The name of composer Mason Bates, though possibly familiar to those living in the United States, is unlikely to be as well known to those in other parts of the world, but this is something that may well change with the release of this stunning SACD of his music from Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony.Mason Bates is a 39 year old classically trained (at Juilliard and Berkeley) composer with a considerable body of work in many genres including concertos, large scale orchestral works and shorter ones that he calls 'openers'. Bates is just completing his duties as one of two composers-in-residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra who have already released a CD recording of 'Alternative Energy', one of the three works on this disc, though unlike the one heard here it is not released in high resolution sound. He now begins a three-year residency at the Kennedy Center as their first composer-in-residence and is currently writing an opera about the late inventor and IT genius Steve Jobs.

What, however, distinguishes him from many other contemporary composers is his parallel career as a DJ in dance clubs both in Europe and the United States. This has led him to extend the range and possibilities of the modern symphony orchestra through a fusion with electronic dance music. The predictably exciting results can be heard on this SACD. It is worth mentioning at this point that Bates's music is tuneful, rhythmically inventive and totally accessible which is one reason why its reception with audiences has been overwhelmingly positive. It is up to others to speculate on what will be the shelf-life of these populist works and the composer's future direction, but his talent is undeniable.

Bates describes the three pieces on this disc as 'symphonies' but they are really only symphonic if the earliest definition of the word as “sounding together” is applied. Each is really a suite whose movements are linked thematically by a clear extra-musical narrative. All three works require large orchestral forces plus electronica of different types. 'The B-Sides' and 'Liquid Interface' were recorded in January 8-18, 2014 whilst 'Alternative Energy' was recorded later the same year (September 10-13).

'The B-Sides' was commissioned and premiered by the SF Symphony in 2009 and is dedicated to Michael Tilson Thomas. It is a response to the conductor's suggestion that the composer should write a collection of five pieces focusing on texture and sonority in the manner of Schoenberg's 'Five Pieces for Orchestra'. The musical imagery here is wide ranging; travelling from the ravishingly impressionistic textures heard at the start of 'Broom of the System' through 'Gemini in the Solar Wind' (that incorporates clips of actual conversations between NASA and the astronaut Ed White) and ending with the pulsating low frequency energy of 'Warehouse Medicine' that re-imagines the Detroit dance scene parties of the 1990s.

In 'Liquid Interface' (2007) the music seems more focussed. Its subject is the various manifestations and states of water. 'Glaciers Calving' includes the sounds of fracturing glaciers in Antarctica while the dazzling 'Scherzo Liquido' bears witness to the alertness and virtuosity of the SFS musicians throughout these performances. The work's final section is a tranquil evocation of spring at Wannsee, the lake on the outskirts of Berlin where Mason Bates once lived.

'Alternative Energy' (2011) is the most recent work on this disc and the most ambitious. In addition to large orchestral forces it requires a laptop, 6 speakers placed around the orchestra, and some onstage monitors. Bates calls it an “energy symphony”, and it takes us on a journey from Henry Ford's Farm in 1896, depicted by metallic mechanical sounds and a folksy violin solo, to 'Chicago, 2012' a movement that makes spectacular use of the SACD's surround sound capability and includes actual recordings from the FermiLab particle accelerator. Another leap forward in time and we reach 'Xinjiang Province 2112' a futuristic depiction of an industrial complex – its Chinese location indicated by some pentatonic melodic phrases – before the music erupts into a driving techno beat of unrelenting energy.
The final movement 'Reykjavik, 2222' suggests a strange post-apocalyptic landscape punctuated by electronic bird cries. Towards the end the violin solo from the start of the work re-appears to possibly suggest a return to a simpler way of life.

Needless to say the orchestra under the direction of MTT play with tremendous concentration and enthusiasm in all three works.

As with all SFS Media releases the production values could not be higher. Producer Jack Vad and his engineering team have created a magnificently vivid recording (PCM 192kHz/24-bit) in the Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco that, especially when heard in multi-channel sound, does full justice to Bates's kaleidoscopic orchestral palette. The dynamic range is huge and everything from the soft whispers of string chords to room-shaking electronic pulses is reproduced with astonishing clarity in a realistic concert hall acoustic. Though these are live recordings there is no trace of audience noise and, unlike some other SFS Media issues, applause has been excised.

A video of Mason Bates talking about these pieces and featuring performance footage can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZYj0XykXRU.

In short we have here 71 minutes of exuberant music from the fertile imagination of a talented composer, performed with style and flair and recorded in state-of-the-art sound – what's not to like?

Copyright © 2016 Graham Williams and HRAudio.net

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