Search - Evelyn Ficarra :: Frantic Mid-Atlantic

A knock-out release!

Steve Benner | Lancaster, UK | 04/23/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD of music by American-born composer Evelyn Ficarra - who was largely educated and is now domiciled in the UK - is a fascinating mix of works for tape, or for tape and live instrumentalists. Nearly all of the music presented here reflects something of the duality of the composer's own life, constantly torn between parts of her life on both sides of the Atlantic. It also reflects much of her exuberant and life-affirming character, for there is absolutely nothing maudlin or self-pitying here; rather these works revel in the very frantic-ness of the world of today and positively exude a desire to share the joys to be found in all of life's experiences.The disc opens with a short (5 minute) work, "Search" (1997), for string septet and tape. The tape component dominates the opening of the work and also sets the theme for the disc as a whole. It begins with noise drawn from between the stations of a radio, moving through snatches of various radio programmes, heavily overpowered on occasions by some quite ominously dark sounds drawn from them, and commented on, or punctuated by occasional bursts of string-playing. Some four minutes in, the sound of the live players eventually erupts completely from the radio sounds for a brief episode of post-modernist lushness, before the static takes over again and draws the work into silence.It is followed by a 9-minute tape work, "Those Roads" (1994). Intended as the soundtrack for a sound and image collaboration, this entertaining piece stands up perfectly well without its film component. Countless sounds, mostly of recognisably domestic origin, together with numerous vocal snippets, both spoken and sung, are woven into an intriguingly musical construct that intoxicates with its heady flight, conjuring up endless sonic-inspired mental images. The shifting emphasis of the voice is as disconcerting as it is fascinating, and leaves the listener constantly wondering. Are we eavesdropping on a quiet domestic event, or listening to a musical performance? Spooky!The same feeling of partial listener dislocation occurs throughout "Plus ça change" (1991 rev 1998), a substantial 13-minute work for violin, marimba and tape. These three voices chase each other in and out of the coruscating fabric of the work as the live performers explore various musical relationships with each other and with the tape component, which consists of computer-altered samples of violin and marimba sounds. The piece moves from introspection to pure showmanship and back in a virtuosic display that is both beautiful and haunting.Despite its title, "Source of Uncertainty - Model 266" (1993) provides the listener with a somewhat more stable basis to its 9-minute duration than some of the other works on this disc. Consisting of sounds generated using a 1970s model of analogue synthesiser, digitally mixed with yet more noises captured from radio transmissions, this work is a contemplative - and at times rather jokey - exploration of bygone sounds. The handling of this sound world is, however, brought fully up-to-date by Ms Ficarra's sensitive and warmly human treatment of its sonorities. In many ways, this piece is both a swansong for the old analogue synthesis works of yesteryear, and a demonstration of the vigour and brilliance of a younger generation of composers who have nurtured and developed their musical inheritance through to the modern, digital era of today. Exquisite!"Deuce" (1993) returns somewhat to the theme of struggle and duality. It begins as a work for baroque flute and harpsichord, with these two instruments batting musical ideas back and forth in some almost sporting battle of wits. When a third voice enters, from tape, it does so in a way that both surprises and delights; suddenly the game played by the instrumental combatants takes on a new dimension, with recognisable real-world sounds intruding into their hitherto abstract scene and pulling the piece every which way. It is a measure of the profound genius of this composer, however, that long before the piece breathes its last, the disparate voices at play have become fully integrated into a seamless and gloriously exuberant whole. Utterly entrancing!The final work on the CD is the tape work from which the disc draws its title. "Frantic Mid-Atlantic" (1995) was composed for the Hearing is Believing radio station as part of Liverpool city's 1995 Video Positive Festival. Broadcast nightly at shut down, the work returns to the radio as a source of sound material. In fact, it is constructed from fragments taken from countless radio broadcasts, both British and American, all stitched together to make an entertaining aural landscape that alternates between an hypnotic jumble of half-heard snippets and an hilarious assemblage of radio quotes drawn from news and current affairs programmes. The work demonstrates finally and unequivocally just what an amazing ear this talented composer has, not just for the aural richness of her source materials but also for the absurdities of the world we all inhabit. Its gradual calming descent into silence makes a fitting conclusion to this disc - almost! (Sorry, I'm not saying any more! You'll just have to buy the disc to find out...) All in all, then, this is an absolutely stunning release. Anyone who is even the slightest bit interested in serious contemporary music simply has to have it!"