Customer Reviews

Fog Tropes - Gradual Requiem

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One of my favorite albums of any genre, Fog Tropes/Gradual Requiem is an unforgettable, beautiful work with a wide variety of moods from gloomy foghorns to bright mandolin. It is fascinating and groundbreaking, yet infused with rhythm (fast, slow or in between) that holds the listener's attention throughout. In Gradual Requiem, we feel the cycles of grief (Marshall dedicated the album to his late father) alternating between despair, recovery, and resolution. The album that made me a fan of Ingram Marshall.

The only two adjectives I can think of to describe this recording seem mutually exclusive; 'creepy' and 'beautiful!' Marshall's early soundscapes are intensely captivating and moving. Ever wonder what the Chicago Symphony's brass section would sound like at the bottom of Lake Michigan? Listen to _Fog Tropes!_ All three pieces on this disc are very strong, and should appeal to fans of contemporary 'art' music and ambient music alike.

I first heard this composers work on BBC3's Late Junction (an invaluable resource for new/music from leftfield, if you don't already know it). Consequently, I bought this album on the strength of 'Fog Tropes' alone, as the concept of a piece of music constructed around the mournful and mysterious sound of foghorns at sea, was both highly atmospheric and emotionally addictive. A ragged medley of foghorns is slowly replaced by instruments and studio effects, only to conclude at the end with the lonely voices of seabirds reclaiming the piece back to the uncertain world of sound and shadow once more. I was pleased to discover that the other two pieces, 'Gradual Requiem', a beautifully layered development,with a depth and rich complexity which rewards repeated listening and 'Gambuh'(a Balinese flute) were also fascinating and complex pieces of modern music.(Though it has to be said that part-way through 'Gambuh' I thought my cd had stuck!) The range of instruments called into play is impressive, from brass sextets and the obligatory fog horns, to piano, mandolin, synthesizer, gambuh, and voice delay; the resulting sounds and textures are both appealing and complex (ie this is music which won't pall). John Adams, no less, is a fan, has conducted Marshall's work, and contributes an insightful introduction to the album. This is atmospheric, richly layered, challenging and rewarding music for grown-ups. If this matches your profile, don't hesitate.

A great name in modern music, Ingram Marshall plays on the borderline between neo-classical and ambient musics.
Always captivating, never boring, this is one of his best works, along with 'Alcatraz'.

I heard Gradual Requiem Pt. II on a strange website last decade. Among the thousands of songs I've collected over the years, none of them impact me so much. How's that for a review? It puts my whole being at ease. If there's a Heaven, I think that's what it's like.

Otherwise, however, I'm not so tickled, even though it's a solid and interesting observation by an unsung composer.

I was so happy to discover this. I listen to it often. Since then I have picked up many of Marshall's other CDs.

Anyway, the other ***** reviewers describe it perfectly and I don't think I could add anything except just to concur with their observations.

It is a music which has rhythms that you hear in everyday life.

I first heard "Fog Tropes" on a John Adams CD I got almost accidentally. It's called "American Elegies" and has other pieces by Charles Ives, David Diamond, and a few others. I could picture a ship going through a deep fog. Then I had the opportunity to listen to this. Marshall has me hooked!

Mind you, I'm not a fan of "new age" music. Minimalist music appeals to be because, I suppose, of my taste for Ligeti and his contributions to "2001: A Space Odyssey." I don't even know into what category this music falls, except good.

That's it! It reminds me of what I would expect to hear of the interstellar music which signalled the earth in Mary Doria Russell's "The Sparrow," which, by the way, is an excellent novel.

No, it ain't gonna make it at a dance party. But if you need to relax, maybe even contemplate your navel for a moment, listen to this music, like a new medium, or something you may hear from another world.