Search - :: Just Before the Dawn

Il Fronimo, Milano, april 2003

reviews to the public | 08/25/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"JUST BEFORE THE DAWN



"Just before the Dawn" is the title of a CD released in 2001 by Tutl Records (www.tutl.com) with music by the Danish/American composer Dan Marmorstein, in co-operation with the Danish guitar quartet Corona Guitar Quartet(www.coronaguitarkvartet.dk). The CD opens with the section which has given the CD its title, based on a tape recorded on an early morning ("Just before the Dawn"), where bird song forms the basis of a pianistic improvisation by the composer himself. The major part of the CD, however, consists of a long composition entitled Foreplay, commissioned by and dedicated to Corona Guitar Quartet.



Dan Marmorstein, born in the USA (New Jersey) in 1954, is a musician of a broad and manifold calibre, achieved through studies mainly at prestigeful American Schools (New England Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College of Music) followed up in Europe (Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam). Marmorsteins musical experience has also been achieved through studying and practising improvisation, which forms an essential point in his mucisal universe. The composer explains in this connection that he is especially interested in "exploring the specific area where the spontaneous physical energy of the music unites with the structured cohesion of the composed music". The composition Foreplay for four guitars is one long fantasy (22 minutes). According to the composer the title indicates three different purposes expressed in the music.



The English word Foreplay can be translated into "prelude", meaning a section of the music preparing for the appearance of other sections, and this atmosphere of expectation of an event does in fact flow through the whole piece. "Fore" (before or pre) is pronounced just like the numeral Four, so "Foreplay" also indicates that four persons are playing - as meaning both making music and having fun. The third aspect of the title is that the cantus firmus around which the composition is constructed came into existence some months before the final composition of the work, and can thus be seen as a foreplay meaning "prerequisite of" or "preparation for" the piece.



The composition opens with a quiet section, where the four instruments seem to be seeking a gradual entrance into the musical cohesion. One by one they disentangle themselves from each other by dense presentations of the cantus firmus the work is based on. Characterised by the accumulation of rythmic intensity, which gives a quiet and secluded atmosphere, the four instruments are moving towards moments of greater intensity, in which flow "fragments of classical guitar, a little rock and blues, and also some sparks of minimalism" (Marmorstein).



Altogether definitely a composition which outside the usual frames presents a rich language with references to various musical worlds (from Schönberg to rock music), and which calls for great accuracy from its interpreters because of its variation of expressive atmospheres , moving from moments of quiet over complicated rythmic projections to improvised zones.



The Corona Quartet was formed in 1995 and today consists of Per Dybro Sørensen, Volkmar Zimmermann, Kristian Gantriis, and Mikkel Andersen. At the time of releasing Foreplay, however, (written in 1998), the musicians were Per Dybro Sørensen, Volkmar Zimmermann, Olavur Jakobsen, and Tom Roy Nielsen. The latter died in July 2000, and this CD is dedicated to him.



The primary aim of the quartett is the enlargement of the contemporary repertory for guitar quartets in close co-operation with various composers. A special interest has of course been reserved for the North European and Baltic composers, and thus they are not just passively following the artistically most travelled road. On this CD Corona Guitar Quartet distinguishes itself by the clarity of articulation and a fascinating sound, caught without too much reverberation. Certainly an interesting and courageous suggestion.





Professor Leopoldo Saracino in "Il Fronimo-rivista di chitarra, Milan, April 2003.



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