Choctaw Places: Chamber Music of Charles Shadle
Shadle is an expressive writer with a voice all of his own
Recorded at the University of Surrey, this is a rather nice introduction to the music of Charles Shadle, who currently teaches at MIT; his own teachers include Harold Shapio.
The first three pieces on this recording form a triptych that exists under the umbrella of Oklahoma Choctaw Cycle.
Limestone Gap refers to small community in the north of Atoka County, Oklahoma. The title refers to some limestone cliffs (the "gap" of the title is a narrow pass). Also there is an abandoned house built by Charles LeFlore (Captain of the Choctaw Light Horsemen, the national police force),
Rather nicely, the introduction is marked ‘as if from a distance” (in Italian, “di lontano”). Shadle uses pizzicato as a structural artculator: this sound marks the end of sections. There follows a theme and the first two variations. The “Barn Dance” forms a defined panel before the third variation describes the majesty of the landscape. Famous melodies are incorporated: “She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes,” and “Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me”. This is a skilfully constructed piece, beautifully performed (and recorded) by Lontano: It is the coda that is so touching, though, textures thinned o a minimum, Caroline Balding's violin, Rowland Sutherland's flute and Andrew Sparling's clarinet in perfect, lyrical accord:
The red cedar is often the only indiction of rural graveyard in Oklahoma. There is a scherzo element to Shadle's piece of the name; the composer seeks to celebrate both the prickly leaves of the Cedar, and the “highly stylized (sic) birdsong” around it. The music is smooth, a scherzo infused with n nostalgia. Lontano under de la Martinez give a chamleon performance, shifting to Shadle's moods perfectly. At the end the spiky flute motif that opened the piece returns as if a shadow of itself, calm:
The Old Place refers to the oldest dwelling on his Mother's ranch in Oklahoma; it was built in 1873 of timber from that ranch. After the death of Shadle's great uncle there in the 1930's, it was abandoned (becoming the local “haunted house”). Shadle describes the ruins as a “melancholy place” that is nevertheless lightened by the sound of flowing water. Shadle's music is shot though with nostalgia, but without referencing archetypal Americana. Shadle's piece seeks to tell the story of the house via sort of sonata form minus defined development section (instead including much development throughout). Lontano seems collectively to revel in the transformation of themes. No missing the sense of nostalgia at the close, though:
Finally, the piece that gives the disc its name, Chahta Siasha (Choctaw Places). This was a pandemic piece, commissioned by the Radius Ensemble and their Music Director, Jennifer Montbach. It is a combination of one of Shadle's preoccupations, late Beethoven, and his memories (and those of his ancestors) regarding his Oklahoma homeland. In one sense, it is a set of variations; but each of the five movements has its own character.
Formally, the sonata form without development of the opening Andante comodo mirrors that of The Old Place. Themes seem to have progmmatic elements (the evolving intervals of the opening motif representing the vastness of the space,, while another motif that turns in on itself expresses the wheels of motion of human activity). Shadle casts the second thematic group as a set of theme and variations. This first movement is by far the longest of the five (almost doubling the duration of its newest rival). Lontano plays with great tenderness.
An oboe sings in ‘Flessibile e espressivo’; it features heavily in the Scherzo (Allegro giocoso), morphing into the darker timbres of a cor anglais for the Trio:
The cor angles sings again in the Lento espressivo, poco malinconico. This is a most beautiful section; Rachel Harwood White is a most expressive player, and her tone is lovely:
The final movement places experience as remembrance, as Ellen Harris's excellent notes put it.
Shadle is an expressive writer with a voice all of his own: this disc is well with investigating.
This release is available for download from Amazon here; you can find Shadale's Cowboy Song below on iDagio:
