JAVS Spring 1989

38

(repetition, harmony, melod y, counter point, etc .) are not used to provide continuity or musical interst. We rely on unexpected sonic occurrences , often deli vered in spasms of dexterity at nanosecond speed. This is a fine example of the "What was that ?!" st yle. The relationsh ip between the dance rhythms imp lied in the ti tle and the rhythms which actuall y occur is some - thing of a mystery. Occas ionally, the 7/8 rhythm is sus tained long enough to be perceptible. Rh ythmic content, if not completel y free, certainl y gives the impression of being rhapsodic . The harmonic vocabulary is almost triadic; there are tonal centers , and the work begins and ends in C, without question. Still, there is no obvious formal plan. Kalamatiano lasts something over seven min utes, and it projects an ur gent energy and instrumental fluency with unusual sonorities. Mr. Ariondo has written other pieces for accordion and str ings, so performance possibili ties might increase in the f uture, but the avai lability of accordionists with the technical equipment to perform his works, must be generally slim. Of course, Liszt and Paganini had the same problem. Reviewed by Thomas G. Hall, Chapman College. This piece was apparently written in 1974 but not pub lished until the present. Its basic musical language is simplistic and tonal with polytonal elements. The first movemen t has a motoristic drive and a perpetual moti on effect. The second movement is a largo in changing meters somewhat rem in iscent of Shostakovich, with a peculiar juxtaposition of slow and suddenly fast moving notes . The last movement, Figurat ionen iiber einen Kroatischen Volkstan z , returns to the driving rhythms in a presto dance. The work is dedicated to Franz Zeyringer. [P.G.)

The first movement is almost a three part song form, and ends strongly in the tonality of C. (There is a str iking resemblance between th is end ing and the close of the Shostakovich Sona ta , opus 147.) The viola part exp loits wide register changes, combined with a reiterated ascending whole-step , high on the A-string. The second movemen t is essentially an allegro. It uses, as thematic material, a tune we had heard as a surprise near the end of the f irst movement , and we are tr eat ed to some cautiously approached f ingered harmonics as well as effect ive mute use. The work is sixteen minutes long, and could be usefully presented as the twentieth-century member of a recital. The audience will not leave "humming the melody," but it should enjoy wome well-written viola music . Kalamatiano: a piece for viola 11 bass accordion (1986) by Nick 'A rion Availa ble from the composer at: ""-Jl.<. \.

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