Transition & Apotheosis
Navona, 2024
8/10
Listen to Transition & Apotheosis
The Society of Composers, Inc. bring us 10 tracks from 10 different composers, where each selection recruits different performers and many different ideas.
“Carnyx”, by Chris Arrell, starts the listen with warm and mysterious fixed media that guides the chilling landscape, and “Scissors Fantasia Toccata” follows with April Kim’s rumbling keys that allow for April Kim’s very agile fingers to mesmerize us via the Jiyoun Chung original.
Paul Lombardi’s “Unwoven” arrives in the middle, and pairs Luis Víquez’s moody bass clarinet and Darin Wadley’s bright vibraphone for a distinct energy, while “Struggling With Excess”, by Robert McClure, allows Michele Fiala’s meticulous oboe to complement the fixed media that sometimes seems like field recordings.
Approaching the end, “Sans Titre VII (B)” spotlights Brian Utley’s intimate alto saxophone and William Price’s vision with much grace, and “Tik-Tak”, by Ania Vu, recruits The Tak Ensemble, where Charlotte Mundy’s unpredictable soprano interacts charmingly with Laura Cocks’ flute, Carlos Cordeiro’s clarinet, Marina Kifferstein’s violin and Ellery Trafford’s percussion.
A record where each track is uniquely different, there’s plenty of avant-garde ideas to enjoy across this creative endeavor.
Travels well with: University Of South Dakota Chamber Singers- Out Of The Ashes; Richard Crosby- By The Waters Of Memory