Starter Packs

Complete your collection with these curated titles, grouped at a special discount.

Shop Now
Mystery Variations On Giuseppe Colombi's Chiacona
Toccata

Mystery Variations On Giuseppe Colombi's Chiacona

$10.49
$20.99 Save 50%

Details

Composer
CAMPION COHEN COLOMBI DAZZI
Artist
Anssi Karttunen
Format
CD
Label
Toccata
Released
Jan 29, 2013
Catalog #
TOCC0171
UPC
5060113441713

About



MYSTERY VARIATIONS ON GIUSEPPE COLOMBI’S CHIACONA • Anssi Karttunen (vc) • TOCCATA 0171 (79:57)


COLOMBI Chiacona. KAIPAINEN Anything Goes. MATALON Polvo. REYNOLDS Colombi Daydream. COHEN Chaconne. TIENSUU Bleuelein. STUCKY Partite Sopra un Basso. SALONEN Sarabande per un Coyote. CAMPION Something to Go On. WALLIN Ciacconetta. ORTIZ Paloma. HEININEN Triple Antienne. HILLBORG Still and Flow. LERDAHL There and Back Again. PUUMALA Se Sillan. DUSAPIN 50 Notes in 3 Variations . HAKOLA Colombi Variation. DUN Chiacona After Colombi. NEIKRUG Tiny Colombi. YUASA Locus on Colombi’s Chiacona. WIGGLESWORTH Arietta. MATTHEWS Drammatico. SAARIAHO Dreaming Chaconne. FEDELE Preludio and Ciaccona. GLOBOKAR Idée Fixe. DAZZI Variation Sombre et Libre d’après Chiacona. TUOMELA Idulla. JOLAS A Fancy for Anssi. SRNKA A Variation. FRANCESCONI Anssimetry. LINDBERG Duello


Mystery Variations contains 30 different short works based on Giuseppe Colombi’s Chiacona. Colombi who lived from 1635 to 1694 replaced Giovanni Bononcini as maestro di cappella of the Modena Cathedral in Italy in 1678. The Chiacona is only one of an enormous number of pieces he wrote for various instruments, chamber groups, and orchestras. It is, however, said to be the oldest piece written for the cello. The music is part of a collection from the court of Francesco II of Este at the Biblioteca Estense in Modena. The idea for the Mystery Variations came from composer Kaija Saariaho and Muriel von Braun, the wife of cellist Anssi Karttunen, as a means of celebrating the cellist’s 50th birthday. They asked each of 30 composers to write a variation on the Chiacona . None of the composers knew who else had been asked and Karttunen promised to premiere music that he had not yet heard. Most of the variations range from just under two to just over three minutes long, so all of them fit on one disc. Few of these variations are truly melodic, most depend on texture, drama, percussion, and tonal color to excite the senses of the listener. Only one of the composers, Colin Matthews, uses electronics. Mark Neikrug and Magnus Lindberg use the letters of the cellist’s name as part of their variations. Some composers, such as Tan Dun, who was born in China and Pablo Ortiz from Argentina, make use of their native cultures while others, like Argentinian Martin Matalon and Texan Edmund Campion turn elsewhere. Matalon creates novel textures and far off sounds with a mute while Campion includes some aspects of Happy Birthday in his variation. Roger Reynolds’s Colombi Daydream , evokes an element of foreboding, while Jukka Tiensuu’s Bleuelein and Paavo Heininen’s Triple Antienne have plaintive, pleading qualities.


Composers like Steven Stucky, Kimmo Hakola, Joji Yuasa, Ivan Fedele, and Magnus Lindberg are fully aware of Karttunen’s virtuosity and have written works that show off some of his skills. Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Sarabande for a Coyote starts with the cello sounding a bit like a harp, before introducing some charming harmonies that expand the usual cello range. Rolf Wallin’s Ciacconetta has sliding arpeggios that resolve into an impressive dance. Lerdahl’s There and Back Again uses the dance to guide us from Colombi’s time forward to our own and back again. Anders Hillborg’s Still and Flow treats us to his seriously studied version of Bach. The in-your-face style of Veli-Mali Puumala’s… Se Sillan… is rather unique and it added a bit of spice to the mixture on this disc. Kartunnen follows it with Dusapin’s 50 Notes in 3 Variations, an inventive and intuitive work that resolves into a tone color-filled meditation. Also in the meditative mood, Ryan Wigglesworth’s Arietta offers more respite from the dramatic. Kaija Saariaho’s Dreaming Chaconne portrays a pastoral scene with her full-blooded sound vocabulary. In Idée Fixe, Vinko Globokar asks the cellist to sing and I found it a distraction. Gualtiero Dazzi’s Variation Sombre et Libre d’après Chiacona brings us a sweet and smooth melody played in the cello’s lowest notes. Idulla means germinating and Tapio Tuomela brings us a fantasy that includes tonal color and percussion. Betsy Jolas’s A Fancy for Anssi creates rivers of sound that broaden out to reflect fragments of Colombi’s theme. Miroslav Srnka, on the other hand, uses slides and double-stops to make us hunt for the theme while Luca Francesconi makes use of it openly but varies it in unexpected ways. The finale is Magnus Lindberg’s Duello , a dialogue between the Chiacona and music based on the cellist’s full name. It ends with a pleasing melody that leaves the listener feeling that the music was worthwhile hearing. The sound on this disc is excellent and I think many of our readers will find it interesting.


FANFARE: Maria Nockin

Tracklist 31 tracks

  1. 1 Chiacona 02:05
    Track
    1
    Title
    Chiacona
    Duration
    02:05
    Composer
    Giuseppe Colombi
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  2. 2 Anything Goes (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 02:28
    Track
    2
    Title
    Anything Goes (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    02:28
    Composer
    Jouni Kaipainen
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  3. 3 Polvo (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 01:05
    Track
    3
    Title
    Polvo (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    01:05
    Composer
    Martín Matalon
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  4. 4 Colombi Daydream (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 05:54
    Track
    4
    Title
    Colombi Daydream (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    05:54
    Composer
    Roger Reynolds
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  5. 5 Chaconne (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 03:30
    Track
    5
    Title
    Chaconne (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    03:30
    Composer
    Denise Cohen
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  6. 6 Bleuelein (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 03:36
    Track
    6
    Title
    Bleuelein (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    03:36
    Composer
    Jukka Tiensuu
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  7. 7 Partite sopra un basso (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 01:26
    Track
    7
    Title
    Partite sopra un basso (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    01:26
    Composer
    Steven Stucky
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  8. 8 Sarabande per un Coyote (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 02:32
    Track
    8
    Title
    Sarabande per un Coyote (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    02:32
    Composer
    Esa-Pekka Salonen
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  9. 9 Something to Go On (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 01:36
    Track
    9
    Title
    Something to Go On (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    01:36
    Composer
    Edmund Campion
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  10. 10 Ciacconetta (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 01:23
    Track
    10
    Title
    Ciacconetta (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    01:23
    Composer
    Rolf Wallin
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  11. 11 Paloma (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 02:18
    Track
    11
    Title
    Paloma (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    02:18
    Composer
    Pablo Ortiz
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  12. 12 Triple antienne (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 05:02
    Track
    12
    Title
    Triple antienne (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    05:02
    Composer
    Paavo Heininen
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  13. 13 Still and Flow (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 02:16
    Track
    13
    Title
    Still and Flow (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    02:16
    Composer
    Anders Hillborg
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  14. 14 There and Back Again (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 03:38
    Track
    14
    Title
    There and Back Again (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    03:38
    Composer
    Fred Lerdahl
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  15. 15 … se sillan … (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 04:01
    Track
    15
    Title
    … se sillan … (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    04:01
    Composer
    Veli-Matti Puumala
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  16. 16 50 Notes en 3 Variations (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 01:47
    Track
    16
    Title
    50 Notes en 3 Variations (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    01:47
    Composer
    Pascal Dusapin
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  17. 17 Colombi Variation (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 03:32
    Track
    17
    Title
    Colombi Variation (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    03:32
    Composer
    Kimmo Hakola
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  18. 18 Chiacona (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 01:34
    Track
    18
    Title
    Chiacona (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    01:34
    Composer
    Tan Dun
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  19. 19 Tiny Colombi (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 01:04
    Track
    19
    Title
    Tiny Colombi (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    01:04
    Composer
    Marc Neikrug
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  20. 20 Locus on Colombi's Chiacona (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 01:24
    Track
    20
    Title
    Locus on Colombi's Chiacona (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    01:24
    Composer
    Joji Yuasa
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  21. 21 Arietta (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 01:21
    Track
    21
    Title
    Arietta (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    01:21
    Composer
    Ryan Wigglesworth
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  22. 22 Drammatico (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 01:21
    Track
    22
    Title
    Drammatico (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    01:21
    Composer
    Colin Matthews
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  23. 23 Dreaming Chaconne (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 03:22
    Track
    23
    Title
    Dreaming Chaconne (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    03:22
    Composer
    Kaija Saariaho
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  24. 24 Preludio e Ciaccona (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 02:18
    Track
    24
    Title
    Preludio e Ciaccona (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    02:18
    Composer
    Ivan Fedele
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  25. 25 Idee fixe (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 05:10
    Track
    25
    Title
    Idee fixe (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    05:10
    Composer
    Vinko Globokar
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  26. 26 Variation sombre e libre d'apres chiacona (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 03:36
    Track
    26
    Title
    Variation sombre e libre d'apres chiacona (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    03:36
    Composer
    Gualtiero Dazzi
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  27. 27 Idulla (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 01:23
    Track
    27
    Title
    Idulla (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    01:23
    Composer
    Tapio Tuomela
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  28. 28 A Fancy for Anssi (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 02:05
    Track
    28
    Title
    A Fancy for Anssi (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    02:05
    Composer
    Betsy Jolas
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  29. 29 A Variation (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 01:51
    Track
    29
    Title
    A Variation (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    01:51
    Composer
    Miroslav Srnka
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  30. 30 Anssimmetry (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 02:30
    Track
    30
    Title
    Anssimmetry (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    02:30
    Composer
    Luca Francesconi
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen
  31. 31 Duello (after G. Colombi's Chiacona) 02:40
    Track
    31
    Title
    Duello (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)
    Duration
    02:40
    Composer
    Magnus Lindberg
    Performer
    Anssi Karttunen