ERIC
MOE: "Kicking and Screaming," various performers. Albany.
1/2
Who says contemporary
composers don't get recorded?
This is Pitt composer Eric Moe's third release in two years. Moe's muse
is as inventive as ever, with titles such as "Three Ways to Relieve
Tension" for solo piano, "Kicking and Screaming," a piano
concerto, and "Dead Elf Tugboat." But don't be fooled by the
titles -- Moe's music has strong underlying connections to the tonal
language of the past. Dramatic impulse flows through a piece such as
"Dance of the Honey Monkey," and Moe's idiosyncratic piano
writing translates itself.
Listening to Moe's music often is like watching a foreign film: You
don't need any subtitles to tell that characters -- or his themes --
are mad, melancholy or moved.
The movements of "Three Ways" are brilliantly conceived exercises.
The first, "Song of the Mackerel," is a minimalist foray;
"Well I Wish I Was a Catfish" is a subverted blues progression;
and "Catch and Release" is a piece in perpetual motion. Moe
plays the three as if he's winking the whole time. Pieces such as Grande
Etude Brillante and Nocturne show Moe's deep appreciation of forms of
the past, of the music Chopin and Liszt.
I have been a fan of "Kicking and Screaming" since I first
heard it almost four years ago. It is a rhythmically driving work, but
its quasi-tonal progressions allow the piano part to really communicate
profound emotion.
The first movement is the classic struggle between tutti and solo, with
the pianist, here the capable Alex Karis, in a bad mood from the start.
The second is more pointillist, with lyrical strains supporting almost
music-box playing. The marking "Extremely incisive and energetic"
describes the vigorous last movement perfectly. "Kicking and Screaming" shows that there is still much to be said in the older forms. Speculum
Musicae, under the direction of Donald Palma, captures the relevance
and urgency of the piece (I especially liked the understated use of
trap-set percussion), although I would like to see a major orchestra
take notice of it.
Two pieces for flute, "Dead Elf Tugboat" and "Fled Is
That Music," played exceptionally by flutist Rachel Rudich, round
out the disc.