Every day is a school day at A Closer Listen, mainly thanks to the sleeve notes and press releases for the albums sent to us. A few artists opt for numeric track listings and minimal explanation behind the work, allowing us room to wonder and create our own interpretation from scratch. Some albums send us off to Google Translate to literally interpret the track titles in the hope of further enlightenment. Sometimes – and anecdotally, it’s often the Modern Composition records – a full explanation of the album is provided, from title to individual movements, and so on. We can still draw our own interpretations, of course, but there are benefits to learning about an artist’s motivation as a way into the record.
So it is with Clamor, the wonderful new album for string sextet from violist and composer Jessica Pavone. She titles the four movements after innovations created by women to circumvent male obstructions. The cover art is a giveaway but even then I didn’t expect the inspiration for the closing track “Bloom” to be bloomers, the trousers worn by Victorian-era women as an alternative to constricting dresses. The garment was named after Mrs Amelia Bloomer, a magazine editor and social reformer, who introduced the item to her readership. However, all the background information doesn’t feel like an obvious fit for the piece. “Bloom” opens with a solo cello before drifting into a more drone-based work, the strings subtly shifting against each other; perhaps it was written to capture Mrs Bloomer’s character rather than the garment itself. But the piece becomes more strident and determined at its conclusion as if marching out with fresh confidence garnered from the bloomers.
The correlation between inspiration and composition in “Neolttwigi” is more pronounced. The strings saw and sway, gently rising and falling. Occasionally, there is a flutter from one of the instruments – a bird flying away, perhaps – placing the piece outside. The rhythm (and the title) of “Neolttwigi” comes from the Korean standing seesaw utilised by women to see outside garden walls. Tradition forbade women from leaving their property during the day, so the seesaw – effectively a springboard – provided the height to see beyond the walls that held them. If anybody questioned this, the need for exercise would no doubt suffice as an excuse. The piece is a hypnotic way into Clamor; the slow pulse and the airiness of the arrangement perfectly capture the image of an outdoor seesaw.
Pavone adds Katherine Young’s bassoon into the mix for the two-part “Nu Shu”. Named after the secret language developed by Chinese women forbidden to attend school, there is a dialogue between woodwind and strings. Young’s playing is sometimes graceful, but often there is an almost frantic energy – you can hear her fingers tap on the keys – as if she is bursting to convey news and knowledge. In the second part of the piece, the players abandon the strings altogether for a percussive dialogue, creating a secret communion within the string sextet. This element of the composition and arrangement highlights Pavone’s skill at creating a story within these movements. We can appreciate the music without knowing the inspiration, but these are stories worth knowing and investigating further – meaning Clamor succeeds on multiple levels. (Jeremy Bye)
a closer listen 