[neoclassic / experimental] Rosa Ensemble

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Rosa Ensemble

2001 Troubling for Sugar



Utrecht’s Rosa Ensemble is another of the category-crossing bands that renders the New Music scene in Holland so vital. No repertory for sax-violin-piano-percussion exists; this enterprising CD is a mix of commissioned and modified items, and both persuade.

Paul Bruinen’s R.E.M. (1998) traces a dream state. Live playing intersects with taped; so do the group’s sharp vs. sustained sounds. Low harp (guest Idske Bakker), rippling piano and chimes give way to winding soprano sax and repeated violin bowings. These combos keep undercutting each other: A floating string melody is buried under insistent piano and percussion. Striking duos key the argument — unison sax / violin, piano supporting violin harmonics or trading single notes with harp. Delicacy never impedes momentum, and the absurdist where-are-we-now ending brings a smile.

Será (Paul Termos) moves in mechanistic units — hammered rhythms on drum or piano, shrill sax or violin outbursts. By cleverly juxtaposing or overlapping these cells, Termos creates electric surprises. The slide into lyricism had me thinking Copland, not "a theme of Latin American glow" as intended. I don’t seek out Andriessen’s driving minimalism, but Hout (Wood, 1992) is quite attractive. Substituting a violin for the original’s electric guitar lightens the texture, and the score’s intricacies are easily followed. (Each musician lags 1/16 of a beat behind the preceding player.) I can enjoy this game of skill — Reich’s Clapping Music writ large — and Karlijn Scheepers’ facility on baritone sax is a treat.

Only Peter van Onna’s Crystal Dreams (1991, rev. 1995) doesn’t require the full quartet. A fragile, halting dialogue for soprano sax and piano, its distance from Hout couldn’t be greater. The considerable beauty of line avoids complacency, thanks to some honks and overblowing from Scheepers, and frequent lacunae hold emotion at arm’s length. Daniel Cross’ Hoboken opens and closes with lengthy tapes of traffic sounds. These images of activity nudge the music to bouts of improvisatory frenzy. Scheepers’ baritone again hits the mark, in elephant-dance mode with thumping percussion or aiding Matthijs Berger’s subtly launched violin leads. (Walt Mundkowsky)

Tracklist:
01. REM
02. Será
03. Hout
04. Billabong
05. Crystal Dreams
06. Hoboken

ROSA ENSEMBLE:
Matthijs Berger, violins
Daniel Cross, percussion, keyboards
Karen Moll van Charante, piano
Karlijn Scheepers, saxophones

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