Ronald Stevenson's Passacaglia on DSCH is a work that descends not only from Busoni and Sorabji, but also from Buxtehude and Bach. A traditional passacaglia, a Baroque form, is built on a "ground," a theme that repeats in the bass while "variations" are played above it. In this monumental passacaglia, the theme is the four notes D, E flat, C, and B, the same motif Dmitry Shostakovich used to personalize his music. This theme is ever-present in this work, almost overpowering the interesting, complex juxtapositions of other ...
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Ronald Stevenson's Passacaglia on DSCH is a work that descends not only from Busoni and Sorabji, but also from Buxtehude and Bach. A traditional passacaglia, a Baroque form, is built on a "ground," a theme that repeats in the bass while "variations" are played above it. In this monumental passacaglia, the theme is the four notes D, E flat, C, and B, the same motif Dmitry Shostakovich used to personalize his music. This theme is ever-present in this work, almost overpowering the interesting, complex juxtapositions of other themes and rhythms that Stevenson has built over the ground bass. It is a work that will take most listeners time to appreciate. The included notes, by Stevenson and McLachlan, help you understand what is going on in the various sections (although the track listing is incorrect). There are times when you wish McLachlan would bring out some of the other elements even more, lessening the presence of the ground bass. It isn't until the very last sections that this ground is moved into...
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