NMC Recordings NMC DO89
Total timing 73’03“
Released 2005
1. Chris Dench • Driftglass (1990) for percussion solo and five amplified instruments 10’15“
Peter Neville | percussion • Sandro Gorli | ELISION Ensemble
2. Chris Dench • funk (1988-89) for bass clarinet and percussion 10’08“
Carl Rosman | bass clarinet • Peter Neville | percussion
3. Chris Dench • ruins within (1992-94) for clarinet in A 10’22“
Carl Rosman | clarinet in A
5. Chris Dench • ik(s)land[s] (1997-98) mezzo-soprano solo and six instruments 20’26“
Deborah Kayser | mezzo-soprano • Carl Rosman | ELISION Ensemble
Text from Mangon by berni m janssen
6. Chris Dench • 'e/meth (1995) for oboe 10’34“
Stephen Robinson | oboe
7. Chris Dench • the blinding access of the grace of flesh (2002-03) for mezzo-soprano solo and six instruments 11’03“
Deborah Kayser | mezzo-soprano • Franck Ollu | ELISION Ensemble
Text from e(i)ther by berni m janssen, assembled by Chris Dench
Chris Dench‘s wide-ranging extra-musical influences—from Angela Carter and Ludwig Wittgenstein to Thomas Dolby—are displayed on this disc of works written for the acclaimed Australian new music ensemble, ELISION: the glittering mosaic of Driftglass contrasts with funk, a punchy duet for bass clarinet and percussion; while the two most substantial pieces on the disc—the blinding access of the grace of flesh and ik(s)land[s] itself—both set the calligrammatic poetry of berni m janssen.
Critical acclaim:
“Dench was an exponent of new complexity here during the 1980s, but moved at the end of that decade to Australia. His work has evidently burgeoned there. These pieces have fresh, appealing surfaces, arresting continuity and, though the complexity is manifest (not least in the texts Dench likes to set, and the orthography of his titles), they convey a tactile delight in manipulating sound.”
—Paul Driver: Sunday Times, London
“Opening track Driftglass (1990) is a glistening mosaic scored for solo percussion, clarinet, trombone, guitar, double bass and flute doubling piccolo. It's music with mineral hardness and glint, attractive yet rigorous, and ELISION are in their element ... The title track and the blinding access of the grace of flesh feature mezzo-soprano Deborah Kayser and exhibit the brilliancy that radiates from the knotty intellectual depths of Dench's work.”
—Julian Cowley: The Wire, London, 07.2005
Performers and production:
Deborah Kayser | mezzo-soprano
Elizabeth Barcan | flutes
Paula Rae | flute+piccolo
Stephen Robinson | oboe+cor anglais
Anthony Burr | clarinets
Richard Haynes | clarinets
Carl Rosman | clarinets
Brett Kelly | trombone
Peter Neville | percussion
Geoffrey Morris | guitars
Susan Pierotti | violin
Rosanne Hunt | violoncello
Kees Boersma | contrabass
Sandro Gorli, Carl Rosman and Franck Ollu | conductors
Daryl Buckley, Marita Emigholz and Trevor Wellby | recording producers
Jim Atkins, Garry Havrillay, Michael Hewes and Hein Laabs | recording engineers • Colin Matthews | executive producer
Driftglass was recorded live in concert at the Beckett Theatre, CUB Malthouse, Melbourne AU.
ruins within was recorded for Radio Bremen, Germany DE.
All other tracks were recorded at the Iwaki Auditorium, Australian Broadcasting Corporation Melbourne AU.
This recording was produced with the support of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Radio Bremen. ELISION Ensemble was assisted by the Commonwealth of Australia through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. NMC Recordings is grateful for funding from the Britten-Pears Foundation and the Arts Council of England.
