Mystery Variations On Giuseppe Colombi's Chiacona

$10.49
Label
Toccata
Release Date
January 29, 2013
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      CAMPION COHEN COLOMBI DAZZI
    • PERFORMER
      Anssi Karttunen
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      January 29, 2013
    • UPC
      5060113441713
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      TOCC0171
    • LABEL
      Toccata
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Instrumental
    Works ⌄

    1. Chiacona

      Composer: Giuseppe Colombi

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    2. Anything Goes (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Jouni Kaipainen

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    3. Polvo (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Martín Matalon

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    4. Colombi Daydream (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Roger Reynolds

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    5. Chaconne (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Denise Cohen

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    6. Bleuelein (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Jukka Tiensuu

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    7. Partite sopra un basso (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Steven Stucky

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    8. Sarabande per un Coyote (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Esa-Pekka Salonen

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    9. Something to Go On (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Edmund Campion

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    10. Ciacconetta (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Rolf Wallin

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    11. Paloma (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Pablo Ortiz

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    12. Triple antienne (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Paavo Heininen

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    13. Still and Flow (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Anders Hillborg

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    14. There and Back Again (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Fred Lerdahl

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    15. … se sillan … (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Veli-Matti Puumala

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    16. 50 Notes en 3 Variations (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Pascal Dusapin

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    17. Colombi Variation (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Kimmo Hakola

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    18. Chiacona (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Tan Dun

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    19. Tiny Colombi (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Marc Neikrug

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    20. Locus on Colombi's Chiacona (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Joji Yuasa

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    21. Arietta (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Ryan Wigglesworth

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    22. Drammatico (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Colin Matthews

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    23. Dreaming Chaconne (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Kaija Saariaho

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    24. Preludio e Ciaccona (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Ivan Fedele

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    25. Idee fixe (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Vinko Globokar

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    26. Variation sombre e libre d'apres chiacona (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Gualtiero Dazzi

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    27. Idulla (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Tapio Tuomela

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    28. A Fancy for Anssi (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Betsy Jolas

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    29. A Variation (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Miroslav Srnka

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    30. Anssimmetry (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Luca Francesconi

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen

    31. Duello (after G. Colombi's Chiacona)

      Composer: Magnus Lindberg

      Performer: Anssi Karttunen




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