Michael's Farewell

Stockhausen, Smalley, Souster, Powell

John Wallace - trumpet
Andrew Powell - live electronics

Playing time: 57 mins.

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BBC Music Magazine, November 2002

***** PERFORMANCE 5-stars, SOUND 5-stars *****

This enterprising disc is the ideal showcase for the more experimental side of trumpeter John Wallace's exceptional talents. He gives characterful, committed performances displaying all manner of weird and wonderful techniques through the wide-ranging demands of these pieces.

The broad interests of British composer Andrew Powell are apparent in Plasmogeny II , which culminates in an eyebrow-raising Miles Davis-meets-the-Kodo-Drummers episode. Tim Souster's aural landscapes are more subtle, and more vivid: The Transistor Radio of St Narcissus charts a slow journey from noise to melody and cadence, and takes in some magical scenery on the way.

Roger Smalley's Echo III uses the simple device of tape delay to build complex structures around Wallace's eloquent solo line, and the ear has fun tracing the three-part canon back and forth between soloist and tape. [Michael's Farewell] is the final segment of Stockhausen's opera Donnerstag, but divorcing the work from its semi-theatrical context does it no favours, since the musical material isn't strong enough to hold the attention on its own.

Musician Magazine, March 2003

The distinguished international trumpeter John Wallace is on top form with the four contrasting works on this recent CD.

The first work, Plasmogeny II by Andrew Powell for trumpet, live electronics and tape was commissioned by John Wallace and had its first performance in the USA in May 1999. The work is in three sections and as you might suspect there are many intriguing sounds and aural delights - for example towards the end of the work, as the music builds to a climax, a long sustained melody played by the soloist is supported by a taped brass chorale of sampled Wallace trumpets over kodo drums. The second work is Echo III for trumpet, with tape delay by Roger Smalley. I remember hearing this work on radio, many moons ago. I enjoyed it then and I still do now. The three-part canon is set up by the solo trumpet with tape delays of five and ten second separations, which creates a magical sound world of rhythmic complexity. Tim Souster's The Transistor Radio of St Narcissus for flugelhorn, live electronics and tape is a marvellous kaleidoscope of sounds, with a real sense of theatre. John Wallace's playing rose splendidly to the expressive and technical demands of this composition. Michael's Farewell for five trumpets by Karlheinz Stockhausen which was composed in 1980 and is the postlude from his opera Light. Here John Wallace plays all five parts, using the recording technique of over-dubbing. His strong trumpet tone brings out the brilliance of this fanfare conceived work.

John Wallace's performance is excellent throughout and I have nothing but praise for this enterprising CD.
Graham Williams.