This collection of Polish composer
Roman Haubenstock-Ramati's
chamber pieces reveals his true life's passion. Though he is well-known for his
"Mobiles" and for his piano works, it is the
chamber ensembles that mark his deepest and most musically rigorous passion. Perhaps the finest example is in the
"Streichtrio Nr. 1/Ricercari," which was begin in 1948 as an analysis of
Anton von Webern's
String Trio Opus 20, but was revised and streamlined 30 years later. Based first on a 12-tone row, the piece moves through and into a new construct, that of the
ricercari, an Italian compositional innovation of the 16th and 17th centuries in which several voices take up an imitative counterpoint in polyphony. This imitative technique allows for the piece to transform itself into an all-interval row. For all intents and purposes,
Haubenstock-Ramati's
"Concerto a Tre" for trombone, piano, and drums is a guided non-linear improvisation. There are four sheets -- A, B, C, and D -- ranging in length from just under two minutes to just over six. Instructions are given by the conductor, although there are none governing pitch, meter, or rhythm. The other two works here,
"Fur Kandinsky" from 1987 and
"Streichtrio Nr. 2" from 1985, are more like
"Mobiles" in their architecture: linear pieces of wide-ranging matter and floating modal concerns. Serialism again becomes the basis for their articulation, but is transformed through various methodologies such as displacing the middle C in the string trio into exercises in interval and modal tonality. In
"Fur Kandinsky," there is also a look at lyricism built upon rhythmic modes and semiquavers. This collection illuminates much of the mastery and mystery of one of Eastern Europe's best-kept secrets to the West.
Hat is to be commended for its continuing series that brings such work to light with handsome packages, stellar performances, and crystalline sound. ~ Thom Jurek
