Richard Rijnvos — La Serenissima
La Serenissima is a two-CD set bringing together organ and harpsichord pieces composed by Richard Rijnvos. He’s a radical Dutch composer whose work is often concerned with stacking melodic patterns. Or utilising non-musical elements such as magic squares and chessboards to create his work. Most of his compositions are themed around locations, as is this collection, which takes its title from a nickname for the historical republic of Venice.
The release appears on the UK label Nimbus Alliance. The CDs come presented in a thin jewel case. This features a colour twenty-page booklet- it features write-ups about each of the collections of pieces and how they tie into the composer's other output. We also find bios for Rijnvos, and the two players involved with the release, Dutch organist Jan Hage and British harpsichordists Jane Chapman. As well as a few colour illustrations, musical notation, and full/ detailed track listings.
The first disc is entitled Quattro Quadri, with the suite of four movements being from the year 2018. This first disc finds Jan Hage playing solo organ, with each of the pieces having runtimes between nine and thirteen minutes. The suite's theme regards when the black death was prevalent in the Venice area during the 16th & 17th centuries. Sonically, Hage’s playing moves from fading in high-pitched warbles 'n' darts, grand/rapid gothic-like simmers, gloomy amassed droning notation, disquieting cascades & creepy note pattern decline. I’d say, as a just over forty-six minutes suite, it remains engaging & rewarding- as for nearest comparisons, I would say the early organ compositions of Olivier Messiaen, and Tangerine Dream- when they were at their more abstract and gothic.
Disc two is entitled Lettura Del Labirinto and dates from 2024. This is for solo harpsichord; it’s broken into a total of fifty-five single tracks, which make up six movements. Each of these movements are dedicated to a certain ‘Sestiere’ (districts or neighbourhoods) within the city of Venice. Chapman’s playing moves between steady/ ornate jaunts, onto moodier to violent runs, tolling jigs, cascading note patterns, etc. Each movement has its own pattern/ melodies/ counter melodies- with overriding tone/ feel to the whole seventy-five-minute ride. I’d say due to the length/ more complex structure of this disc, it took a few more plays for it to warm to me/ understand what was going on here. But ultimately, once again, I was engaged with what was on offer here.
This double disc set was my first taster of Mr Rijnvos, and it most certainly won’t be my last, as sonically his work is rewarding, and the whole location theme is quite original/distinctive in the way he approaches it.