CD Review | Recurrence (Leaf Music, 2023)

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Recurrence
ICOT Chamber Orchestra and the New Orford String Quartet
Leaf Music, October 2023

Released on Oct. 13, 2023, Recurrence is a collaboration between members of the ICOT (Iranian-Canadian Composers of Toronto) Chamber Orchestra, the New Orford String Quartet and two eminent Canadian composers. The album features five newly commissioned compositions from Maziar Heidari, Keyan Emami, and Saman Shahi (the founding members of ICOT), Nicole Lizée and Jordan Nobles. The works are drawn together by the idea of repetition, and its meaning in various domains of human inquiry.

The opening work, Eroded, evokes the effect of coastal erosion on the formation of sea stacks, vertical rock formations near a coast. The structure, sound, and ambience of the music mimics the five steps of this ecological process, as explained by the composer, Saman Shahi. The music successfully depicts the wet, echoey space of caves, rocks, and drops of water through its instrumentation and texture. The idea of space and movement are well captured through the use of various techniques, timbres, motifs, and the exploitation of higher and lower registers. The concepts of repetition and erosion are difficult to grasp, however, without the aid of program notes. Technically well executed by the musicians and captured by the producers, the piece’s programmatic meaning would be enhanced and reinforced by visual material documenting the process of coastal erosion.

The composition by Jordan Nobles, 30 Crows, is a kind of musical game. Sinister and haunting, like a soundtrack to C. D. Friedrich’s oil painting The Abbey in the Oakwood, the composition emerges from 30 musical phrases which can be played in any order by the musicians, in their own time, and “whenever they like” over a rhythmic ostinato, played by piano and percussion. Highly suggestive, unnerving and unsettling, the piece creates a unique and memorable, if dark and disturbing, sonic palette. The program notes are unpretentious, direct, and simple. The piece is complex, imaginative, and stands on its own. Expertly performed by the players, 30 Crows is as terrifying as it seems fun to play!

Themes of innocence and tragedy are the basis of Kian in Rainbows, an emotional, sombre piece inspired by the death of a 9-year-old boy named Kian Pirfalak, the youngest victim of Iranian uprisings in the fall of 2022. Keyan Emami’s music speaks eloquently and poignantly about a subject that eludes rationalization. Kian in Rainbows is the centrepiece of the album: slowly emerging out of sustained string parts and a low, repeated drum, a haunting melody at the flute announces a chilling voice. “I was a child of nine,” it says in Persian. Keyan Emami magnificently captures the “fleeting beauty of childhood,” as he puts it in the program notes, amid complete darkness and decay. A remarkable work.

Blissphemy by Nicole Lizée, meanwhile, combines electroacoustic, jazz-style piano writing, electronic beats, and rhythmic percussive motives, creating a frenzy of lights and dizzying movement. Lizée creates illusions of changing spaces with her virtuoso instrumentation and layering of textures, rhythmic and melodic counterpoint. Inspired by the life and work of the fashion designer Alexander McQueen, the music is flashy, edgy, and leaves one hungry for more from this brilliant Quebec composer.

Following in a lighter mood, Arrays playfully tackles the concepts of recurrence, change, and transformation. Maziar Heidari’s work bursts with energy as all the instruments showcase their flair, cutting each other off in a dazzling display of virtuosity. Intriguing and surprising, Arrays keeps listeners on their toes. Cleverly designed, engaging, the finale of this album is strong and unpredictable.

An original album with some very strong, deeply felt, and creative works: jewels for those who love contemporary music, hopefully a revelation or two for the more novice listeners.

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