J. Harvey Miscellaneous Works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Jonathan Dean Harvey
Label: Bridge
Magazine Review Date: 11/1992
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 45
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: BCD9031
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| From Silence |
Jonathan Dean Harvey, Composer
Barry Vercoe, Conductor Brent Koeppel, Computer Brent Koeppel, Tape operator David Atherton, Tape operator Dean Anderson, Percussion Diana Dabby, Electric keyboard John MacDonald, Electric keyboard Jonathan Dean Harvey, Composer Karol Bennett, Vocalist/voice Kathleen Supové, Electric keyboard Ken Malsky, Computer Ken Malsky, Tape operator Lucy Chapman Stoltzman, Violin Michael Thompson, Horn Philip Sohn, Tape operator Philip Sohn, Computer |
| Natajara |
Jonathan Dean Harvey, Composer
Harrie Starreveld, Flute Harrie Starreveld, Piccolo Jonathan Dean Harvey, Composer René Eckhardt, Piano |
| Ritual Melodies |
Jonathan Dean Harvey, Composer
Brent Koeppel, Tape operator Brent Koeppel, Computer David Atherton, Tape operator Jonathan Dean Harvey, Composer Ken Malsky, Tape operator Ken Malsky, Computer Philip Sohn, Computer Philip Sohn, Tape operator |
Author: Arnold Whittall
Why compose by computer? Isn't the result certain to be arid and mechanical? Not if you are Jonathan Harvey. His Ritual Melodies (1990) involves what the ear perceives as a single line that flowers into multiple counterpoints without losing its basic timbral identity. This effect could not be achieved with conventional instruments, whose similarities and differences are less minutely refined. While Harvey's computer-generated lines allude to such real instruments as the Indian oboe and the shakuhachi, as well as to chanting voices, they remain simulations ripe for intriguing transformations of identity.
Ritual Melodies displays a strong poetic impulse. I'm not convinced that such a 'pure' computer piece (at least in this stereo mixing-down of the quadraphonic original) has the richness and range obtainable when live instruments are involved as well. There are aspects to the sound—reverberations, occasional harsh eruptions—that reveal the mechanical roots, and even hint at the cliches of musique concrete. Yet Harvey is one of the few composers who can convince the sceptics of the musical value of such technological explorations.
From Silence (1988) is nevertheless more representative of this composer in that live and electroacoustic music interact. As with Ritual Melodies, the aura is religious, but the mood swings widely between meditation and dance, with extremes of peacefulness and violence equally palpable and intense. From Silence reminds us that Schoenberg and Webern used their expressionist idiom to explore transcendent states of mind, and this well-recorded performance, with a small-voiced but strikingly agile and secure singer in Karol Bennett, is powerfully convincing.
Natajara, though relatively short, is no mere makeweight. Superbly performed by Harrie Starreveld and Rene Eckhardt, this dazzling celebration of the god Shiva brilliantly conjures up the presence of ''the four-armed dancer whose movements create and destroy matter throughout eternity''. The recording—bright, but not over-resonant—is particularly well-judged.'
Ritual Melodies displays a strong poetic impulse. I'm not convinced that such a 'pure' computer piece (at least in this stereo mixing-down of the quadraphonic original) has the richness and range obtainable when live instruments are involved as well. There are aspects to the sound—reverberations, occasional harsh eruptions—that reveal the mechanical roots, and even hint at the cliches of musique concrete. Yet Harvey is one of the few composers who can convince the sceptics of the musical value of such technological explorations.
From Silence (1988) is nevertheless more representative of this composer in that live and electroacoustic music interact. As with Ritual Melodies, the aura is religious, but the mood swings widely between meditation and dance, with extremes of peacefulness and violence equally palpable and intense. From Silence reminds us that Schoenberg and Webern used their expressionist idiom to explore transcendent states of mind, and this well-recorded performance, with a small-voiced but strikingly agile and secure singer in Karol Bennett, is powerfully convincing.
Natajara, though relatively short, is no mere makeweight. Superbly performed by Harrie Starreveld and Rene Eckhardt, this dazzling celebration of the god Shiva brilliantly conjures up the presence of ''the four-armed dancer whose movements create and destroy matter throughout eternity''. The recording—bright, but not over-resonant—is particularly well-judged.'
J. Harvey Miscellaneous Works
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