Cd review

by Martha Bixler
DE VIER ELEMENTEN. Blokfluitensemble PRAETORIUS, Norbert Kunst, Director. Stemra BPL 9903. For orders, send $17.50 ($15 plus $2.50 postage) to Amanda Pond, 198 West River Street, Milford, CT 06460. Checks should be made out to Amanda Pond. * * *

These days, recorder orchestras are in vogue. Here in the United States we are just climbing onto the bandwagon, but in England and Europe they have been popular for several generations. They make interesting use of the recorder. Arrangements are often multi-part, using every size from garklein down to subcontrabass. For a good performance, the players need a great deal of self-discipline (something we Americans are not particularly accustomed to), and the conductor must be a master of his craft. The Dutch Recorder Orchestra Praetorius (Blokfluitensemble Praetorius) was founded in 1963 by the conductor Piet Kunst. Originally a double quartet, it now has 25 players and is conducted by Piet's son Norbert, who was five years old when the ensemble was started. After having heard the orchestra in concert and on recordings, I can say that it is one of the best in the world.

Those of us who heard the concert De Vier Elementen (The Four Elements), presented by Norbert Kunst and Praetorius last October 29th at the Church of the Holy Apostles in Manhattan, were fortunate indeed-amazed, admiring, and perhaps surprised. This ensemble, made up of amateur players of all ages, played with a verve and skill that were impressive. The program, a multi-media presentation portraying the four elements of the Greeks-earth, air, fire, and water-was impressive from beginning to end. The music included excerpts from G. F. Handel's Water and Fireworks music, plus pieces by four young contemporary composers written especially for the Praetorius ensemble. A "sound and light show" included projected paintings (each representing one of the elements), sparkles of light dancing on the performers, recorded sound effects and interpolated poetry readings.
The entire concert was recorded in 1999 and has been released on this CD. Everything is here except for the son et lumière and the poetry. If you missed the concert, here is your chance to hear this astonishing orchestra and the wonderful music. If you were there, you will surely want to hear them again.

Trappen in de Lucht, the first piece on the album, is by Matthias Maute. It is first of all an homage to Piet Kunst, the founder of the orchestra. A rough translation of the title might be "Walking on Air." There is a pun on the word trappen, which means both "stairway," (to heaven?) and "walking." The piece might be called an elegy as well as an homage. It is very mournful, with a whisper of hope at its ending. I would know in an instant that this was a composition by Matthias Maute. The mysterious, somewhat eerie beginning on low recorders joined by voices reminds me of other music of his in the same foreboding mode. The mixture of baroque and classical forms and gestures with avant-garde techniques, the jazzy accents, the singing without words, the dancing-but not happy-recorders, the sharp spurts (of rage?) mixed with luscious sounds, the well-ordered structure are all characteristic of this master composer.

Second on the album is the Suite in D (transposed to C for recorders) from the Water Music by Handel. Here Norbert Kunst shows off the entire recorder orchestra, tiny ones to huge ones, performing together with a precision that is breathtaking. Every time I hear these performers, I am impressed with the way they can make the large recorders speak so quickly and with such fine ensemble. Their articulation is perfect, the tone always beautiful. Occasionally the higher ensemble appears to be a little flat to the lower, but that may be an illusion of my own hearing. Mr. Kunst's orchestration of this familiar music is artful and effective, as he mixes high and low, solos and tutti, in various combinations.

The third piece, Willem Wander van Nieuwkerk's The Water-Call, is something of a concerto for harp and recorder orchestra. The only other piece I know for recorders by this composer is The Party (1990) for recorder quartet, a lighthearted romp in the modern idiom. This piece is quite serious, a nice contrast to the cheery Water Music. The mixture of recorder tones with a plucked instrument (guitar, lute, harpsichord) is always pleasant, but here with a concert harp it is downright sensual. In the words of the composer: "A slow almost choral introduction gives an impression of the wide flat sea.... A distant high voice reveals a motif. A voice from the deep answers." Ostinatos and rippling glissandos on the harp also make the listener think of an expanse of water. The high notes on recorders could be the luring call of the siren. Rhythmic excitement builds, then slackens. The siren call comes again.
Next is Wilfred Reneman's Suzko Erroberak ("Fireworks"). Here a bass guitar and African drum (djembé) are added to the mix. This is a joke piece. A quiet sarabande-like beginning, baroque in both rhythm and harmony, is interrupted by the exuberant drum and jazzy guitar. Although the fireworks are supposed to be taking place in San Sebastian, the rhythms are African as well as Spanish. Improvisations abound, using both the sopranino recorder and the two "guest" instruments. Then the sarabande returns, again with the high-low doubling and contrast of parts brought out so well by this orchestra.

Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks (transposed to C major for recorders) is grand indeed in this large ensemble. Here the virtuosity of the players combined with the skillful arrangement is impressive, managing to create the illusion that we are actually hearing nine trumpets, nine horns, twenty-four oboes, twelve bassoons, a contra-bassoon and three timpani. I love the"dancing elephants" (low recorders) in the Bourrée. The high instruments are brilliant but never shrill. In the Menuets, Norbert Kunst has thinned out the texture, making an effective contrast with the tutti in the other movements. Finally we have Paul Leenhouts's Juego de Galilei ("Game of Galileo"). It was Galileo's belief that the earth circled the sun instead of vice versa. This was a dangerous, nay heretical thought in the 17th century. Galileo's "game" was to present this notion to the Inquisition as merely a hypothesis, not necessarily a truth he was trying to teach. This did him no good, however, and after his trial he was placed under house arrest for the rest of his life.

Leenhouts's piece is scored for F recorders (sopraninos, altos, basses, contrabasses) and bass guitar. With it he pays homage not only to Galileo but to the founder of Praetorius, Piet Kunst. Paul spent seven years as a member of the ensemble. Again, I can tell from the beginning that this is a composition by Leenhouts. Like Matthias Maute, Paul is a talented performer, arranger and composer of music for the recorder. He has complete control of his medium. The opening is jaunty, confident, completely different in character from everything else on the CD. Paul's fascination with both North and South American rhythms is evident here.
In the composer's words: "The fascinating interaction between Earth and the surrounding heavenly bodies forms the basic idea of this work: within the three-part whole the four groups of instruments in F describe their own orbits. The force of attraction of the central heavenly body leads the tonality of Earth along F-G-A-flat-G-G-flat-F. Strictly repeated melodic fragments of mixed Spanish-Latin-American idiom fall together in irregular intervals with an eclipse of the bass line reinforced by a bass guitar. With ultra-short pulses the four sopranino recorders illuminate the falling stars on the firmament, and add both an illusion and an extra dimension....
"At the end of the work, the falling sequences and the final staggering of the bass guitar end with falling off the map...." The music on this CD is first-rate. The compositions of the young Turks may contrast with those of the 18th century master, but they certainly meet his standards. Norbert Kunst, the arranger and conductor, knows his medium well. His conducting is exemplary. But it is the performers who impress me most. They call themselves "advanced amateurs", most of them hold day jobs, and they play astonishingly well. They deserve our support. They are planning more tours, and I hope their plans will come to fruition. The future of this ensemble looks bright.

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