Page 340 - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Coverage Book 2023-24

Whalley—didn't create the most transparent recording on the planet, it's one
with enough spectacular effects, percussive variety, and brilliant, tinkly

highs to wow you and your friends for days on end. It's destined to give

your system either a gold medal or a heart attack.

Though the Percussion Concerto is the title track, the album kicks off
with Wunderkammer, which Elfman created in three movements for the

National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (NYOGB). Inspired by a "wonder

room," which the composer defines as a "a cabinet of curiosities or even a
room of mystery and oddities which can be fun, or scary, intriguing or

instructive, but never boring," the piece is, as you'd expect or at least hope,
a journey into wonder. It begins joyfully, soaring through the skies over the

(possibly synthesized) sounds of a wordless chorus. One universe after

another opens before us. There's a sense of spiraling up, down, and in, of
something mysterious and mischievous happening. Zoom! Bang! Bingo!

Bullseye! I kept wondering what it would be like to choreograph a dance

performance to this music. The first movement ends with the chorus taking
us down a strange and mysterious path.

Unexpectedly, Wunderkammer's second movement begins in a lovely,
quasipastoral manner. Emotionally touching, exploratory in nature, and

filled with mystery, it eventually cedes to a final movement that's given the
full-kitchen-sink treatment. Percussion goes wild in what feels like a

bizarre, circus-like waltz around a circular stage. Then the theme gets

passed around, everyone and everything goes nuts, and we discover
ourselves immersed in a huge, wild, certifiably crazy climax.

Elfman's Percussion Concerto for grown-up orchestra is no less of a wild
ride, but it's considerably more eerie and disturbing. Its music can even feel

threatening at times. The first movement, entitled Triangle, rather speaks

for itself. After two listen-throughs, during which I sat alternately transfixed
and apprehensive, I found myself unable to write a word about it. You can

hear the influence of the West African instruments Elfman first

encountered during his travels at age 18. You can also hear elements of the