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Giorgio Koukl

Musica Vocale

Keiko Kashima: Contralto Leandro Galassi: percussions Valentino Marré: percussions Giorgio Koukl: Pianoforte, Cembalo, Celesta, Glockenspiel Dylan Thomas: Poet Sergio Albertoni: Poet Carole Manzoni: soprano sax Roberta Invernizzi: soprano sax

$10.00 USD    Code: AS037

The mode of composition attested by the work of George Koukl may be held to represent the tail end of the twentieth century, dominated as it is by a certain stylistic syncretism, by the individual's manual dexterity at his chosen instrument, and by a real tendency to bring together all the "-isms" that have succeeded each other in the last hundred years of music. The vocal approach, and the presence of poetical texts of strong civil and human impact, conspire to provide the concrete cross-section of a century in which the wounds left by the Second World War have not been entirely healed, thereby determinig the eternal dichotomy between good and evil, and the complexity of reconciling the ethical and moral components in modern man. The poems chosen (by Sergio Albertoni, Dylan Thomas and some Japanese haiku) bear witness to this urgent need for human communication, in different languages and different styles of language, but all of them evincing the same qualitative spirit of struggle and hope. This leads us to the following consideration: that in George Koukl's music, which is actually extremely simple, we find the intensely creative lyricism that has left such a strong imprint on the chamber lyric of Luigi Dallapiccola. It is above all in Three Songs of Desperation that we find this predisposition towards total vocal identification without excessive intrusion by musical instruments, leaving the voice its rightful space for expansion and breathing.**** Four pieces for pianoforte. These compositions are not halphazardly strung together or bereft of symbolic significance. Their strong dramatic impact, and the subtle distinctions of dynamic weighting and the nuances of colour, counterbalance the powerful emotions contained in the remaining two lyrical sections. Let us not lose sight of the fact that George Koukl is a pianist whose repertoire is strongly influenced by ethnic considerations (he is Czech by origin); at the same time it undoubtedly remains very close to the mainstreem of twentieth-century production. In these pieces we note the spiritedness of some pages of Prokofiev's piano music, and the naturalistic intimacy - albeit fragmentary and dispersed - of his fellow-Czech Martinu. Their concentration in time renders the pieces very implosive, almost expressionistic, a kind of intermezzo in the song cycle ("song" in the sense of lieder) envisaged in his overall programme.**** Niponari. This is intended for contralto and percussion instruments, and expounds an intensely dramatic chapter enhanced by a solemn voice register, and by a style of composition whereby piano keys and percussion instruments bring to the surface small but significant colorations of timbre. Unlike Anton Webern (who gave pride of place to aphorism) or Strawinsky (who brought out the dissociative component in colorations of timbre), George Koukl portrays a poetic and oriental world which is altogether neutral, capable of a kind of acquired interior peace, where his compositional ability tends to lose itself in the drapery of airy, reassuring sounds.**** Ceremony after a Fire Raid (original title in English). Based on poems by Dylan Thomas, this closes the compositional cycle with a return to the most natural dimension of chamber song (that is, of lied). Different poetical texts in a different style distinguish this composition from Sergio Albertoni's cycle; in particular, there is greater concentration of expresive gesture, sustained by a piano accompaniment that tends to partecipate in the poetry of the text without excessive spurts of emotion or of lyrical rhetoric. Rather, it is "implosive" and condensed, often highly phonic and chordal, to the point where conclusive reconciliation is achieved between voice and instrument. As often happens with George Koukl, this leads on to eternal confidence in man, and in his search for a superior pietas capable of annuling the dislocations of history and restoring peace.**** Sergio Mora **** (English translation Richard Matthews)

CD Tracks
	01. Cosa scrivere ()
	02. Da dove sgorgano ()
	03. Cuore, rimpianto ()
	04. Drammatico ()
	05. Leggero ()
	06. Ostinato ()
	07. Capriccioso ()
	08. NIPONARI cinque haiku per contralto e percussioni (haiku tradizionali giapponesi)
	09. Among the street ()
	10. I know not ()
	11. Into the organpipes ()
Label:	Altrisuoni
Producer:	Giorgio Koukl
Executive Producer:	R. Nardelli, C. Gilardi, S. Franchini
Recorded at:	Auditorio RSI, Lugano, Rete 2
Sound Engineer:	Lucienne Rosset, Jochen Gottschall, Werner Walter
Graphic Design:	Michela Balmelli
Photo:	Daniel Vass

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