Jacqueline Fontyn was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1930. She is one of Belgium’s most widely known and famous living composers. Her interests are centered in musical theory, composition and conducting; over the years she has won many international prizes and awards for her compositions. This SACD disc consist in its totality acoustic music although at times sounds to be electronic, but they are not. Fontyn creates new music as a conflation of past and modern forms with her own esoteric musical syntax. From the beginning on Track 1 On A Landscape By Turner’s opening bells and pastoral scenes to the rousing climax somehow mimicking electronic music with very complex and sophisticated instrumentation. On Track 2 Au fil des si’cles’ she superimposes 16th Century musical syntax to syntax more akin to Neo-Classic forms. This latter is built on the tonal scale but with unusual rhythmic modes of her own creation with percussive effects anticipates the climatic ending built on a 16th Century motet. The end result is an individual musical elaboration or construction for each one of the works.
Her music is characterized by the fusing of rich harmonies and the exploration of wide instrumental possibilities. For example, the quasi-electronic sounds obtained in T1 originate from skillful orchestration in the strings and woodwinds. Within her harmonies in general she exhibits remarkable rhythmic flexibility based on melodic material derived both from the complete chromatic range and also from her own invented modes for unusual musical structures. Harmony and rhythm are totally within the chromatic range, broken or shaken at times with perfectly timed percussion entrances, interludes and/or effects, which play very well in this 5.1 surround sound disc. In the end the expressive and poetic/romantic dimensions of her works may appeal to audiences willing to venture and discover new horizons in modern classical music. From the intensely expressive “pastoral” programmatic music in T1 which from bar to bar goes through progressively more complex successive transformations, to those of T4 where the same “pastoral” complexity is also realized to culminate on T-7′s Furioso striking tunes.
Fontyn’s music should never be confused with so-called “new-age” music. Her music definitely follows a canon, albeit of her own creation. In the end I was listening to the music’s development rather than the orchestra – which under the expert direction of David Porcelijn is just playing the music for itself without any added personality. To me this is commendable given the music’s complexity and adds artistic value to the already great assets of the compositions. The orchestra thus becomes a single instrument curiously enhancing Fontyn’s mostly polyphonic composition style. The sound in this 5.1 SACD reaches just the necessary, and I may add adequate, level to match the artistry of each work. I would also rate the sound just like the music: dignified and elegant. I highly recommend this surround sound disc to those who love modern classical music.
TrackList:
Track 1: On a landscape by Turner 14:50 (1992)
Track 2: Au fil des si’cles 13:28 (2001)
Track 3: L’anneau de jade 12:26 (1996)
Tracks 4-7: Quatre sites 18:33 (1977)
— John Nemaric
