Architecture in Sound (review)

Roger Hannay: Architecture in SoundCompact discs (2), 1998, Aucourant Records AUREC 9801-1/9804-1; available from Aucourant Records USA, P.O. Box 2231, Roswell, Georgia 30075, USA; World Wide Web www.gsu.edu/~musrst/aurec0.html

I am sitting in my studio listening to history, both musical and personal. Roger Hannay's Serenade (1980), for piano and synthesizer, is a work I know well. I was a student of Roger's in the late 1970s, and I recall watching him perform sections of it for us as the piece was taking shape. I remember my surprise at the blatant tonality (anathema to many at that time), my admiration for the ease with which he simultaneously programmed and performed the synthesizer, and my realization of the composer's absorption in, and love for, the sound world he was creating. While set theory and serial techniques dominated our theory classes, it was the joy of personal expression and artistic freedom that constituted the primary lessons in Mr. Hannay's composition classes. Like many former students, I can trace my purposeful search for a personal voice to his example. Serenade was a very important piece for me, and I find myself remembering far more of it than I imagined, from the lush arpeggiations to the (now wistful) filtered square waves, right down to the final Lydian piano chord.

Serenade is the first work in a two-CD set entitled Architecture in Sound, presenting both the majority of Mr. Hannay's electroacoustic music and the panorama of sounds and techniques which were the hallmarks of the pre-digital era. The first disc combines tape or live synthesizer with acoustic instruments, and every work reminds me of the joy (and the struggle) of bringing these two very different worlds together. These pieces succeed admirably in balancing and intertwining the two domains, and remain for me among the best examples of truly integrated "electronic-plus" works in the repertoire.

The approach to the relationship between acoustic instrument and tape (or synthesizer) is different in each work, and indeed the dynamic of this relationship is fundamental to Mr. Hannay's compositional style in this genre. The structure of Pied Piper (1975), for clarinet and tape, is clearly delineated by the changing nature of this relationship. There are sections that focus on a blending of synthetic and live timbres (such as one extremely skillful pre-digital transformation from clarinet multiphonic to synthesizer timbre), while others set up a homophonic texture with tape as accompanist. A third group of sections feature each partner as a competing soloist in a live/tape duel. Elegy (1970), for viola and tape, creates an ambient synthetic universe around and within which the violist provides an evocative soliloquy. Similarly, Vocalise (1972) presents a uniform textural relationship throughout, though the cascading arpeggios are more homophonic than ambient. Sphinx (1973), for trumpet and tape, is the simplest and most beautiful example of this kind of texture; here, the composer extends the form and emotional shape well beyond that of Vocalise. The Episodic Refraction (1970), for piano and tape, uses the most complex succession of instrument/tape relationships among these pieces. Echo and other devices are used to create tape textures that sometimes alternate and at other times blend with the piano. The most interesting moments are those which are primarily tape-centered but "colored" by background piano tones and flourishes, and reflect a true "equalization" of the role of tape and live performer.

The crown of this set is, despite its innocuous title, the multi-movement Mere Bagatelle (1978), for two pianos and live synthesizer. The combination of standard acoustic piano, prepared piano, and the sometimes atmospheric, sometimes percussive ARP 2600 results in a piece of tremendous variety and complexity. It is a virtuosic tour-de-force for all three performers.

The single live synthesizer work, Masquerade (1982), is at the heart of the nostalgia on these CDs. Detuned oscillators (reminiscent of 1960s/1970s rock groups) are combined with rhythmic backgrounds that, by using...