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Louis Andriessen, “Zilver”

Artist: Andriessen, Louis
Title: Zilver
Release Date: 1997

Louis Andriessen, Zilver, released 1997 by New Albion Records
performed by the California EAR Unit

The most surprising thing about the chamber music pieces on this CD is how much of a structural role silence plays. In contrast to the nonstop chugging of De Staat, the first three pieces on this disc are almost shockingly quiet and calm. There’s still a rhythmic punch to his music, accentuated by the crisp and sharp instrumental textures he uses.
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Zilver (1994)
for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, marimba, vibraphone, and piano

Zilver begins with little bursts of sound, as flute and vibraphone descend an altered major scale together. Soon, the two diverge to lead different groups of instruments – one which plays staccato, chords the other held notes – that move stepwise up and down what sounds like an altered major scale, in independent tempi. Though this goes on for quite a while, the subtle variations in timing make Zilver constantly engaging and compelling. The piece slowly gets faster and motoric…and after the nonstop stepwise motion, it’s an exciting and gigantic shift when the two groups suddenly start playing larger intervals. After a rhythmic, dancelike climax, things calm down again, returning to the more serene and considered descent of the opening. It’s elegant and focused, and quite satisfying.
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Disco (1982)
for piano and violin

Disco uses a similar compositional technique as Zilver, with multiple sources of little bursts of sound traveling stepwise that combine to form a kind of mensuration canon. Violin and piano start the piece playing a jerky, dancy, major-key melody together before breaking apart. And again, there’s a slow but riveting buildup as more and more elements enter what feels like a real dialogue between the two. Eventually, they reach some sort of rapport or agreement, and combine to play in hocket a funky, fun line that echoes the opening duet. It’s really difficult for spare, pointillist music filled with lots of silence to succeed, but Andriessen makes it seem effortless with a bright, delightful gem.
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Overture to Orpheus (1982)
for solo harpsichord

Overture to Orpheus follows a similar profile as Zilver and Disco, growing from a spare and quiet texture into something – not quite lush, but…it’s like the experience of looking at a Seurat painting up close, perceiving it as individual little blobs of color, and then stepping back until those blobs coalesce into something whole and continuous. It’s a delicate, Baroque piece in mostly minor mode. The amazing thing about Overture to Orpheus is that the harpsichord rarely plays more than one note at a time, and mostly only when a melody is in close canon with itself – so the entire piece is basically an unaccompanied melody – and it’s an incredibly gripping and lovely piece.
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Worker’s Union (1975)
for loud ensemble

Worker’s Union is of a very different nature, boomy and bombastic, as each note is punctuated by loud percussion. It’s a grating and annoying piece to listen to. It just stomps along, not changing quickly enough to be interesting. It’s like Andriessen notated a migraine headache. I usually stop listening to the CD at Overture to Orpheus.
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Zilver is an excellent collection of pieces, lessons in how to use silence and quiet to develop even the barest shreds of material into exquisite wholes…with the exception of Worker’s Union, which feels out of place in both the instrumental resources it calls on and its compositional style. The contrast would be fine if the piece were any good. But the first three pieces on the disc make this well worth listening to.

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