The Fredösphere

Steve Hicken at Symphony X loves Blue Rhythm by William Duckworth, and he quotes New York critic Kyle Gann who calls it "absolutely sop-shelf postminimalism," and says "if you're not wowed, well, I guess postminimalism's just not for you."  Go and listen to the sound file.

Wowed ain't what I am, yet, but let me go on to caveat this thing to within an inch of its hairsbreadth.

First, I think the recording in the link is disappointing in its insufficient splendiferousness.  Frankly, the performers sound like they are playing inside a large wood crate.  That in itself may account for all of my problem, although maybe I'm so fundamentally biased toward vocal music that I can't fully appreciate the sound of a violin and piano.

The fact is, I am wowed by William Duckworth's music, when it happens to be for choir.  I fell in love with his Southern Harmony, bought the CD, and eventually forced (at gunpoint) my church choir to sing two movements of it.  (Both were sung in a concert setting.  Only one, Turtle Dove, was appropriate for a worship service.  And no, I'm a Lutheran, not some nut-job pagan who worships little white birds; the name of each movement comes from the hymn tune's name, not the text.)  Those scores were printed (photocopied really, from the look of them) on an on-demand basis and were freakin' expensive.  Then it turned out I underestimated the music's difficulty, and that made for some high-tension rehearsals, a situation that still bothers my conscience.

Uh, Mr. Fredosphere sir?  When have you ever not underestimated music's difficulty?

Amazon has some snippets of Southern Harmony for your listening pleasure.  If you're not wowed, well, I guess using your ears to listen to vibrations traveling through the air isn't for you.

Maybe Duckworth's vocal music mesmerizes me because the irregular repetition (remember, this is postminimalism, so the feel of the music similar to minimalism but the patterns are not rigid) is perfect for word play and startling juxtapositions of meaning.  Without that to latch on to, my ear will need to attend more carefully to the notes themselves to find out what Hicken, Gann, et al. are enjoying.