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Tracks  1. Present i) Drammatico
2. Present ii) Inquieto
3. Present iii) Vigoroso
4. Present iv) Piangevole
5. Beacon Hill
6. You Cut the String
7. Unquiet Earth i) Alla Fantasia
8. Unquiet Earth ii) Alla Danza
Personnel
1-4) Present for string quartet
Drammatico
Inquieto
Vigoroso
Piangevole
Bingham String Quartet
Steve Bingham - violin
Marina Gillam - violin
Brenda Stewart - viola
James Halsey – cello
Recorded at Rectory Studios, Cambridge, UK , 2010 and 2011
5) Beacon Hill for ensemble
Contact
Mary Katherine Finch - cello
Wallace Halladay - saxophones
Rob MacDonald - guitar
Calum Macleod - bass
Jerry Pergolesi - percussion
Allison Wiebe - piano.
Recorded by Bryan Lowe, Toronto, Canada, 2011
6) You Cut the String for electric violin and loops
Steve Bingham – electric violin
Recorded at Rectory Studios, Cambridge, 2010.
7-8) Unquiet Earth for piano trio
Alla Fantasia/Volante
Alla Danza
Valen Trio
Einar Røttingen - piano
Ricardo Odriozola-violin
John Ehde – cello
Recorded in Bergen, Norway, by Jan Øyvind Hannevik, 2010
Mastering by Simon Heyworth, assisted by Andy Hill, at Super Audio Mastering, Chagford, Devon, UK., April 2011.
Sleeve Design by Jim Marsden Photography
Andrew Keeling's diverse career has previously led to work with Evelyn Glennie, The Hilliard Quartet and King Crimson, and in the chamber works on Unquiet Earth he exhibits a similar straddling of influences.
His string quartet piece "Present" isn't so much anti-contemporary classical in style so much as reinforcing pre-modernist forms with the buttresses of minimalism – the latter also notably present in the hypnotic waves of "You Cut the String", written for Steve Bingham's electric violin.
But throughout, there's an intimate, discursive quality to the way Keeling manipulates his chosen compositional elements, the urgent rhythmic motifs and triadic tone structures, particularly in the more reflective passages of "Unquiet Earth". Andy Gill, the Independent July 7th 2012
"Over the last decade or so, Andrew Keeling has covered a lot of ground. Aside from his love of fell-walking, as a composer he’s been striding purposefully across varied territories. There’s been the contemporary chamber settings on Quickening The Dead, improvised music on English Sun (joined by ex-King Crimson violinist David Cross) and more recently, a reversion to his pre-classical roots as a folky on First Things and Soror. The rock-orientated Bells Of Heaven in which Keeling goes electric also provides further testimony to his eclecticism.
Despite such radically different facets a constant seam veined throughout his work has been an unerring facility with melody. Returning to contemporary chamber music, his writing on Unquiet Earth, energetically bustles with bright timbres and strident rhythms on Present for string quartet and the title track, scored for piano trio.
Keeling's careful balance between harmonic impact and understated drama is masterful and Beacon Hill is the album’s outstanding piece. Sombre gently chiming percussion, electric guitar and dark, rumbles of cello and piano slowly part, allowing a keening violin to emerge like a silvery light between pensive clouds. Joined by saxophone, a similarly mournful line is gently etched, yet as the piece comes to rest a pale but hopeful light prevails."
Sid Smith, June 23rd 2012
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