Daniel Asia, Contributor 

Two Concerts In Tucson

04/03/2017

I then walked over to the neighboring theater where the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music were giving the final concert of its annual winter chamber music festival.  A brand new piece came next, by Pierre Jalbert. I have never heard a piece of his I haven’t admired and this one was no exception. A Piano Quartet in four movements, this one includes a first movement-Mannheim Rocket- which features simple scalar passages always going up; Kyrie, a chant-like movement; a scherzo,that featured wispy glissandi a la Earle Brown’s String Quartet; and finally a last movement, Pulse, which does just that for its entirety. His music, and this piece, is well-crafted, and full of energy well-placed, and reveals a deeper soul as well. He combines disparate materials in a way that is natural and communicative. The music moves with clarity and purpose, and is never forced. Structures are clear and satisfying, and while the music reveals its glories on first hearing, it is evident there is more to be discovered on further listenings. Neither hip nor trendy, Jalbert is the real thing, a composer who has things to say and says them very, very, well.

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