Keyes / Moravian Philharmonic Orch - Reason & Reverance Music CD

Reason and Reverance represents an aural exploration of our world's complexities. By comparing and contrasting present triumphs with past regrets, the composers on this album develop a compelling, philosophical reflection of the world we live in. Conducted by Petr Vronsky, the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra delivers a master class in cohesiveness while tackling a wildly diverse, yet wholly complete set of compositions. The album starts strong with Christopher Keyes' An Inescapable Entanglement. Keyes binds minimalist elements with late 16th and early 17th century forms of concerto to create a controlled chaos of instruments and voices playing distinct parts simultaneously. In his intent to create an antiphonal sound, Keyes employs eight loudspeakers to project the music achieving a thickened, full texture. Red Rock is a symphonic poem commissioned by the Henderson Symphony and it's music director, Taras Krysa. The music is based on the interaction of two musical materials, the first, calm and diatonic, presented by the French horns after the introduction and elaborated by the trumpets and the woodwinds; and the second, more angular and chromatic, also introduced by a solo French horn in the second section. Similar to a sonata form, these materials go through transformations and developments in the middle section, and return evolved and reconciled at the end of the movement. The piece suggests a gliding trip over the stunning landscape of the Red Rock canyon, with it's sharp geological contrasts, it's ever changing shapes, and it's surprising colors. Fernidnando de Sena's Deciphered Reverence explores the idea of divine presence and creates an interpretation through the consistent, triumphant swelling of the orchestra. de Sena's piece captures the many moods, modes, and colors in the music to translate his vision of life and celebrate it's ambiguity and omnipresence. Composed by Willem Van Twillert, multiple styles set the foundation for Branches of Singularity. Multiple developments transitions from one style to another create an enticing and evolving piece. Andrew Schultz' Symphony No. 2 - Ghosts of Reason ties the whole album together. Slowing the pace of the otherwise energetic album, Schultz's composition paints a haunting atmosphere by drawing out the wistful bleakness of it's wandering melodies.