Andromede

The Irish-French composer Augusta Holmès (1847-1903) is one of those female composers who knew how to overcome all hindrances with natural élan. "Like children, women have no concept of obstacles and their willpower tears down all walls," said her colleague Camille Saint-Saëns. He hit the nail on the head, as the three-movement tone poem Roland Furieux disarmingly demonstrates. Just as the strong emotions of the knight, who temporarily loses his mind in a love frenzy, so too are the surges of Holmès' orchestra, which she masters with awe-inspiring self-confidence in all its nuances. This artistry is present whether she is writing works with a national flavour or bringing mythical figures to life in song, as in the enchanting Andromède, who is saved from the "Battle of the Titans" by the loving Perseus.

Iannis Xenakis - Musique Electro-Acoustique (2001) {Fractal Records Fractal 015}
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© 2001 Fractal Records | Fractal 015
Classical / Modern Classical / Experimental / Musique concrète / Electroacoustic

This disc comprises two works from the '80s utilizing electronics and tape manipulation, one involving voices and permutations thereof. The text for "Pour la Paix," much of it written by the composer's wife and recited in French, deals with the effects and psychologies of war. As recited by male and female speakers and augmented by a surprisingly traditional sounding choir, the words are sandwiched between and buffeted by various electronic attacks. The sonic components tend to be sequential, with little of the complex richness bordering on chaos found in a typical Xenakis composition. Many of the taped sounds also appear somewhat conventional, occasionally reminding one of the slightly loopy creations of early rock experimenters with the Moog synthesizer.

The Irish-French composer Augusta Holmès (1847-1903) is one of those female composers who knew how to overcome all hindrances with natural élan. "Like children, women have no concept of obstacles and their willpower tears down all walls," said her colleague Camille Saint-Saëns. He hit the nail on the head, as the three-movement tone poem Roland Furieux disarmingly demonstrates. Just as the strong emotions of the knight, who temporarily loses his mind in a love frenzy, so too are the surges of Holmès' orchestra, which she masters with awe-inspiring self-confidence in all its nuances. This artistry is present whether she is writing works with a national flavour or bringing mythical figures to life in song, as in the enchanting Andromède, who is saved from the "Battle of the Titans" by the loving Perseus.