All’arme & An Arch Never Sleeps-recording works by Michael Alec Rose

Peter Sheppard Skaerved-Violin (Stradivari 1698 ‘Joachim’)

Carly Lake-Horn*, Rachel Meerloo-Bass#

Engineer -Jonathan Haskell.

Session Outtakes (unedited)

Michael Alec Rose-Air

Air is the only work here which was not written for a site-specific project. Like its title, it seemed to just be there. Michael sent it to me, out of the blue, and I had to play it straight away. The performance direction saw to that ‘Insinuating, and a little chilling’. Michael is a true classicist, and I appreciate an aspect of that. The piece is in 6/8, but the first bar has only three 8th notes (quavers). Just like Haydn or Mozart, Michael makes sure that so does the last! (Bach does not always get this right-have a look at the Chaconne!!!)

Michael Alec Rose-An Arch Never Sleeps#

This was written for the glorious acoustic and architecture of Wilton’s Music Hall, which has a series of looping dummy arches, often picked out with fairy lights, around the side and back walls of the Hall. It begins with an allusion to ‘I got plenty o’ nothing’.  In the middle, a wonderful Rose performance indication (he bests  Satie in this, easily)-’emptied out, in ruins’.

Michael Alec Rose-All’Arme*

…was written for the wonderful young player Carly Lake to play from the top of London’s ‘Monument’. It emerged during the Nashville/London Exchange 2012, in which Carly played a key role. Performance indications give everything away ‘Monumentally loud, alarmingly high’,’even brasher’, ‘Wilder and wilder!’, ‘giusto, allora precipito’, ‘to Bankside!’! There are 15 ‘top C’s’ in this piece!

Composers Dmitri Smirnov and Paul Pellay listen to PSS playing 'Palimpsest' in the British Museum. Photo: Richard Bram

Michael Alec Rose-Palimpsest

Palimpsest  was written in 2006 for my first residency at the British Museum. It was inspired by the Gray’s Inn Road Hand-axe. The full title continues ‘on an axe head in the Enlightenment Gallery at the British Museum’. Again, performance indications proffer poetic insight. ‘With Adamantine evenness’, ‘An axe-edge’s breadth slower’, ‘Il tempo fugge!’

Michael Alec Rose-3 Short Obsessions

Written for my 2004 residency at the Galeria Rufino Tamayo in Mexico City, at which I also played Nam Joo Paik’s very dangerous ‘Solo’ for violin. Michael’s (much less destructive piece), is in three sections. 1. Farchadat (the Joys of Yiddish P.113) 2.Fercoce 3. Dolce-‘rich strange and seamless’

Carly Lake and Engineer Jonathan Haskell hard at work recording 'All'Arme' Albury 19th March

Rachel Meerloo and Peter Sheppard Recording Michael Alec Rose's 'An Arch Never Sleeps. 19 3 2012, Aldbury