Wunderkammer (Concerto for Orchestra)
Percussion Concerto
Are You Lost?

Anyone who watches movies and/or television (I would assume that entails everyone) have been exposed to the music of multidimensional performer, musician and composer Danny Elfman. Without a doubt I'm sure that practically everyone can easily invoke in their mind's ear his theme for the animated TV series The Simpsons, marked by an agitated, percussive, multi-layered forward momentum. He's also written many similar scores for crowd-pleasing movies by Sam Raimi and Tim Burton, including for example Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Men in Black, etc ...

His trademark, distinctive and infectious style, though not to the same extent, can also be heard in most of his free-form concert stage works, including the pieces on this CD. The two outer movements of Wunderkammer (Chamber of Curiosities) in particular are outlined by the same fantasyland imagery as evoked in the aforementioned films. The slow, inner movement on the other hand, presents a totally different facet of Danny Elfman's musical persona. Reminiscent of mid-20th century orchestral writing, it conjures up a post-war feeling of regret and resignation with expressively lush string writing, very well conveyed here by conductor JoAnn Falletta and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra members. It was composed for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and proved to be a great teaching tool as it challenges different groups of the orchestra along the way, not quite à la Bartók, but in Elfman's inimitable style.

The Percussion Concerto written for percussionist extraordinaire Colin Currie, is a four-movement bundle of activity brimming with striking sonic effects. Once again, its boundless energy is curbed by a mysteriously amorphous inner movement marked by spectral sounds near the end. The final "Syncopate" movement injects cross-rhythms into the mix and ends in a flash of energy. Any and all technical demands thrust upon the soloist are met with aplomb and vigorous dynamism by Colin Currie, an exuberance mirrored by the orchestra.