Kingdom Come; Hymnodic Delays; Fog Tropes II. (More Jazz Than Not).Ingram Marshall Ingram Marshall (born May 10, 1942 in Mount Vernon, New York) is an American composer and a former student of Vladimir Ussachevsky and Morton Subotnick. He is best known for his electronic works. : Kingdom Come; Hymnodic Delays; Fog Tropes II The American Composers Orchestra/Paul Lustig Dunkel, cond.; The Theater of Voices/Paul Hillier, director; Kronos Quartet Kronos Quartet is a string quartet founded by violinist David Harrington in 1973. Since 1978, the quartet has been based in San Francisco, California. The longest-running combination of performers (from 1978 to 1999) had Harrington and John Sherba on violin, Hank Dutt on viola and (Nonesuch none·such also non·such n. 1. A person or thing without equal. 2. See black medic. none 79613-2) It is still hard for me to realize that it has been nearly two decades since I have listened to the music of Ingrain in·grain tr.v. in·grained, in·grain·ing, in·grains 1. To fix deeply or indelibly, as in the mind: Marshall (b. 1942). He is a composer whose music I had found interesting back when I was in graduate school (I wrote a review many years ago of an LP that contained the first Fog Tropes, which was arranged for brass and tape), but then I just simply lost track of him. When I ran across this new release recently, my curiosity was piqued, and I just had to purchase this CD and give it a listen as soon as I got home. After a few minutes of listening, it was as though I had rediscovered a long-lost friend. The opening notes of Kingdom Come bring to mind Sibelius's The Swan of Tuonela, but in the sense of homage, not imitation. Marshall likes to integrate "found" sounds into his music, and in Kingdom Come we get choirs, a priest intoning, and other sounds worked into the composition. It might sound like a mess, but it works. This is a moving piece, a comforting piece, one that seems especially welcome in light of the terrible events of September 11, 2001. Hymnodic Delays features the fantastic singing of the Theater of Voices, with Marshall using digital tricks and effects to enhance the sound for musical ends. The music itself is based on early New England New England, name applied to the region comprising six states of the NE United States—Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The region is thought to have been so named by Capt. "signing masters," and has a hymn-like quality. Marshall has arranged the music and arranged the sound top his own ends; the end result is spellbinding spell·bind tr.v. spell·bound , spell·bind·ing, spell·binds To hold under or as if under a spell; enchant or fascinate. [Back-formation from spellbound. , and once again, comforting. There is hope and joy and faith and peace in this music, which sounds old and new at the same time. Fog Tropes II is a reworking of Fog Tropes. Arranged for string quartet string quartet Ensemble consisting of two violins, viola, and cello, or a work written for such an ensemble. Since c. 1775 such works have been perhaps the predominant genre of chamber music. and tape, the end result is a piece that seems more oriented to be regarded as pure music as opposed to the almost theater-like orientation of the original arrangement for brass sextet and tape. With the sound of a foghorn fog·horn n. 1. Nautical A horn for sounding warning signals in fog or darkness, used especially on ships, buoys, and coastal installations. 2. A booming, insistent voice. sounding in the distance, the music evokes an imaginary space, a harbor in and of and beyond the mind. What a wonderful recording this is! And how wonderful it is to see that a company such as Nonesuch is willing to invest in music that is out of the mainstream. I do hope that some of our readers will be willing to give this disc and audition: how about you? |
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