Bridge Records: Much of Arlene Sierra’s compositional output centers on the natural world, addressing the subjects of landscape, evolutionary biology, and the sounds, processes and behavior of birds and insects. Arranged into three books, Sierra's Birds and Insects comprises 15 movements composed across a twenty-year period. The three books are performed brilliantly here by pianists Steven Beck (Books 1 and 2) and Sarah Cahill (Book 3). The album is the fourth in Bridge's ongoing Arlene Sierra series.

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Programme:

1-5: Birds and Insects, Book I
Composed by Arlene Sierra; Steven Beck, piano
1. Sarus Crane [2:22]
2. Cornish Bantam [1:45]
3. Cicada Sketch [1:24]
4. Titmouse [1:16]
5. Scarab [8:43]

6-10 Birds and Insects, Book II
Composed by Arlene Sierra; Steven Beck, piano
6. Painted Bunting [1:31]*
7. Hermit Thrush [4:10]*
8. Black and White Warbler [2:48]*
9. Thermometer Cricket [3:08]*
10. Bobolink [11:07]*

11-15 Birds and Insects, Book III
Composed by Arlene Sierra; Sarah Cahill, piano
11. Lovely Fairywren [4:45]*
12. Canyon Wren [2:20]*
13. Great Grig [2:22]*
14. Tawny Owls [2:58]*
15. Troupial [6:20]*

* World premiere recording

Total Time: 56:21

 

 

The piano series Birds and Insects was composed between 2007 and 2023 by Arlene Sierra, and is played by Steven Beck (Books 1‑2) and Sarah Cahill (Book 3). With pieces inspired by birds such as the Bobolink (used in Messiaen’s Oiseaux exotiques), searching for a parallel with Messiaen is inevitable, but as the helpful booklet note points out, Sierra’s approach is different. While Messiaen was inclined to use long stretches of (suitably modified) transcription of birdsong in his pieces, Sierra takes shorter fragments and uses these to develop the motivic substance of her musical structures. The results are fascinating, sometimes strange and often striking. In ‘Hermit Thrush’ there are additional electronics that cleverly interact with the pianist, and in the next piece, ‘Thermometer Cricket’, the piano is prepared, with alluring results. This is never ‘easy’ music, but it’s not meant to be, and I found myself drawn into Sierra’s world and listening with intense concentration as a result. The range of colour and sonority she finds in ‘Canyon Wren’ in Book 3 is bewitching. Sierra is fortunate to have two such fine pianists as her advocates on this release.

Nigel Simeone, International Piano

What is most intriguing is Sierra's language, which by its nature refers to the long tradition of nature in music, yet avoids any sense of neoclassic reference. Even Messiaen, one of Sierra's more recent predecessors in this regard, feels quite different from the music here. Instead, she takes her bird songs and insect sounds and uses them as structural bases for the individual pieces. This is rigorously modern music that is directly appealing, something that is no small accomplishment.

James Manheim, AllMusic.com

One of the fascinations here is how distinctive two composer’s approach to birdsong can be, as none of this music could ever be confused with anything by Olivier Messiaen…

the high register of the piano is often extensively explored, contrasting with dynamic extremes and punchy low notes such as with the Black and White Warbler, or creating atmosphere as in the repeated highs and long lows in Thermometer Cricket. Tawny Owls as the penultimate piece in book 3 is another piece with pre-recorded birds, creating a striking nocturnal feel alongside the pedal-rich soft chords of the piano.This is music that you need to hear for yourself. All of the performances are excellent to my ears, and very well recorded. Arlene Sierra’s gift is unquestionably brilliant… these pieces seem to inhabit a strangely insular world.

Dominy Clements, MusicWeb International

Composer Arlene Sierra’s Birds and Insects, Books II and III have their world premiere recordings in this thoughtful album by pianist Cahill. Also performed is Birds and Insects, Books I. The third book was commissioned by the Barbican Center as part of The Future Is Female.

Whether you are familiar with the sounds of the titmouse or the black and white warbler or tawny owls, Sierra’s approach to giving them a musical work is enjoyable and provocative. These are just a few of the birds and insects depicted in these three books.

Interestingly, Sierra structures all three books with shorter pieces that lead up to the longest composition of each respective collection. Particularly with books I and II, the last piece of each is significantly longer, more complicated and, for my money, the most intriguing of the sets.

Steven Beck joins Cahill for the first two books. They play masterfully in their pairings. Cahill is on her own for the last book and continues with excellent performances.

Craig Byrd, Cultural Attaché 

Sierra pursues her own path. Where Messiaen’s settings are fantastical, bordering on the surreal (their grounding in detailed transcriptions notwithstanding), Sierra’s are based in cooler, more analytical terms… her perspective zooms in and out. In some instances, her material derives from an encoding of the creature’s name into pitches. In others, she evokes its habits and behaviour (the skittering ‘Titmouse’ is one example, the jerking ‘Cornish Bantam’ another). And in still others, she goes directly to the birds’ song. Just twice – the aforementioned ‘Hermit Thrush’, and the penultimate ‘Tawny Owls’ – does she make use of recorded birdsong, taken from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology database. In the former, the piano is brought into dialogue with the bird, like an erstwhile mate; in the latter, the instrument creates a sonorous environment for the bird’s nocturnal calls.

Tim Rutherford-Johnson, Purposeful Listening