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Mira Calix is a fascinating musical personality.
It's the name by which South African-born Chantal
Passamonte is known, though this is only half the
story, as her country Suffolk residence exerts a
strong influence on her style.
This comes from a willingness to get out of the
studio. On the one hand are small melodies and motifs
of a subtle beauty, orchestrated with a skill that has
led to work with the London Sinfonietta. But for this
album Passamonte spent as much time in her "other"
studio - the great outdoors - using field recordings to
give her music a pastoral clothing.
These musical landscapes are in a sense folk music,
and coupled with Passamonte's work in Aldeburgh, bring
irresistible parallels with Benjamin Britten. One of
Britten's legacies is the Aldeburgh Festival, whose
parent company has worked closely with Mira Calix in
semi-classical pieces.
The classical sensibilities come through on Eyes
Set Against The Sun, the three spaces between the
album's title words at the request of the composer. At
first glance this smacks of pretension, but having
read the composer's thoughts is anything but,
emphasising the importance of silence in her music and
words.
All of which might lead you to think that the album
requires a lot of effort on the part of the listener
to make any sense, but happily it operates on two
levels. Close listening is rewarded with the intricacy
of scoring - careful placing of electronic and
analogue sounds, especially good on headphones or
widescreen.
It reveals parts of the eleven minute
centerpiece Way You Are When to be like a giant
machine lumbering into action, immediately flanked by
disembodied children's choir and pizzicato strings
that bring parallels to Britten once again.
Listening from a distance often brings a warm
ambience, with the soundscapes setting the electronica
against natural sounds from the forest, as in Protean,
or in Belonging, which sounds like objects blowing
softly in the wind, rather like a Cage piece for
prepared piano.
This doesn't mean the music of Mira Calix is
derivative - far from it. And in the words of
Passamonte, Eyes Set has a yellow coloration. It's
in indication of the warmth she brings to her music on
this album, whose natural music proves most rewarding,
regardless of the effort the listener wants to put
in.
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