Two Words, One Answer.
prefatory
 Scriabin: Preparation for the Final Mystery $50.98 Several years ago I procured the Scriabin/Nemptin mega opus "Mysterium": The final Preparation, and I simply wanted to write my brief but sincere appreciation of Scriabin's last, uncompleted work. As I am not a musician I cannot analyze in detail the complex technical details of this significant orchestral epic. In the last ten or so years I have come to love Scriabin's works of his "late" period during which he composed his "Prometheus: Poem of fire," as well as many intricate, harmonically rich and sensuous piano works exemplified by such treasures as "Vers la Flamme"; "Poem Nocturne"; "Masques"; plus many others. Some reviewers have expressed their dissapointments regarding "The Final Preparation," stating that it tends to be more the work of Nemptin rather than that of Scriabin. To me the work is quite magisterial and epic in design. The language is complex and reveals Scriabin's penchant for rhe richly dense, chromatic (but not overly chromatic)densities typical of his later creative subtleties. The work is divided in three parts, or sections: "Universe," Mankind," Transiguration." Several reviewers have already commented on this. What I find fascinating is the marvelous orchestration of several piano works in Part 1. The second disc is very dramatic and laced with interrelated musical themes highlighed by choral sections which add to or even augment the atmospheric, almost dream-like nuances which pervade the work as a whole. Perhaps Scriabin was not an impressionist in the strictist sense; yet several passages do evince that subtle, nuanced impressionist/symbolist aesthetic which was the "au courant" musical language of many works composed during the early 20th century. Much of the harmonic language is characterised by modal development, augmented sonorities, and musical ninths. At best the work is pre-modernist and tonal, not bitonal nor hintful of budding serial techniques developed later by Roslavets, Lourie and other later composers. Scriabin,not unlike several contemporary composers, such as Debussy, Bax, Ireland, Lyatoshinsky, Cyril Scott,evinces that musical nuance that I often refer to the neologistic term "sensuosity." Scriabin's influence became noteworthy among several of his surviving Russian (and some non-Russian) contemporaries. I highly recommend this wonderful recording.  Palestrina: Missa Viri Galilaei $9.98 This is a really wonderful disc of one of Palestrina's great mass settings plus the motet on which he based it, and a Magnificat. I have loved this recording ever since I first heard it on BBC Radio 3 in the early 1990s and I am delighted that it's available as a budget reissue. La Chapelle Royale under Phillippe Herreweghe sing superbly. They pitch somewhat lower than, say, the Tallis Scholars and record in a very resonant acoustic. Although they therefore aren't quite as pure and precise as the Tallis Scholars, they have a very rich, warm sound which is wholly beguiling, and their blend, fluency and continuity of line do this beautiful music proud. The mass is performed with plainchant Propers between Palestrina's polyphonic settings. The plainchant is sung by Ensemble Organum, who are simply fantastic. They have a restrained but muscular sound (very striking as they open the disc with the word "Viri") which goes brilliantly with the polyphony and works real magic in the Magnificat primi toni. This is, as was usual, an "alternatim" setting in which alternate verses are sung to plainchant and polyphony, and the constant interchange between the two beautiful and contrasting sounds makes it something really special. At this price the disc is a colossal bargain for one of the finest Palestrina recordings I know. Recommended in the highest terms. |
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