Review by Per Köhler — Finally, the very first classical Cd by Swedish Pär Lindh sees the Nordic light of day. This is
Christmas time for all his followers. Maybe you're not in possession of the album, yet, so
let's have a glance at what's seething beyond the unbridgeable castle moats. If it's already
in your collection, you ought to be immensely proud of yourself. Simply because this brand
of music doesn't really come to you; it is you yourself who has transformed into being a part
of it. The frail tones of the Lindh ? Manfredini ? Corelli performance are well fit for the 21
century pedantic noble man. Leave out the frantic prog metal opera and let the velvety and
less decibel exacting string sound in from violin, viola and the cello. Par Lindh himself takes
on the celesta throughout the entire playtime and not in any way does this resemble a solo
recording. Not regarding the competitive mix down commonly found in popular music. The
bits and pieces of the jigsaw just fall into the right place by themselves. Led by an invisible
hand perhaps, from a time when a sound engineer didn't have much to do. Simply because
he didn't exist.
Lindh's plans for albums in similar direction go a meandering way back in time. Introductory
and first title 'Then Svenska Julkonserten' (a pun between Swedish/English) started its life
when the composer barely had left his teens. Fate didn't accept the live premiere or
recording until now. Economy, distribution, record contract, timing; everything has to tally at
the same contrapuntal. A recording project doesn't bow and make obeisance to itself; do
not walk to the bank and pay the bills. Unfortunately not. Pär disclosed in an interview as far
back in time as -95 that he had plans for not less than 12 releases. Still we're not in any
sense talking quantity but quality. With the newly founded Nordverk Classical Masterworks,
alongside the well established Crimsonic Label, there are now two unbeatable self-owned
alternatives. So stay tuned for an increased flow, the second classical will be out anytime.
The common theme on the Cd is as the title suggests the Yuletide. Northern son Par Lindh
puts on his own wintry plus two temperate Mediterranean pieces. On the traditional LP
(which would be highly evocative not least due to the impressive cover), side A belongs
entirely to the first mentioned. If it makes him easier that way to distinguish from the others
it's all the better for the masses as 'all classical music sounds the same'. If you find a
resemblance between Nordverk and the classic(al) Deutsche Gramophone label logo
you're excused. 'Julkonserten' clocks 18:13 and is a concerto grosso (big concert) in a-
minor. Why would you bother if it was in another key? Is your own vocal rendering more
proficient in e-minor? It's just that it's pointed out and you can't necessarily figure out why if
the answers are absent. As certain as you are that 'Dogs' of the Animals album never
reminded you about similar facts. The professional language on this level is consequently
in Italian and not your weekday English. Concerto grosso, in turn, is a baroque form (can't
you tell from album covers of this artist?) with a number of solo instruments. The rococo
style of the archway isn't at all less obvious in the just as embellished cadence. Adagio is
(quite) slow but only in relative terms. The first part of 'Julkonserten'. There is not one but
many slow variations like Largamente which is broadly slow and Largo defined as broad
slow. Subtle variations perhaps but on the other hand much more than unavoidable. Lento
means plainly 'slow'. As you grasp yourself there's room for interpretations. Vivaldi during
the 18th century isn't the same in the 20th century. Even if you have the music paper in black
and white in front of your eyes still it remains a challenge to exactly interpret what was first
devised.
First movement of opening title runs for 4:31 and as this particular composition is on
display for the very first time logically it attracts more attention than the other composers on
the Cd. When you have settled on where the Piu Mosso presents itself it is much easier to
accept that the chorus you think you are worthy of never seems to appear. Perhaps Corelli
and colleagues never professed to climb up the charts but that gives you just more
challenge. For the uninitiated this brand of music just starts up - goes on and on ? and
finally there's an end. That's quite logical, just like watching a film in a strange foreign
language. The concerto grosso form should be a fitting means for Pär Lindh. Bearing the
progressive rock band in mind with its shared solo spots between keyboard/guitar and
others. With a limited backing not completely unlike the correspondent rhythm section. This
ought to speak to the listener who is still in a transitional phase. Or simply just prefer the
smaller section in front of the full symphony orchestra. This is not a Rick Wakeman album
where orchestra/choir/band outdoes a hamlet in number.
The keyboard instrument celesta may pretend to be a part of a bygone era but it's actually
just a couple of decades older than the Hammond organ. The outer measurements are
closer to another feature of Lindh, the mellotron. Together with the violin/oboe it's noted as
solo instrument on current recording. Thus establishes the idea with concerto grosso. Its
sound is reminiscent of a musical box and conjures a fairy tale scenario. On your
Christmas wish list you could ask for its inclusion on Genesis song with copied title. Had it
been available on the Nursery Cryme recording the electric piano must look out for a
serious competitor. Some listeners might object to the term 'solo' for the celesta on the
score of its audibility. Where do you hear the first touch of it? The tubular bells, belonging to
the orchestra, are actually easier to discern in the sound picture. It's actually not; once you
are certain that you're taking in one of the two alternatives it might just as well be the other.
Both the celesta and tubular bells share the percussive texture although they are played in
entirely different manners. You know the bells from Mike Oldfield's debut work, but the
celesta didn't gain as much attention in prog circles. At least not yet. It might be a matter of
availability. After some initial uncertainty you'll find out that the tubular bells are in an inferior
position. We're talking time-wise of course. So why is the refined keyboard more solo than
any other of the contributors here? Do you accuse the master artist for putting his own name
in a more favorable position? That would be a habitual sight on an egoistic secular pop
recoding, but not excusable before the eyes of the archangel. First of all the celesta isn't as
penetrating as the cembalo (or harpsichord). The latter is present on live display but
nowhere to be found in the studio. This leaves you with the single alternative that it's rather
the playing that counts. On 'Andante' you'll find some room for what could be, and is, pure
clean celesta sounds. Pär handles it throughout the recording without putting his hands on
a competitive keyboard, which must be a challenge in itself for a prog player who is used to
a stack with a two-digit number of instruments.
Bearing the limited lifespan in mind for the celesta it met with approval in seconds.
Tchaikovsky included it for full orchestra hardly before the paintwork had dried. Normally
there's a gap, or a huge gap, before a rebellious novelty finds acceptance. Gustav Holst had
no objections to it in The Planets. So where would the mellotron have ended up if it was a
product of the same era? For what logical reason would Holst have, without prejudice,
written off the detached and ascetic mello on Cathedral's Stained Glass Stories as a
mundane invention? On the contrary, he should've revered it as the flesh and blood of the
monk choir. And rightly so!
'Then Svenska Julkonserten' was completed in recent years with a forth movement to take
on Vivaldi's 'The four Seasons'. That would mean an easy task as temperature- and
seasonal changes are much more apparent in proximity to the polar circle. The musical
side of the matter is for sure not irrelevant either. If you're familiar with the previous Project
works there might be an immediate feel of recognition. Pär admits that the thematic choice
is partly due to the present Corelli and Greg Lake's 'I believe in father Christmas'. Keith
Emerson has also approached the subject, certainly not without attention from his
Scandinavian counterpart. Many are they who have used the Christmas theme as a hidden
means for financial reason. This isn't a charge here. The composition T. S. J. is simply
gorgeous. Lindh, Pär has little reason to crawl to Pärt, Arvo. Together with similarly exquisite
'Mundus Incompertus' it's the finest music to come out of this writers efforts. No composer
is a dessert island, but always dependant on surrounding circumstances. On Mundus there
was a tight, hungry and single-minded band willing to serve. Guest performances out of this
world plus uplifted production as high as the pillars of creation. Nobody could possibly be
inclined to complain about present line-up either, a gallant mixture of talent and experience.
Per (pronounced in the same way as Pär, basically the same name with alternative
spelling) Björkling is indicated for 'bass' which supposedly is 'string-bass' or 'double-
bass'. He has, in accordance with Lindh, dealt with profane progressions, but seems to
have settled on what is defined as serious music. Danish violinist Kern Wetterberg is at the
same age as Lindh was when Julkonserten was created. Possibly he is able to wring out
the youthfulness of the piece that was once intended. We have to admit that a few of the
musicians here are 22+ by now. It's tempting to give cellist Natalia Goldmann the same
delicious task as Rachel Ford has on Genesis revisited 2. If the female sex is under
represented in number let's state that this makes each individual more unique. Possibly the
robust cello sounds melancholy from the grizzled male in the just as gray and dreary suit
but then it becomes more intriguing in the hands of the fertile priestess. A woman cello-
player with requisite academic background, a bottle of cold sparkling water and a late night
philosophical conversation; what more could one possibly yearn for? No wonder that
players are hidden behind draperies during auditions to symphony orchestras. The judges
are not supposed to listen with their animal instincts.
Although Pär himself boasts of both producer and artistic director, the Kapellmeister role is
given to solo violinist Anders Lagerqvist. Co-producer would've been an appropriate title if
we were living in modern age but we're not. Musical leader and/or conductor is an aim. If
there's meaning in appointing a 'soloist among the soloists' then the choice falls on the
violinist. The album belongs just as much to him as the keyboardist. More than highly
technically accomplished and a seasoned player with a hand in a multitude of projects; he
is logically what Pär Lindh is leaning on during a debut in a somewhat untested field. Lindh
/Lagerqvist become a Gabriel/Fripp pair on the 2 album. Lagerqvist's playing owns such
professorial exactitude that you would flinch if one single atomic nucleus on his bow was
placed in the wrong position. Don't play intellectual just admit that the violin of Lagerqvist
rings like a smiling spring rivulet that discharges itself somewhere nearby the fountain of
Salmacis. The fiddle isn't from the last century but even before that. Oboist kennet Bohman
rounds off the trio of soloists. Like the violin more conspicuous in the sound picture than the
moderate celesta. Some may assert that the oboe shares the same position as the four
string and that's a fact. But only to the outer idiom. The sax solo on 'Perspective' is just as
telling as Fripp guitar on 'White shadow'. The sax solo on 'Perspective' is far from as telling
as Fripp guitar on 'White shadow'. This is not a contradiction. How could Beethoven
possibly write in triple time and make it sound like it wasn't?
All andantes and allegros, tempo- and mood changes, may give a picture of
embellishments for the listener. They are meant to give a stimulation for the musician to
play with the heart just as much as the brain. The notes are already there so why add even
more instructions about the performance? Actually they serve as a gateway for the listener. If
you're able to interpret their meaning your listening becomes more alert and purposeful.
Dance music is exercise for your footpads but here you use your cerebral cortex instead.
Which is just as fascinating. A hit song is constructed with intro, melody, chorus, solo in a
manner so that anybody can take in the section changes. Classical music is background
music in historical programs, castle environments with finical ladies in stays and corset. It's
not standing on its own feet. Because it takes knowledge to listen, you're not offered
anything for free. When Messrs. Manfredini/ Corelli were on the go they didn't even have the
computer technique or recording facilities at hand when they were composing. That implies
that they had to figure out every polyphonic part in deep contemplation, dedicate it to the
emperor of the day who in turn was appointed by God himself. It takes concentration on high
level for you in present time to reach similar heights. Anyhow, movement four from
'Julkonserten' with title 'Rondo' is a familiar face. You know the name from Lindh's Cd Ep
recorded with the then much harder sounding group. It's a huge contrast but still not.
Needless to say, rondo has been utilized by other prog bands in earlier eras as well. In
Rondo the main theme is recurring over and over again. A concluding piece running for just
over two minutes. Time wise small but big in significance. If you thought that you could
distinguish the modern compositional style from the archaic now if never before it's obvious
that a quarter of a millennium has come to nil. That's a fine certificate for Pär Lindh. Allegro
molto, or molto allegro, is more than average moderately fast. How do you pin-point a plain
allegro?? Interplay between violin/oboe is top notch throughout. It is somehow written
between the lines that this composition has craved to be released for a long time, knowing
very well that its own potential is indisputable. Andante is the most exiting section for the
keyboard listener. The running time for the solo parts of the celesta is somewhat limited,
but here it gets a proper chance.
The non-soloists group in a concerto grosso go under the name of ripieno. They are the
composite, or comp, in today's terms but of a little different nature. The avant-garde jazz
term 'ignore changes' gives the soloist right to play without paying heed to settled chord
patterns. Certainly an idea but probably in a future century when today's genre restrictions
are a distant memory. We're not ripe for similar drastic measures yet. Let's stick to the more
down-to-earth Corelli contribution. His soul is definitely present in the Vivace-Grave-Allegro.
If you find first segment more Grave than Vivace just await 1: 11 then you're blown away at
full rapidity. A slip of the pen you might suggest. In popular music grave would serve as an
intro to vivace, the actual song. From ballad mood to up-tempo. Just do your utmost and try
to comprehend the underlying meaning with all belonging musical expressions. Regarding
the later born compatriot Manfredini we will never know his true potential as an unknown
portion of his works didn't survive. Possibly therefore Corelli must be ranked highest of the
two. Let's estimate that the difference in running time between the Italians speaks for the
difference in status. As mentioned in the inlay Corelli's Christmas concerto is the most
famous in its way. Still his name isn't as well known for the common man as Händel or
Schubert. A co-incidence perhaps or he wasn't pushed by his promoters with sufficient
power. The Pastorale pointed out in the inlay belongs to Manfredini on the back cover, but
let's place them in equality with each other. The most melodious features on the Cd are the
two largos in question. Both are rather accessible, or maybe we should say of homophonic
nature. Almost on a par with Vivaldi's sugary four-minute piccolo tune and Bach's 'Air', or
maybe some will even place them in the same league. Rightly praised to the skies by Lindh
himself and both fully possible to include on a 'Best of Classics' album or similar. Which
isn't a negative thing at all, if you come from a nowhere position. From this starting point you
can search even further and hopefully end up with a large, healthy collection side by side
with your prog. More preferable: purchase the actual Cd. The crowning moment of Corelli, it
says in the inlay. One is apt to agree. We're not neglecting Lindh here; his rondo weighs
against the lack of a solemn largo. The pastoral side of the keyboardist's works can be
found on i.e. 'Green Meadow Lands'. With vocals, lyrics and Roine Stolt on acoustic. If you
want it to be; a faith healing just like taken from the Revelation of St. John the Divine. An
immediate spiritual affinity with the other departed composers.
So, with the answer book in hand, is Pär Lindh a classical musician who deals with
progressive popular music? Or is it the opposite? The answer is yes, in both cases. There
are crossover musicians with decent technical ability capable of standing with one foot in
each camp. Pär Lindh has the ability to stand with both feet in both camps. It's about
understanding, maturity and insight. Not only playing technique as from the solo guitarist
who has learnt to play the notes he can't read with swift fingers and from now on presents
himself as the new Paganini. The guitarist in question is fully convinced that pizzicato is
something you order by mobile from the local pizza restaurant. With green slimy cheese
stuffing. Return to the Iron Maiden wolf howling. In the meantime let's hope that
'Julkonserten' will gain the attention it deserves and consequently pave the way for many
future releases. Pianoforte, church- or Hammond B-3, cembalo. Solo or with other
interesting combinations. With or without barré chords from electrified guitar.