Paul Lewis
JAZZ BAROQUE for Harp
Goodmusic GM531
Jazz Baroque, a crossover piece in which classical two-part invention meets jazz syncopation.
After a serene introduction the tempo increases. Baroque slips into jazz but repeatedly tries to reassert itself, now in canon at four beats’ distance, now at one, and when jazz loses all inhibition and launches into something sounding suspiciously like ragtime even as a two-part fugue, but to little avail. If this be regarded as a musical conversation, then jazz attempts to have the final word by interrupting a baroque cadence with a distinctly un-baroque one, but, undeterred, classicism returns and the work ends as sedately as it began. Paul Lewis
Duration 5½ minutes
After a serene introduction the tempo increases. Baroque slips into jazz but repeatedly tries to reassert itself, now in canon at four beats’ distance, now at one, and when jazz loses all inhibition and launches into something sounding suspiciously like ragtime even as a two-part fugue, but to little avail. If this be regarded as a musical conversation, then jazz attempts to have the final word by interrupting a baroque cadence with a distinctly un-baroque one, but, undeterred, classicism returns and the work ends as sedately as it began. Paul Lewis
Duration 5½ minutes
