Eötvös: IMA, Cosmos, Correspondence

Peter Eotvos has been a composer from the beginning of his music studies, but his work with Stockhausen in the 1960s and his wide conducting work since then has overshadowed his own material. Over the last few years a number of discs with his music have appeared, some better than others. This one is a bit of a problem for me.

Eotvos wrote "IMA" ("Prayer", 2001-02) for choir and orchestra as a sort of sequel to his 1995 piece "Atlantis" for baritone, boy soprano, cimbalom, orchestra and electronics. Both works have a text based on Sandor Weores' poem "Nema zene" ("Silent Music"), but "Ima" goes further in adding a text by Gerhard Ruhm. I found the piece messy and thoroughly unappealing in comparison to its predecessor. Furthermore, this live recording of Sylvain Cambreling leading the WDR Sinfonie Orchester Koeln is very poor, with most of the detail inaudible. Maybe were I to experience the piece live or on a better recording, my opinion of it would change, but I can safely say that this is not the place to hear it.

"Correspondence" (1992-93) is, as the liner notes tell use, based on several letters between Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his father. However, the music's programmatic basis isn't apparent, to me it just sounds like a generic string quartet from any time in the 20th century. The Pellegrini Quartet give a confident performance, but the music isn't too impressive. Having encountered the awesome quartets of Kurtag, Gubaidulina, and Norgard, it takes a lot for a newfound quartet to impress me, and Eotvos' doesn't seem all that special.

"Kosmos" (1961), in its 1999 version for two pianos, is the only bright spot of the disc. Among Eotvos' earliest compositions, it was written during Gagarin's space flight. As Eotvos explains in an entertaining documentary film now available in the Juxtapositions series of DVDs, the piece has a fascinating form. Beginning with a "Big Bang", the pianist hitting his feet against the floor, the expansion of the universe is represented by a long, shimmering trill which continues throughout. Occasionally, chords representing comets or planets are heard, and some piano music of Bartok even filters through twice. The music eventually slows, seeming to compress itself again in preparation for another Big Bang, but stops right before such would occur. It's a very engaging piece, though I must say I prefer the original version for a single piano, more economical in its means and thus more engaging.

Eotvos has written some good music. The disc with "Atlantis", "Psychokosmos", and "Shadows" is rather nice, and a recent collection of three jazz-inspired is superb (both are on BMC like this disc). However, his work seems to vary widely in quality, and except for "Kosmos", I find this disc a disappointment.

(Verified purchase from a local record store back in the day.)