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Artist: PRISM Quartet<\/a> The recently-released The Singing Gobi Desert <\/em>showcases PRISM Quartet<\/a> in collaboration with Music from China<\/a>. Here they are also joined by guests conductor Nov\u00e9 Deypalan<\/a> and sheng soloist Hu Jianbing<\/a>. Don’t be fooled by the billing of Music from China as “Guest Ensemble” – this is a true musical partnership. It’s better to think of this recording as performed by a chamber ensemble comprised of saxophones and traditional Chinese instruments as opposed to a binary orchestra. The album is a follow-up to 2010’s Antiphony<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(my review here<\/a>), PRISM’s first outing with Music from China.<\/p>\n The Singing Gobi Desert<\/em> is a natural successor to and evolution from Antiphony<\/em>. The first album had somewhat of an “East Meets West” ethos, and was even billed as such to a certain degree – e.g., the album title itself. (Thankfully, it was tastefully executed and avoided Third Stream traps.) Here, however, this sophomore release displays a true “fusion” – in the best sense of the word – of styles and cultures. While Chinese and Western influences no doubt reign supreme here, the end result transcends both sources, resulting in a new stylistic language that speaks to all listeners of that catch-all category known as “contemporary music.”<\/p>\n On the whole, Gobi<\/em> features fewer but meatier works than its predecessor: four compositions ranging from 14 to 20 minutes each. They are, in album order: All four pieces have an orchestral<\/span> quality that blend PRISM and Music from China into a unified whole that sounds much larger than the sum of its parts. One way in which this is achieved right off the bat is by the title track’s heavy use of the sheng, a mouth organ. That, coupled with myriad percussion as well as long, flowing melodies, gives the piece a thick, lush texture. Extended techniques abound here and throughout, but they are written and implemented tastefully and with purpose. Messages of White<\/em>, on the other hand, employs a similar instrumentation but to strikingly different effect. Instead of lyrical passages, Liang’s emphasizes rhythm and harmony, focusing on stark, repetitive staccatos juxtaposed with subtle, often nebulous harmonies.\u00a0 Dream of a Hundred Flowers<\/em> takes the listener back toward a vocal space, but one quite different than Gobi<\/em>. Here, Fang Man guides the musicians to “imitate Peking opera speaking voices.”1<\/a><\/sup> The drama unfolds in manners both cacophonous and whispered, with the coda taking on an almost electro-acoustic quality. (It’s no surprise that Man studied at IRCAM-Paris.) Rounding out the set is Ruo’s The Three Tenses.<\/em> Even though it is for a pared-down ensemble, it again transcends “saxophone literature.” (Because of its minimal instrumentation, it perhaps helps that it’s last on the album and sonically buoyed by the first three pieces.) The pipa’s extensive presence and the multitude of extended techniques also lend an orchestral quality to this quintet composition – a tribute to the composer.<\/p>\n Arguably the album’s greatest triumph is that the compositions take center stage, not simply the blending of instruments and styles. Antiphony<\/em> was a valiant and substantive first step for such artistic exploration. The Singing Gobi Desert<\/em>, however, opens up a wider and more comprehensive world of sonic and aesthetic possibilities, making this “novelty” instrumentation seem like anything but. I highly recommended this album.<\/p>\n Innova link here<\/a>
\nAlbum: The Singing Gobi Desert <\/em><\/a>(2014)<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Bright Sheng<\/a>‘s The Singing Gobi Desert<\/em> (2012) for erhu\/zhonghu, sheng, pipa, yangqin, saxophone quartet, and percussion
\n\u2022 Lei Liang<\/a>‘s Messages of White<\/em> (2011) for saxophone quartet, erhu, sheng, pipa, yangqin, and percussion
\n\u2022 Fang Man<\/a>‘s Dream of a Hundred Flowers<\/em> (2011) for saxophone quartet and four Chinese instruments
\n\u2022 Huang Ruo<\/a>‘s The Three Tenses<\/em> (2005) for pipa and saxophone quartet<\/p>\n
\nAmazon link here<\/a>
\niTunes link here<\/a><\/p>\n
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