Customer Reviews

Joby Talbot: The Dying Swan

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

 

 

Jody Talbot, British pop and soundtrack composer, has produced a series of intimate pieces that are quietly and profoundly emotional. I have found listening to these to be one of the most contemplatively inspiring sets of music I have ever heard. There is much to consider here. The influences from the minimalist and post-modern schools are clear, yet Talbot brings in a painful subcontext that leads one to reflection. It's a bit like looking at a zen garden and then realizing that there is an orange blossom opening up. At times there is that John Barry like feel of cinemascope that is broad, yet somehow reigned in to focus on a particular mode or scale, perhaps in the order of Gavin Bryars. When the music does this it is at its most compelling. This is the work that an ensemble like Orchestra 2001 might take up: at once modern and ageless, intelligent and spiritual, passionate and sublime. This is absolutely worth investigating.

What I hate about most modern classical music is its inability to communicate. Maybe it's me, but I like to hear a tune, a melody, a line that I can follow without reference to a technical manual. But there's a lot of tuneful rubbish out there. So, I'd almost given up on the whole sorry scene, when I heard about Joby Talbot. In my (humble) opinion, this man's a genius!

The Dying Swan - Music for 1-7 Players is a collection of beautiful music - and that's 'beautiful' in the truest sense of the word. The disc takes you on an emotional journey which is neither manipulative nor pretentious (unlike this reviewer, you may think).

If you think modern classical music is dead in the water - go buy this CD and revel in the discovery that not all living composers are the same.

I bought this cd after hearing a clip of String Quartet No2. There are minimalist elements but minimalism doesn't necessarily mean repetitive (as one reviewer wrote - twice) - only if you're listening on a literal, overly-simplistic level. Talbot is an extremely talented composer and this is worth a listen.

Boring, repetative, self-indulgentand above all pointless turgid pap. But then again, with a hackneyed cliched title "The Dying Swan" you'd be a fool to expect anything else.

If you're fully up your own backside with modern music and reptative refrains that go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on ...... then buy it. Otherwise avoid this album like you would avoid a syphatlic lepper with the plague.

Boring, repetative, self-indulgentand above all pointless turgid pap. But then again, with a hackneyed cliched title "The Dying Swan" you'd be a fool to expect anything else.

If you're fully up your own backside with modern music and reptative refrains that go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on ...... then buy it. Otherwise avoid this album like you would avoid a syphatlic lepper with the plague.