Customer Reviews

Kingdom Come; Hymnodic Delays; Fog Tropes II for String Quartet and Tap

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

 

 

Ingram Marshall succeeds again with his second album in a little under a month. He seamlessly blends electronic and acoustic elements here to create three profoundly moving works for varied forces. The title work, for orchestra and tape, blends Sibelius-like romanticism with eerie yet beautiful tape effects and is certainly the highlight of this disc. "Hymnodic Delays," written for Paul Hillier's Theatre of Voices, uses digital delay and echo effects to transform this small vocal ensemble into something richer and more powerful. A reworking of Marshall's famous work "Fog Tropes" ends the album, with the Kronos Quartet taking the place of the original brass sextet. More a re-envisioning of the work rather than a new arrangement of the same material, it serves as an excellent ending to a masterful collection of works. Marshall's music continues to set the standard by which all other electro-acoustic music should be judged - his music is never overshadowed by the technology it employs, with both acoustic and electronic elements working in absolute harmony. A real triumph.

Apart from a measure or 2 here & there, the music on this cd is a lamp swinging slightly in fog & wind. The first piece, Kingdom Come, is has some great scenes Ingram Marshall happened upon & recorded & music he later composed for the concrete tape recordings to be in. He stresses that both the instrumental sections he composed & the tape are music; it's not just the music he composed with some tape sounds thrown in. The way they work together can be in turns deeply relaxing or creepy & haunting. But more relaxing -- even more with the few atonal or haunting shocks keeping the listener alert. Airy.

Then, the cd's next piece, Hymnodic Delays, is made up of 4 songs. The first 3 were composed in the late 18th century. The 4th, the 17th century. Marshall added reverb & echo to them. They're very poignant pieces to begin with; that was his attraction to them. When listening, you can hear that he echoes just the perfect notes -- just the ones that bring the emotion to its height. And the music moves. The chant-like effects of the echo & reverb add to the poignancy of the music. For me, the 2nd of these songs, "Broad Road," is the most enjoyable, because the voices are so distinct & the reverb impeccable. The final Hymnodic Delays song is the most bouncy -- a fitting climax after the much more somber previous 3.

The cd's last piece is a rescoring of the piece For Tropes for string quartet. The piece started decades ago called Fog, a tape of the Balinese flute "gambuh" & ambient maritime sounds such as foghorns & birds recorded at the San Francisco harbor. He "troped" it in 1982 when he added the brass parts. The idea then was that the timbre of the brass & foghorns would blend together as though of the same instrumental family. Now that it's "twice troped" with string quartet instead of brass, the different timbres of the piece work against each other. It's very beautiful, the different kinds of sound you find swirling & growing around you here. It feels very careful. The music is so thick. & the intensity/etherealness undulate just like the marina's waves.

What rock have I been hiding under? Over the years, I've listened to a considerable amount of "new" music, much of it electronic in nature. Yet, to discover Ingram Marshall was a complete surprise to me. I was roundly impressed with these slender exquiste combinations of tape, vocals and instruments. I am even more surpised to see that Mr. Marshall has a substantial back catalogue of work. Fog Tropes II is just sheer delight. Hymnodic Delays is fascinating. Where are those headphones when I need them?

I read a performance review of "Kingdom Come" in the NY Times, which stated that some in the audience wept and said it was the most beautiful piece they had ever heard. While this seems to be a slight exaggeration, it is indeed a first-rate recording. I have been familiar with this composer's music for 25 years, long before he became generally known.
I recommend it.

Ingram Marshall writes pretty music that is fine to play while cleaning the house or relaxing, but doesn't promote close listening. In place of soul and depth is process, and in place of expression is cleverness. The pieces on this album sound good, and mean nothing.