This double-disc set contains wonderful, charming, quirky chamber music with a distinct voice and striking profile. Karl Aage Rasmussen, one of the leading lights in the Danish new music scene, inhabits a sound-world similar to the nervy, unbridaled work of Peter Lieberson or Olly Knussen. The music is often fast and frenetic, full of sparkle and wit, and unlike much atonal music, exists to be heard not studied. Some of the pieces on these discs are more successful than others: the Italian Concerto, the disc’s opener, is a zany and wonderful work etched in maximum treble; the eponymous (and quite clever) A Ballad of Game and Dream wears a little–the sense of cartoonish fun is there, but overall it reads as overlong and a bit forced. Rasmussen is more witty when he doesn’t try so hard.
There are three pieces with the subheading “Encore”, and each is effective for different reasons. Strain is a virtuosic solo piano exercise in velocity; Fugue, though a little too long, is a series of wild, biting sonorities, good timbral fun; Lonesome, for solo guitar, is simply evocative and pretty. Listen to these three pieces back to back and you will get a sense of this composer’s all-encompassing range.
The least successful pieces (though still good listens) are Love is in the World and Liederkreis, two long vocal works. Again, the composer tries too hard to be funny, and in the process wears out his welcome. The texts are not in English, and no explanation or translation is offered, which may do the music a disservice. Perhaps the lack of form or motion would make more sense alongside the words, a choice rather than a failing. But unlike the Italian Concerto or Berio-mask, which are monolithic, driven, single-focused pieces, these opuses rely too heavily on the gambit of the quick shift–they come across as unsettled, and their inability to rest is more frustrating than musically interesting. Not that the sound world isn’t intriguing: from moment to moment Rasmussen is a master-crafstman with a well-honed, deeply individual sound; but as a whole, these pieces stray too much to be effective.
The Elsinore players, for whom all of this music was written, make for amazing composer advocates. Their obviously fruitful 12-year relationship not only spawned some excellent music, but spurs deeply committed, fearless performances, a composer’s dream. It sounds like these musicians are having a blast. The excitement is palpable–the players are unafraid of anything, from the gnarliest, most prestissimo passage to the slowest, most cantabile tune. And it’s well recorded: each nuance is clearly audible, and you feel as if you are in the room with these remarkable performers.
