Buddha Goes Back To Bayreuth
Neuma, 2021
8/10
Listen to Buddha Goes Back To Bayreuth
The inimitable Philadelphia composer Robert Moran returns with a pair of lengthy compositions, where 2 choirs, 2 string ensembles, a solo countertenor, plenty of reverb and Rupert Huber’s esteemed conducting skills are in attendance.
“Part I” starts the album with light vocals amid plenty of atmosphere as strings are used sparingly but effectively. Further on, soft chanting enters the dreamy landscape, as space is manipulated precisely amid both beauty and mystery.
The back half is the longer track, “Part II”, where much ambience is present as moments of cinematic and ominous qualities meet ethereal, nearly spiritual flashes of warmth where the instrumentation is always unpredictable and quite alluring.
Essentially an opera about Buddha, Moran takes on an adventurous project, and his vision of choral, classical, acoustic and iconoclastic texturing has never sounded better.
Travels well with: Wesley Fuller- Seven By Seven; Robert Moran- Points Of Departure