Remember
Navona, 2021
8/10
The esteemed composer Stanley Grill knows his way around a song with medieval and Renaissance influences, and here’s aligned with Brett Deubner and Thomas Steigerwald on viola and piano across a handful of very unique compositions.
“Remember” opens the listen with elegant strings from Deubner as firm keys from Steigerwald accent the 5 movements that bring heartfelt and sophisticated classical ideas to the very skilled landscape, and “O, Mystery!” follows and really allows the precise and playful viola work to shine.
In the middle, “Aphorisms II” is 20 minutes of divine beauty as sublime and calculated interplay between the pair unfolds with both bare and lush approaches, while “In Memory” is a glorious display of subdued, stirring song craft plus jumpy, frisky moments of adventurousness. “Civil War Songs” finishes the listen, where agile piano and proficient strings produce an absorbing and profound climate.
A listen that’s not short on melody or modal harmonies, Grill and company tackle themes of translating elements of the tangible into sound as well as advocating for peace through music, and it results in a highly technical and easily enjoyable peek into a very creative mind.
Travels well with: The Crossing- Tower And The Garden; Herb Deutsch- Encounters