| April 2008Somewhere in the
Border’s area of Scotland lies the real Garden of Cosmic Speculation. American
composer Michael Gandolfi’s three-part symphony, given its world premiere recording
by Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony, is the composer’s attempt to put into music
his impressions of that garden. To listen to this recording is to stroll contemplatively
through the Garden's many reaches; as befits anything dedicated to the cosmos, this
composition is an amalgam of past, present, and future. Gandolfi makes good use of all the
themes he borrows to offer many opportunities for speculation and quiet contemplation. I
was especially taken with his mixture of all manner of Western music -- including Bach,
Mozart, Beethoven, Stravinsky, Miles Davis, Steve Reich and Gregorian chant -- during
"The Universe Cascade," and how he weaves Gershwin inferences into "The
Willowtrist" and Copland into "Gigue." But this album isn’t only about
the past, as Gandolfi also includes plenty of his own 20th- and 21st-century ideas as
well, such as in "The Quark Walk." These give this work a fresh, contemporary
appeal.
As usual, the sound that Telarc’s Michael Bishop has
produced is top-flight. You get a wide, deep soundstage, excellent instrumental
separation, and accurate instrumental timbres, plus an overall cohesiveness that helps to
hold all these aspects together. The CD layer is good, the stereo SACD better, and the
multichannel layer finer still, as it places you within the soundscape to truly encourage
your mind to wander.
If you have an explorer’s mentality and a
dreamer’s heart, this recording will allow both to blossom. It’s good to see
modern composers not losing sight of where their music came from as they strive to move
forward in a modern world.
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Michael Gandolfi - The
Garden of Cosmic Speculation
