No one knows quite when tango was established in Finland, but the style has a long history there – still little known to outsiders – and combines rhythmic interest and yearning melody with a distinctively Nordic melancholy. In this ingeniously curated programme, two Finnish tangos from the 1950s and a tango-based work by Finnish classical composer Aulis Sallinen are woven into a bold tapestry of music from the Eastern Baltic seaboard. Longing, sadness, and a heightened sense of nature infuse all of these works, which also reveal intriguing stylistic connections: the rocking accompaniment of Sibelius’ 'Einsames Lied' seems to prefigure the ‘Baltic minimalism’ of Vasks, Pärt and Zita Bružaité, while Olli Mustonen’s 'Toccata' alternates rhythmic verve with a rich vein of reflective memory. These original compositions are complemented by Robert McFall’s own sensitive arrangements, for a core McFall’s lineup of five strings and piano, and the programme culminates in a truly unique version of Sibelius’s famous 'Finlandia' Hymn.
John Taverner, the most outstanding English composer of his time, was appointed Informator Choristarum of Cardinal College, Oxford in 1526, with the charge of establishing the foremost choral institution in the land. He succeeded magnificently and the tradition continues to this day at what is now known as Christ Church, Oxford, with acclaimed director , renowned for his strength in 16th century choral music, at the helm. Darlington and his forces – 16 boys and 12 men, unchanged since the 1520s – pay homage to their predecessor with a programme of his liturgical music written at Oxford. While there, Taverner had to write music to be performed virtually round the clock and he rose to the challenge using great imagination.
Arriving after the deliberately overblown The Outsiders – an outlaw album pumped up on steroids, gaining its resonance through its slow songs – Mr. Misunderstood feels like a correction: a swift, modest album shorn of excess, released without an iota of pre-release hype. Devoid of the arena rock feints that dogged The Outsiders – there are no two-part metallic jams, no salutations to damn rock & roll – Mr. Misunderstood is hardly a back-to-basics move or a refutation of his over-amplified indulgences. Rather, this 2015 record pulls together the strands Church left hanging on his 2014 set, never shuffling country and rock – or blues or soul, for that matter – into their own categories…
Jonathan Besser describes his work as a personal geography of the imagination. The first suite was composed after reading Australian author Roger McDonald's novel Mr. Darwin's Shooter. The prelude, as you would expect, sets the tone for the piece, well-ordered and very musical. Up the Creek has some very fine Clarinet playing from Bridget Miles, she has an excellent tone on the instrument and a very even sound over all of the registers. The music is very descriptive, Church has a calm about it and Fiddle a slightly Greek feel in both melody and rhythm. Sail till the seas has a vocal from Warwick Broadhead, obviously selected more for his ability to create a 'sea shanty' atmosphere than for the quality of his voice, but it is effective for all that!
Don't take the title Desperate Man too seriously. Eric Church doesn't sound at the end of his rope on his sixth album; he sounds settled in his skin, assured that he doesn't have to try too hard. Which isn't to say he doesn't try on Desperate Man – quite the opposite, actually.