Magnus Lindberg: Aura, Related Rocks, Marea
Hannu Lintu / Finnish Radio Symphony (Ondine)
(scroll down for English review)
芬蘭現代作曲家連寶格（生於1958年）三首1990年代作品，雖然這碟歸類為管弦樂，但其實中間的那首《Related Rocks》較接近電子音樂，碟頭的《Aura》及碟尾《Marea》是純樂隊作品。
軌一至四的《Aura》是1994年作品，大約40分鐘，分成四個無間斷的樂章，當時在DG有過錄音，這張應是同曲的第二個錄音，也正好為這首連寶格作品中不常奏的作品，帶來一次重生機會。
連寶格開宗明義不是旋律或有調作曲家，而是鋪排一層層聲音的「音景」那類的作曲家。我之所以介紹《Aura》這曲，是因為聽過兩次後仍覺得不算艱澀，有些線索可以給想冒險的朋友去嘗試。
連寶格在這曲用了三管的中型編制，一共90人的樂隊，連敲擊樂也很克制，連同定音鼔只是四人，拍子也很簡單，仍能做出豐富的音響質感。那些鄙視管弦樂團（包括港樂）規定新作品不能大過某種編制、覺得要不受制限才寫得出來的新晉作曲家，我老實說，只是垃圾。
回到《Aura》，要聽的是不同樂器及群組怎樣出出入入，而最容易捉得到的就是那些一連串的急速的音符。根本不用去聽這些短音符代表甚麼、是甚麼旋律，而是此刻奏出這些音符的就是要特出的樂器。連寶格不只是把樂器輪換，更是經過不同樂器的整合去營造出不同程度的張力，以代替有調音樂的和聲。其實聽過約翰阿當斯《和聲教案》的朋友，值得比較兩曲如何把玩樂隊音色的起落，營造高潮。
另一點要注意是連寶格在這曲很克制利用音量，不會像他的代表作《Kraft》那樣嘈到拆天，即使是高潮也不一定用高音量來表達。不過其餘兩曲我就不怎過電，《Related Rocks》太過電腦、隨機，比《Aura》早幾年的《Marea》即使是寫給小樂隊，但連寶格的風格還未進化，聲音撞得太過猛烈。
A new Magnus Lindberg disc his 1990s creations, two of them (Aura and Marea) were written for orchestra, while Related Rocks was written for a Bartokian piano-percussion combo but sounded more like electronic music.
Aura (tracks 1-4) was completed in 1994. It comprised of four uninterrupted movements of about 40 minutes. It was previously recorded on DG (conducted by Knussen), making this the second recording in more than two decades.
Lindberg didn’t set out to be a melodic or tonal composer, he was more of a soundscape type manipulating layers of sounds. The reason I wrote about Aura was that I felt that with some clues this work might still be enjoyed by slightly adventurous ears.
Lindberg produced a huge wall of sound by just using a triple woodwind orchestra. Percussion was also sparingly but effectively used, only three percussionists were called for. Four, if you count the timpanist. It’s just a medium size full orchestra of 90. Some new composers insisted they could only compose if orchestras allowed them unlimited orchestral requirements. Frankly, this is crap.
The thing to look for in Aura is the entry and exit of different instruments. Watch out for those rapid notes, but there is no need to wonder what do those notes mean, what melodies do they imply. When these rapid notes are played by instrument A, than it is instrument A that is spotlighted at this moment. Or it could be played by any combination of instruments. A sense of dramatic continuity is achieved by increasing or relaxing the sonic tension and such process is a substitute to traditional harmony and modulation. Friends who are familiar with John Adams’ Harmonielehre might be interested in comparing the two pieces.
I was amazed with Lindberg’s restrain in dynamics in Aura, unlike the cacophony of his signature work Kraft. In Aura, even climaxes aren’t always presented as maximum volume of sounds. For the other works on this album, Related Rocks sounded so computeristic to me. Marea, written several years before Aura, is a work of Lindberg’s previous style and I think it’s too noisy or crushing.