Limited edition CDr of 150 copies. Artwork and Photography by David Sharpe. Packaged in a custom cardboard sleeve. Also available as a digital download.
Released September 2009.
The source inspiration of Porzellan’s second album ‘The Fourth Level Of Comprehension’ lies somewhat further back than most releases in the nebulous, interfacing genres of contemporary classical and minimal electronic composition – namely in the Baroque. This is not so surprising in context, for Francis Cazal, the artist behind the Porzellan moniker is a classically trained composer and baroque violinist. “It may sound really radical, but after the death of Bach (1750) music sounds too different and less emotional to me” – a refreshingly contrary opinion to the accepted idea that the Romantic era encapsulated the epitome of emotion and passion in classical music.
The key characteristics linking ‘The Fourth Level…’ to Baroque music are those of stateliness and dignity. This is music of grace and dignity, unhurried – formally conceived, but concealing deep passions. But while informed by the Baroque, it is Baroque as refracted through the prism of post-modern minimalism – J.S. Bach played at 16rpm, or else a Largo fugue where only one in every 48 notes has been retained – occupying a space in the contemporary musical universe not too many light years away from the work of Arvo Pärt, Brian Eno or The Stars Of The Lid, yet not particularly sounding like any of these artists.
The purity of Porzellan’s approach is reflected in his state of mind during the album’s creation: “I only played pre-Romantic music on my violin and it was the only form of classical music I was interested in listening to when I put a CD on my sound system.” The album was indeed composed using only samples of his own violin playing and dusty old baroque records, subjected to varying degrees of computer processing (which in the case of opening track ‘Nothing More Than Nothing’, is surprisingly little). The lack of vibrato – a technique introduced in the Romantic era – on this track is still audibly apparent, the listener transported on a stark drone as if on a boat drifting serenely through a misty fjord, the surrounding mountains only fleetingly appearing through the haze. This contrast, between beauty and discovery on the one hand and a sense of isolation and melancholy on the other, continues on ‘A White Wall And A Tree’, its two note refrain and ominous bass part giving way to a gently expanding wash of sound, and onwards into ‘Rosen’ (‘Roses’), where the elegiac echo of a distant, almost English Horn-like tone suggests a non-Baroque composer – Elgar. This in turn elegantly quotes the excellent artwork, a panorama of desaturated autumnal colours in the Yorkshire Dales by photographer David Sharpe.
Interestingly, the dictionary definition of Baroque refers to a ‘highly ornate’ style, something that is perhaps not ostensibly apparent on this release. But make no mistake, a complex pattern is present – a web linking the music with the artwork, the conceptual premise (the title refers to the three levels of comprehension, or sophistication of thinking, in literary comprehension which Porzellan has expanded to include the music one hears when reading) and the artist’s state of mind – isolated, living in a foreign country during its conception. These combine to reward the listener with a rich work of emotional depth and power. To mix metaphors a little, these ’still waters run deep’.
Duncan Ó Ceallaigh, [ parvoart ] recordings, www.parvoart.org
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