Kate Moore
Ridgeway
NETHERLANDS Unsounds 75U CD (2023)
Kate Moore is a relatively prolific Australian composer and former sound artist, born in the UK and currently based in the Netherlands. Her works are performed by Asko|Schönberg, Bang on a Can, Icebreker, Slagwerk Den Haag, Ensemble Offspring, the Australian String Quartet, The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Groot Omroepkoor. She studied with the late Dutch composer Louis Andriessen. Ridgeway follows Moore’s 2021 album Revolver also on Unsounds, but she also has previous releases on ECM, Cantaloupe, 4 Tay Inc. and Ensemble Klang.
The music on Ridgeway consists of six pieces and is performed by a group of eleven players plus conductor, Gregory Charette. Moore states a deliberate connection between her “…memory of places and sensory experience…” when writing these pieces. The first, “Ridgeway” is at turns aggressive and taciturn, strident and delicate, at times bubbling with uncertainty. “101” pushes the ideas forward in an urgent and sometimes discordant way; making interesting use of bass – or pitch-shifted – guitar, full of ideas, keeping the tension up without release. The mood changes with the following two solo piano pieces performed by Laura Sandee; “Prelude” and “Sliabh Beagh”, named after a mountainous area in County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. The intriguingly-named “Bushranger Psychodrama” lives up to its appellation with eerie strings and organ, while “The Dam” – either referencing a dammed reservoir or perhaps an abbreviation of either Amsterdam or Rotterdam – is particularly intriguing. I have to mention that it is great to come across a piece of composition specifically for didgeridoo, which I feel is an unfairly overlooked and underused instrument – at least in the classical music world – with unique characteristics. The didgeridoo player here is Lies Beijerinck, self-styled “Didge Mother of Holland”.
Overall, a great addition to the Unsounds catalogue.