Customer Reviews

Aporias: Requia For Piano & Orchestra

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am not always a great fan of Zorn's concert music. Though some of the string music is quite lovely, I find that often, Zorn's interest in cartoon music, though it is brilliant in groups like Naked City, falls flat in the concert music. And the interest in quoting other material leaves me quite flat...it seems way too hip.

But this piece is making me think more seriously about Zorn the composer. Aporias is basically a concerto for piano and orchestra with several movements for unusual combinations, such as children's voices or hand claps. The Prelude has the feel of many other Zorn pieces...within the space of several seconds the music careens from cocktail to Stockhausen to Mickey Mouse. But the material settles down after that. Most of the movements are dominated by dark sombre chords and clusters in the orchestra, with Klavierstucke-like piano figures and some really striking sonic effects. The Con Mistero movement includes some haunting singing from members of an Eastern European boychoir. The music resembles nothing so much as the music of Morton Feldman. The composer also shows a marvelous ear for orchestral sonority. It makes you hope that he will have the opportunity to composer more music in this medium.

Ultimately, the largest problem that I've had with most of Zorn's concert music is it's static quality. Though the surface buzzes with detail, the sheer variety of the material ends up paradoxically making the pieces go nowhere. Aporias is a great step forward in this respect. Zorn manages to tie his diverse material together and subject it to an overall arch plan. This, plus the deep melencholy feeling in the work, makes it a very successful piece of concert music. To all of those who dismiss Zorn as a composer, this should give you material for reevaluation. It's definately worth a listen.

When I first began listening to John Zorn's chamber music, I was very excited at the idea of an orchestra piece, which "Aporias" is. Zorn's chamber work has interested me where many other composers' work has not in that it feels much like his other music, it feels chaotic on first listen but its actually highly organized, its performed to a virtuoso level, more often than not, any calm is awaiting the birth of a storm, an explosion is always on the horizon-- whether it manifests or not.

"Aporias" is in fact a situation where the horizon never quite arrives-- just over half an hour in length-- the piece builds and recedes-- the orchestra never plays in unity, one or two parts come in at a time, and when there's "too many" and listening to this, that make sense, they go away. The tension never quite breaks, but it never quite builds either.

Admittedly, I was waiting for the explosion, but the closest we get is aggressive piano over handclapping in "Risentito", but this is ok, the tension present throughout the piece is enough. There's really quite a powerful emotional current throughout this music, the spirit the composer was reaching for is more often than not right in front of the listener.

But don't approach this with expectations-- it didn't meet mine and it took more than a couple listens to accept that. Nonetheless, the piece is subtle and rewarding, and one of the best chamber works by the composer, and quite honestly-- it is wholly a Zorn piece, all the signposts of his work is here, just presented in a very subtle light-- Stalling, Coleman, Morricone, etc. all rise and fall, but in a very different way. Highly recommended.

Zorn has written a half-hour tribute to the artistic spirit, employing a small orchestra to play blocks of music. It takes a while to get used to but, because you get something new every time you listen, it's rewarding. If you like Zorn (or anything on his label, Tzadik), you'll like this. Casual listeners might not be too happy with it.

This is a challenging work, well worth the effort. It takes you in uncharted territories, beyond the realms explored by the likes of Boulez, Ligeti, Stockhausen, Messiaen etc. It's a very stimulating experience, because you're sort of on your own to grasp what's going on. Not much has been said or written about this record, it's not part of a "theoretical movement". Some think it's a mere curiosity in the Zorn œuvre, but I believe it's not : it's a very exciting addition to a multidimensional body of work which encompasses style and genre barriers. This recording is neither "popular music" or "classical" : it is a unique work, which challenges rigid classifications. But is it a pleasurable listen ? Yes. It really is, although it does take repeated listenings. To me, Zorn (like Zappa) is in a unique position : his musical abilities are immense and fortunately not limited by a narrowing training in a very specific area. This enables him to fuel his avant-garde compositions with new blood, as compared to the more contrived works of other "modern day" composers. This was already the case with other great modern composers, such as Varese, Xenakis, Feldman or Zappa. Aporias exemplifies what true "crossover" can be, as opposed to blending a bunch of stylistic "clichés". If you've ever dreamed of hearing a large symphonic orchestra driven by the sense of adventure of hardcore and free-jazz, this work is for you.

If you like contemporary classical composition, put your preconceptions and prejudices away, listen to the music and you will have a very real treat. This is a masterpiece. The orchestration is brilliant and the overall arch is right on point. Using the orchestra like a series of chamber groups gives the players a real chance to shine, and the musicians clearly are enjoying performing this music, especially Steve Drury (OMG--amazing) who really takes it to the limits of virtuosity here. This is a real accomplishment in this day and age. As always with Zorn, the colors and imagination involved is stunning, and here it is combined with a brilliant formal logic. Highly recommended.

For the people who don't consider Zorn to be a classical composer please remember that he has been writing classical music since he was a child, that the best New York chamber players love playing his music, and that many important composers are all strong supporters of his. Whatever we think, it's the musicians who really know, and a lot of really incredible musicians love playing this guy's music.

This is a challenging work, well worth the effort. It takes you in uncharted territories, beyond the realms explored by the likes of Boulez, Ligeti, Stockhausen, Messiaen etc. It's a very stimulating experience, because you're sort of on your own to grasp what's going on. Not much has been said or written about this record, it's not part of a "theoretical movement". Some think it's a mere curiosity in the Zorn œuvre, but I believe it's not : it's a very exciting addition to a multidimensional body of work which encompasses style and genre barriers. This recording is neither "popular music" or "classical" : it is a unique work, which challenges rigid classifications. But is it a pleasurable listen ? Yes. It really is, although it does take repeated listenings. To me, Zorn (like Zappa) is in a unique position : his musical abilities are immense and fortunately not limited by a narrowing training in a very specific area. This enables him to fuel his avant-garde compositions with new blood, as compared to the more contrived works of other "modern day" composers. This was already the case with other great modern composers, such as Varese, Xenakis, Feldman or Zappa. Aporias exemplifies what true "crossover" can be, as opposed to blending a bunch of stylistic "clichés". If you've ever dreamed of hearing a large orchestra driven by the sense of adventure of hardcore and free-jazz, this work is for you.

What a shame everybody, you know? Truely inexplicable the way our mothers hold our hands so tight. Is it true however that they know where they lead us?,,./03#$/'''Does anybody? Do you? Wheather or not I can spell or punctuate is not the question, is it? What is the question? What question am I speaking of? Why? Laughter is the only thing that matters when we're laughing.You know, what a shame. The way our mothers hold our hand. Is John still here? What if I asked him a question? Would that help me or him? ~~~`'\[- Is tearing paper musical? Is asking questions? Can bassons talk to flutes? Can you here me breathing? How many questions hava you read so far? Are you as they say alive? Really? Then you own this cd? Posses or own(body ,mind, spirt,with headphones on)? Is there nothing I can say to convince you? Would my mom like this? NO? How many times did you listen? What do I mean by listening? Ever been in love? With plastic or girlfriends? Are you, as they say, alive? How many times did you read this? What a shame.

Not a bad record. Far from. Simply not the best Zorn record to be found. Great admiration for the man with the thousand ideas but not a fan of his "written" music. Prefer Zorn with other projects: Masada, Naked City and his Film Work collection, in which his talent of chosing performers for his music, imposing his ideas on them and still giving them the freedom to make music that is unmistably John Zorn, are resulting in breathtaking releases.