.5 (arr. McChrystal)
DR10 -1.46 dB -17.29 dB 6:57 05-Glass - Facades
DR12 -3.04 dB -18.78 dB 8:27 06-Scott - My Mountian Top
DR10 -0.55 dB -16.57 dB 3:37 07-Bozza - Aria
DR9 -0.77 dB -13.82 dB 3:08 08-Cowie - Romance No.2
DR10 -0.52 dB -15.58 dB 4:07 09-McGlynn - Behind the Closed Eye
DR10 -0.98 dB -16.65 dB 2:48 10-Faure - Les berceaux, Op.12 No.1 (arr. McChrystal)
DR9 -2.18 dB -16.86 dB 3:52 11-Cowie - Romance No.1
DR11 -2.34 dB -18.50 dB 2:50 12-Debussy - Syrinx (arr. Londeix)
DR12 -2.45 dB -19.77 dB 2:59 13-Ravel - Piece en forme de habanera (arr. McChrystal)
DR11 -2.25 dB -20.64 dB 8:16 14-Tanaka - Night Bird
DR9 -4.74 dB -19.29 dB 3:18 15-Nyman - If? (arr. Humphreys)
DR10 -0.10 dB -14.96 dB 3:55 16-Cowie - Romance No.3
DR10 -2.91 dB -18.28 dB 3:05 17-McGlynn - From Nowhere to Nowhere
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Number of tracks: 17
Official DR value: DR10

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 536 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================

Gerard McChrystal - Aria (2011) works by Handel, Michael Nyman, Villa-Lobos, Debussy, Ravel, Philip Glass, Faure, McGlynn

All thanks to original releaser - GFox

More interesting music in My Blog