Page 341 - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Coverage Book 2023-24

metal-based Indonesian gamelan ensembles he played in during his 20s,
and the metal and wood percussion instruments he built and played during

his early years as a theatrical performer.

The second movement, D.S.C.H., presumably reflects the influence of

Shostakovich filtered through Elfman's maximally different lens. At one
point its music brought to mind a very large man outfitted in a duck suit

with large webbed feet, waddling around a carnival. I'd love to learn what

images pop into your head as you listen. The third movement, Down,
conjures a strange, hazy universe with no definite path forward, until 5:45,

when an elephant lumbers into the room and hell breaks loose. What
transpires after that is anyone's guess. The final movement, Syncopate, has

tremendous forward drive and energy, some wacky harmonies, and a

sudden conclusion. What a trip.

The final, one-movement work, Are You Lost?, is a never-performed-before

adaptation of a movement Elfman wrote for piano, violin, and vocal trio.
Here, it's performed by the Kantos Chamber Choir and full orchestra. This

rather subdued, anything-but-exuberant music may seem anticlimactic in

this context, yet isn't, but it isn't helped by impossible-to-discern French
lyrics for which neither text nor translation appears in the booklet. It's for

the sheer thrill and boundless inventiveness of Wunderkammer and the
Percussion Concerto that you'll hit repeat.—Jason Victor Serinus