Richard Causton: In terra impareggiabile etc

Richard Causton
La terra impareggiabile; Ik zeg: NU (I Say: NOW)
Marcus Farnsworth (baritone), Huw Watkins (piano); BBC Symphony Orchestra/Sakari Oramo
NMC NMCD 273   54:15 mins

It’s about time. Not just the wait since Richard Causton’s previous NMC recording, but the typically atypical explorations of temporality in these two substantial works. Setting ten poems by Salvatore Quasimodo, the 40-minute song-cycle La terra impareggiabile explores love, death, nature, light, darkness and time passing (or not). Baritone Marcus Farnsworth and pianist Huw Watkins are compelling advocates, whether in the closing stillness of ‘E la tua veste è bianca’, the joyful tongue-tying repetitions opening ‘Ho una bella fanciulla’ or the fervent wonder of ‘Specchio’. The recording beautifully captures every resonance of the piano, though by placing the voice in the distance.

Interactions of past and present are integral to the orchestral Ik zeg: NU (I say: NOW), inspired by the writings of Causton’s Dutch relative Salomon van Son. The title comes from Son’s great-nephew saying ‘I say now now, and a moment later it is already history’. Causton splits his ensemble. Most of it plays glacially slow, repetitive music, while a smaller group injects hyperactively fast, chattering figures, likened by Causton to passing a noisy children’s playground. Superbly performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo, the resulting masterpiece invites contemplation and time spent on repeated listening.

Christopher Dingle