The Italian tempo designation in l'istesso tempo signifies a musical passage where the speed of the underlying pulse does not change, even if the division of the beats within a bar does so. Music written this way can create an impression of stillness, and thus this ECM New Series' album's title, Giya Kancheli: In l'istesso tempo, is certainly appropriately chosen. The three
Giya Kancheli pieces presented here, Time...and again, V&V, and Piano Quartet, are characteristically gentle and mysterious works that barely disturb the surface of silence, outside of an occasional discordant and emotional outburst.
Time...and again is played by violinist
Gidon Kremer and pianist
Oleg Maisenberg. Though parts of it are tempestuous, the overwhelming mood that Time...and again evokes is one of nostalgia, lost things that one cannot have back. The Piano Quartet, played by the
Bridge Ensemble, alternates simple melodies and textures with more tense and difficult stuff, including an angry eruption that settles back again into a sense of peaceful calm. V&V is scored for violin, string orchestra, and tape, and features
Kremer once again with his group
KREMERata BALTICA. This was the most satisfying of the three, a sad, lingering memory of childhood represented by a taped voice humming a child's song and answered by the ghostly string section and
Kremer's searing and poignant violin. The recording, as in most ECM productions, is very well made, providing a sense of perspective and distance without allowing the music to completely disappear.
ECM's Giya Kancheli: In l'istesso tempo is thoughtful, provocative, and highly enjoyable late-night music that would be close to ideal for painting, reading, listening, or even just thinking.
Kancheli writes intensely serious music that never lapses into clichés of minimalism, nor escapes into the paint-by-numbers, "let's just tread water for a few measures here" reliance on formalistic techniques.
Kancheli's music is purposeful, conceived dramatically, and is psychologically effective. The booklet comes with a long and confusing note written by Wolfgang Rathert that attempts to reconcile the work of
Kancheli with that of
Beethoven, long-dead Viennese atonalistsm and new music in general. Parts of it are interesting, but one need not waste time reading it.