Juha Kangas, Marko Ylonen - Nordgren: Rock Score, Cello Concerto, TRANSE-CHORAL (2005)

Posted By: peotuvave

Date: May 26, 2015

Pehr Henrik Nordgren's music almost always adopts a tone of high seriousness, even tragedy, which makes it less than "fun" in the conventional sense, though it is often very beautiful. His characterful combination of folk music, tonal and highly dissonant elements, and modern playing techniques has been effectively synthesized into a personal language of considerable power and resourcefulness. At the same time, his work with the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra has given him a special understanding of the timbral possibilities of the string orchestra, as demonstrated by the three works included here.

Composer: Pehr Henrik Nordgren
Performer: Marko Ylönen
Conductor: Juha Kangas
Orchestra/Ensemble: Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra

Reviews: Rock Score was composed for the opening of the lovely hillside concert hall at Kaustinen. Its luminous textures and folk music allusions make for a singularly haunting 12 minutes. The First Cello Concerto has an unusual form: two preludes, one slow the other fast, followed by a lengthy and meditative finale. It's a tougher piece than Rock Score, but Nordgren's imaginative feeling for texture and melodic fluency give it real cogency and a substantial emotional punch. As the name suggests, Transe-Choral (the title is French) has two movements, the first of which is terrifying ("transe" means "dread"), while the ensuing choral starts with chant-like gestures before opening into sonorous tonal harmony.

This is not music that you will want to hear all at once. It's not just the tone of high seriousness that suggests taking it in doses: even the quick music has a certain deliberateness about it, and Nordgren's larger structures never seem in a hurry to unfold. Choral, for example, lasts nearly 20 minutes and asks for concentrated attention from its listeners, but unlike so much contemporary stuff, if you stick with it you will get your money back with interest. This tendency to sameness of mood and timbre (perhaps "subtle variety" is the better term) is my only reservation about what otherwise is a very impressive release. Take your time, live with the music a bit, and that problem is solved. The performances, by Nordgren's "own" Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, are simply ideal in all respects, as is the engineering.

Tracklisting:

Rock Score, Op. 100
1. Rock Score, Op. 100 00:12:04
Cello Concerto No. 1, Op. 50
2. I. Prelude I: Adagio 00:03:33
3. II. Prelude II: Allegro 00:05:02
4. III. Hymn: Andante 00:14:45
Transe-Choral (Dead-Chorale), Op. 67
5. I. Transe (Dead) 00:11:02
6. II. Choral (Chorale) 00:19:11

EAC

Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 3 from 29. August 2011

EAC extraction logfile from 10. January 2015, 20:09

Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, Juha Kangas / Nordgren - Rock Score; Cello Concerto No.1; TRANSE-CHORAL

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TOC of the extracted CD

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2 | 12:25.28 | 3:36.49 | 55903 | 72151
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6 | 47:23.41 | 19:49.69 | 213266 | 302509

Range status and errors

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Filename C:\temp\BIS-CD-1356 - Nordgren - Rock Score; Cello Concerto No.1; TRANSE-CHORAL\Nordgren - Rock Score; Cello Concerto No.1; TRANSE-CHORAL.wav

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Test CRC B98AD326
Copy CRC B98AD326
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No errors occurred

AccurateRip summary

Track 1 not present in database
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None of the tracks are present in the AccurateRip database

End of status report

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Thanks to the original releaser

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