richard emsley
recordings
The first CD dedicated to Richard Emsley's work has been released by METIER Records in March 2002. Performed by the contemporary music ensemble TOPOLOGIES the programme includes early ensemble works such as the wild and virtuosic The Juniper Tree, to more recent compositions such as the contemplative and finely-textured music in the for piano series.
The CD can be purchased from Metier, Amazon.co.uk or at most good record shops.
flowforms
Helter-Skelter
Flow Form
for piano 3
...from swerve of shore to bend of bay...
finnissys fifty
for guitar 1
for piano 2
The Juniper Tree
performed by TOPOLOGIES:
Clare Lesser (soprano), Nancy Ruffer (flute), Christopher Redgate (oboe), Guy Cowley (clarinet), Julian Warburton (perc), Alan Thomas (guitar), Ian Pace (piano), Bridget Carey (viola), Betsy Taylor (cello), Mikel Toms (conductor).
released March 2002 on METIER
MSV CD92044
The Sunday Times, 21 April 2002
"These eight works reveal this British composer (b. 1951) as an elegant neomodernist of the New Complexity school. The expressionistic flurries of notes characterising this style tend here to be transformed into something more static and ornate. Flow Form, a piano solo played by Ian Pace, is a beautiful ice formation, for piano 3 is still more tranquil, and Helter-Skelter is definitely a misnomer: this 13 minute movement for flute, vibraphone and piano is a diaphanously rotating mobile, though intricate enough to need a conductor. The two-minute Finnissys Fifty is a tribute using just 50 notes; and the 23 minutes of puppet-theatre music, The Juniper Tree, show how invigoratingly Emsley can drive a piece forward when he wants to."
Music Web, April 2002
"The earlier works in this selection were both written in 1981 but are very different in many respects. Helter-Skelter, for a Feldmanesque ensemble of flute, vibraphone and piano, moves fairly slowly throughout, the three instrumental lines following each its independent course with little if any synchronisation, hence the title. The piece however is fairly contemplative. In total contrast, The Juniper Tree for soprano and four players (flutes [1 player], oboes [1 player], percussion and piano) is based on one of Grimm's "goriest" tales. The music here is relentlessly violent, almost frantically so, and terribly demanding. A quite impressive achievement in its own right, though it is a difficult piece to come to terms with.
...from swerve of shore to bend of bay... (1985) for small mixed ensemble is yet another contemporary work of art inspired by Joyce's 'Finnegan's Wake'. Again the music is very active and tests the performers to the extreme. (It was composed for the Fires of London.) The piece is overflowing with relentless activity suggesting furiously overlapping waves.
All the other pieces are for a solo instrument, either piano or guitar. Flow Form (1987) for piano, which gives this release its collective title, is a beautiful study in fluid piano textures, whereas for piano 2 and for piano 3, both from 1997, are to a certain extent more experimental, i.e. from the formal point of view, and have much in common with for guitar 1 (1998). These pieces have much sparser textures with fairly long pauses between the various episodes, but are remarkably written for the instruments. Finnissys fifty (1996) is a short homage to Michael Finnissy on his fiftieth birthday, and is comparatively much simpler.
This release is a typical METIER product offering a fairly comprehensive composer's portrait performed by dedicated players who have long been involved in Emsley's demanding but thought-provoking music. No light easy stuff, but well worth the effort."
Classical London, May 2002
"Here is a real one-off composer and this intriguing programme in celebration of his 50th birthday last year is a perfect introduction to his various moods. He is intrigued by time and timelessness, and often the music seems to wander improvisationally, with sounds hanging in the air and long pauses for reflection. In Helter-Skelter flute, vibraphone and piano go their separate ways independently, and the fascinating, iridescent Flow Form, one of three pieces for solo piano, has 'fluid, glistening material', its 'liquidity overflowing' from one section to the next. ... from swerve of shore to bend of bay... has rich 'waves' of sound, the title from Finnegans Wake. The Juniper Tree (music for a shadow puppet play on one of Grimm's nastier fairy tales) is a more dramatic piece for seven musicians. Excellent playing by Ian Pace and the Topologies ensemble, well recorded by David Lefeber as one can take for granted with Metier."
The Wire, June 2002
"The pianist Ian Pace describes Richard Emsley's (b.195l) music as "transcendental rather than escapist", before issuing a polemical directive against the prevailing mainstream tendency in British music that finds Emsley's ilk so difficult to stomach. Emsley himself seems to have a decidedly anti-careerist bent - after the composition of his remarkable solo piano work Flow Form in 1987, he withdrew from the scene for ten years to consider the implications of its sparse textures and sprawling liquidity. When he returned in 1996 with a piano piece to mark the fiftieth birthday of Michael Finnissy finnissys fifty, the music had even sparser surfaces but with deeper structural undercurrents. Pace's performances make a powerful case for these works and the later for piano 3 as being unreasonably neglected. Two fine ensemble works complete the disc. ...from swerve of shore to bend of bay... has a painterly quality as different instrumental lines ooze against rigid landmarks, while The Juniper Tree is quite simply one of the wildest and unrelenting musical experiences I've heard."
Music & Vision, November 2002
"Richard Emsley's world is one of textures, delicate like filigree, sharp edged, shimmering bright like the surface of slow moving water that keeps catching a radiant light, the sheen changing constantly and vanishing just as swiftly.
He was the co-founder of the London new music ensemble Suoraan that was active and influential particularly in the early 80s, an ensemble that brought together the extraordinary exploratory technical brilliance of flautist Nancy Ruffer, oboist Christopher Redgate, Michael Finissy, piano, the soprano Josephone Nendick and John Harrod playing percussion.
The earliest piece in this fascinating retrospective Emsley CD is the substantial (23 minute) puppet theatre piece The Juniper Tree which appeared in 1981, designed for that original group, and here performed by Topologies that includes Ruffer and Redgate, with Ian Pace, piano, Clare Lesser the wordless soprano and Julian Warburton, percussion. Though based on a singularly bloodthirsty Grimm fairy tale (how horror excites children!), it can be heard, in this 'concert' version, like a sunrise glittering through broken glass moving gradually into a series of energetic cadenzas.
The other two substantial pieces are from the same period, yet show a very different side of Emsley's musical imagination, though it is clearly the same composer at work. Helter-Skelter is for flute, piano and vibraphone and is a quiet, highly elaborate texture, weaving together the three independent instrumental parts.
This style of pianistic patterning is persued to contrasting ends in the shorter pieces Flow Form and for piano 3, two pieces separated by ten years and both included here.
The other major piece is ... from swerve of shore to bend of bay ..., written in 1985 for flute, clarinets (Guy Cowley), percussion, piano, viola (Bridget Carey) and cello (Betsey Taylor) -- another timeless though this time restful piece made up of gentle waves of sound.
There are three other equally fascinating shorter pieces: for piano 2 and finissys fifty both played affectionately by Ian Pace, and for guitar 1 played by Alan Thomas.
This is an attractive Emsley collection that provides a more or less complete portrait of the composer's identity. It is intriguing enough to keep the listener alert and surprised by the technical wizardry of composer and performers. It is also a gentle sonic embroidery that could invoke delicious sleep!
"
American Record Guide, May/June 2003
"Richard Emsley claims an interest in non-teleological, non-goal-oriented music. Like Ivo Van Emmerik...Emsley manages to indulge his interests without writing boring music. The best track is the second one, Flow Form. This piece is all liquid grace, with clear but sophisticated formal characteristics. I also enjoyed the last track, The Juniper Tree. The repetition of material is a welcome relief from so much other modernist music than never gives the listener something to hold onto. Yet the amount of detail and nuance demands repeated listening. This is a nice disc that I intend to listen to many times."
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