October 2006The eight tracks
of this two-disc set trace their lineage to a peculiarly easy-going, American turn on
classical musics avant-garde. Lou Harrison, Terry Riley, Morton Feldman, John Cage,
George Crumb, et al. would be right at home in Warren Burts ravishing
sound-world. Why "ravishing"? If we expand the definition of music to include
any purposeful organization of sound, envision leisurely clouds of purest sound-color
going nowhere in particular. This music dwells in an abstract present, announcing neither
beginning nor end. If you had to assign a genre, "ambient" might suffice if it
were understood that a keen and purposeful musical intelligence plays a large part.
"Downtown" probably says it better. (In present-day classical jargon,
"downtown" means "simple" and "uptown" "complex.")
The compositions consist in their entirety of struck
aluminum bars similar to tuning forks, milled to microtonal scales. The fascination is
twofold: the beauty of the initial attacks and the richly textured complexities of their
interactions and decays. By way of computer manipulation, Burt sidesteps the need to
machine additional bars in order to achieve yet more detailed microtonal clusters. You
would never guess the computers part had you not read the excellent notes by the
composer and by postminimal pioneer William Duckworth.
The wonderfully detailed, up-close sound comes across as
strictly acoustic: the thinking audiophiles ideal demo. Head music to be sure, best
experienced in a dimly lit room with a few fingers of your favorite firewater in hand.
GO BACK TO:
|