Adès: The Origin of the Harp op.13

2010

“These five pieces suggest a composer as delightedly surprised by his prodigal inventiveness as we are. Arcadiana, for example, is a seven-movement string quartet whose central and longest movement (four minutes) contains an extraordinary range of precisely imagined, highly original textures and yet in its penultimate section can settle to a serene and wonderfully beautiful adagio whose sound and mood be conveyed only by the adjective 'Beethovenian'. Far more overtly, the engaging Sonata da caccia uses elements that are very directly derived from Couperin, but the sensibility is entirely modern, even when you strongly suspect that this or that phrase is a note-for-note quotation. However, as with Adès's first collection, his is an imagination that you can trust.
Living Toys has a quite Birtwistle-like sense of ritual to it, although more lyrical, quite frequently with a tangible jazz element. The Originof the Harp is a dark, dramatic chamber tonepoem.
Gefriolsae me, for male voices and organ, is a brief but impressive motet to Middle English words. All five pieces are finely performed. Arcadiana, with its exquisite textures and melodic richness, is perhaps Adès's finest achievement so far, a work constantly aware of the musical past but renewing that past with astonishing freshness.”