Josten Myburgh — Sculthorpe Studies
This CD release appears on the always worthy Another Timbre- the Sheffield UK based label that releases the best in modern composition/ modern classical/ improv. The release is presented in the labels house style mini & minimal gatefold packaging, and this time on the front cover we find a picture of Australian birdlife.
The release features a single track that was composed/ arranged in 2019- and this finds Myburgh blending together the bird based field recordings with moodily instrumental elements. The work is broken up into separate sections, with different short (a few minutes plus) field recordings snippets. Musically we have six-piece playing elements of Sculthorpe compositions- Jet Kye Chong- percussion, Jameson Feakes- electric guitar, Stuart James- Piano & electronics, Djuna Lee- Double Bass, Jostern Myburgh- Alto Sax & electronics, Kristen Smith- Flutes.
The blend of the two elements is done in an even & balanced manner- with the musical tone/ pace often been brooding & languid. At points the formal musical elements drop out or hover back, meaning this feels more like a slight uneasy-eerier soundtrack to a walk through the Western Australian Country side- maybe on a stark over cast day, or near dusk. Sculthorpe’s lulling & brooding melodies & notation work perfectly as a counterpoint to the slowly baying, to hauntingly screeching bird sounds/ call- giving the whole thing a very barren & forlorn feel.
One might imagine utilizing different selections of field recordings might give the whole thing a rather piecemeal or fragmented feel- but this isn’t the case, with the whole thing flowing together nicely. It might have been nice to have had index points/ breaks between different parts, but the problem with this is of course on some forms of playback you do get jarring track cuts, which would very much be broken the moodily lulling & at points creepy feel of the whole thing.
Blending & bringing together of field recordings and formal musical elements can be a tricky one to get right, but with Sculthorpe Studies Myburgh has got it just right. If you’re looking for an even & often highly atmospheric mix of field recording and moody modern composition this will most certainly hit the spot- and I look forward to hearing more of Myburgh & Sculthorpe work.