One: Claire Edwardes (Percussion)

Tall Poppies: TP223

A vast array of tonal colours and new ideas are apparent in the third CD from Australian percussionist, Claire Edwardes.

223.170x170-75This is a disc that not only contains established repertoire, but also new pieces specially composed for Edwardes. The undertaking, however, was to assemble music for only one percussion instrument, hence the CD title.

Starting with Xenakis’s Rebounds, a work written close to the composer’s death in 2001, and which Edwardes describes as “probably the most important composition for percussion solo to date”, contrasts of simplicity of rhythmic and tonal ideas with more complex statements abound.

Engaging vocalisation (a specific and quite fascinating text) with a hi-hat in Shlomowitz’s Hi Hat & Me aids the non-pitched element. Again using voice in the recitation of a simple 7th century poem (a prayer to Gaia, the Goddess of the Earth), Rzewski’s To the Earth utilizes unusually a set of four flower-pots as the percussive instrument (with differing pitches). Another piece which uses Edwardes not only as instrumentalist, but additionally as vocalist, is Sierra’s Bongo-O, which is a discovery of different tonal devices created by contrasting ways of producing the sound (fingers, sticks, voice).

Stuart Greenbaum’s Clockwork Lemon, for snare drum and hi-hat, explores rhythmic ratios, and is played with clockwork precision.

Interlocking rhythms between toy piano and wood blocks make Chooks! by Eric Griswold a distinctively quaint piece, whilst Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Tierkreis exudes a complexity which is masked by the use of melodian, toy piano, music box, toy glockenspiel and bowed crotale.

Written for Edwardes whilst living in Amsterdam, Laurence Crane’s Solo for Claire Edwardes sees a pre-recorded part combined with live performance, and was given its debut at the Huddersfield Festival in the USA, in 2005.

The soundscape that is so integral to Javier Alvarez’s piece, Temazcal, can be quite confronting, as the sounds switch from speaker to speaker suddenly, creating unsettling surprises.

Displaying the brilliant solo work of Claire Edwardes, this recording is at times, mesmerising with its repetitive strains, but is also highly energetic and exciting, as well. The multitude of different colours and layers, along with the sometimes intricate, rhythmic challenges, makes this a disc of exceptional bravery by a performer, who brings to her work a creativity and uniqueness, that is so often not experienced.

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