VISIBLE BASS LINE
We love all the music on this CD. Some of it is strictly classical,
both old and new. Some is very unstrictly classical. And then
there are our favourite jazzy songs. All brought together in
a surprisingly natural mix with the rich combination of cello and double
bass. The songs, by the way, are not double-tracked - Lowri sings
them at the same time as playing.
We deliberately avoided organising the pieces by type, chronology or
any other sensible method. Instead we chose a sequence which simply
ignores the boundaries between musical styles and throws the pieces together
in a way which might have startled some of the original composers.
Variety lends spice, and perhaps also the effect of each piece is sharpened
by the contrasts.
The 'strictly classical' music starts with Jean Barrière, who
must have been a formidable player himself, judging by the decorative and
florid writing in this F major sonata dating from 1733. Quite different
in style to the Bach solo suites of 1720, it is however similar in its
dramatic extension of technical boundaries for the cellist. M. Barrière
evidently wished to have a vehicle to show off his own prowess. Nearly
a hundred years later, Ignace Pleyel introduced fresh challenges for both
players in his delightful set of six variations. Listen out for the
sixth variation in which Peter plays the theme in high harmonics, while
Lowri does her knitting.
Angelus was written for MWDB in 1986. The piece follows the Christian
prayer form, complete with the 18 bells, but does not attempt to create
a devotional atmosphere. Diana Burrell says that much of the music
is mysterious and nocturnal, yet alert - a midnight forest where hundreds
of little creatures lie hidden and tense, watching in the dark. Schnittke's
Hymn for cello and bass is one of a series written for various instruments.
Written in 1977, it is a musical miniature that condenses an array of emotions
into just a few minutes.
The tone is cheerfully lowered for Carmen, the well-known tale of love
and death, woven skilfully together by the inimitable Michael Murray and
with all the padding ruthlessly stripped out. We thought we should
subject Offenbach to the same treatment (after all, he was himself a cellist)
and the result was Kate Romano's witty medley of famous tunes, in which
Peter is reluctantly dragooned into singing and doing the Can-Can!
Inspired by four very different vocalists, we couldn't resist Boots,
Baby, Busy and Ritz. Nancy Sinatra's white mini and boots were sensational,
and as for that wonderfully bored, haughty delivery - fab! The bass
line's not bad either. Nina Simone's earthy voice combined with another
classic bass line produced a winner. Less well-known these days is
the 'Chee-Chee Girl', Rose Murphy. Lowri first heard her Busy Line
on BBC Radio 3(!), and she was hooked, hooked, hooked... And Lowri's
mother Menai recommended Puttin' on the Ritz, one of her favourites from
her days performing at the London Palladium as a George Mitchell Glee Club
singer.
Moving into still more questionable territory, Julian Jacobson's Tango-Song,
written for us in 1990, was inspired by Geoff Lindsey's "enticingly sleazy"
poem Stop to Think! Julian says that he wrote it for no moral or
ethical purpose, but to entertain. We hope Visible Bass Line will
do the same.
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