Search - Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Paul Herbert :: The Passing Measures

Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Paul Herbert
The Passing Measures
Genre: Classical

Track Listings (1) - Disc #1
1. The Passing Measures

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CD Details

All Artists: Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Paul Herbert
Title: The Passing Measures
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Cantaloupe
Release Date: 4/10/2001
Album Type: Import
Genre: Classical
Styles: Opera & Classical Vocal, Instruments, Electronic, Symphonies
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 682452003527

Synopsis

Amazon.com

Hearing David Lang's The Passing Measures for the first time, you can't help but feel drawn into the composer's sound world. This CD consists of just one track: one hauntingly beautiful, 42-minute track. Reminiscent of the more soothing works by Morton Feldman, Brian Eno, and Gavin Bryars, Lang's piece is as ambient as they come; a single, extended chord ebbs and flows and resonates for nearly an hour. Performed by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, clarinetist Marty Ehrlich, and a women's choir all playing as softly as possible, the entire performance was later amplified, bringing to light the eerie nature of these musicians holding back. Sounding both atmospheric and electric, the simple formula for this orchestral piece works; just don't expect much in the way of drama. The CD begins with the musicians already in flight and it ends with a simple contemplative touchdown. An acquired taste, for sure, but utterly mesmerizing. --Jason Verlinde

CD Reviews

A truly amazing ambient piece...

Dan | Ohio | 06/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This cd, to put simply, is well worth the price. There is an amazing atmosphere here. It reminds me very much of Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians, the Pulses sections, if you took out the percussive sounds of the instruments and left only the echo, the resonance. There is a very continuous, steady feel about the piece, yet i find certain moments bring certain moods, those of sheer brilliance and happiness, and those which remind me of the aftermath of a war or something of that sort. It is also a very dissonant, echoing, droning piece, marked by moments where certain voices in the orchestra make themselves gradually more present, and then fade back into the lush background. All the while, light percussion scrapes and rattles, very quietly, which adds surprisingly gentle texture to the song, as though the orchestra is the ocean waves and the percussion is the rattling of distant buoys or the light crash of water on the rocks.

This is a work of astounding beauty, and is ideal for a fan of any kind of music that is ambient, meditative, relaxing, etc. etc."

On a level with Gavin Bryars' works....

Samuel D. Burns | Charleston, SC United States | 04/11/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you like the quiet moving beauty of Gavin Bryar's Sinking of the Titanic, then you will likely love this masterpiece.

I installed this CD in my car (which I use too much for work) and was instantly removed from the mundane. This is a quiet piece (the CD is one long hymn)but not so hushed that it doesn't counteract the sounds of motoring. A very rare find indeed.

"

Shimmering, beautiful, timeless

Samuel D. Burns | 07/11/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"reminiscent of Morton Feldman but more lush, more "ear-candy" if you will. the composition seems like a single perfect moment stretched and extended and each time i play it i never want it to end."