Dreamcatcher

Album review

According to keyboardist James McVinnie, this album "is an intimate sequence of contemporary classical music centred around the act of imagining; imaginings of place, architecture, form and movement implied through music-as well as political imaginings of & yearnings for better social justice in the fabric of our society." That is a big ask for a group of 12 pieces, and listeners can decide for themselves whether the album accomplishes these goals, noting that the dreamcatcher in Native American cultures is more a charm than a mode of imagination. However, it is well worth hearing on a smaller scale. McVinnie's program is unique and holds the listener's interest in several different ways. The most obvious is that he mixes organ and piano, something remarkably rarely done, although there are plenty of musicians who play both instruments. He includes a monumental organ piece, Giles Swayne's Riff-raff (a British outlier on a mostly American program), as well as an organ work that showcases the textures possible with the instrument, Nico Muhly's Patterns. The piano pieces, along with a couple of organ transcriptions, include John Adams' early China Gate and contrast nicely with the major organ works. Adams' work points to another compelling aspect of McVinnie's program; he effectively mixes strands of contemporary music that are linked in being accessible and listener-friendly but differ enough to keep things lively. In addition to Adams, there are other representatives of the post-minimalist strain, including inti figgis-vizueta's build-it-yourself, the title work by Marcos Balter, and Bryce Dessner's calm Song for Octave as a conclusion, but other works have more varied surfaces, such as the Ives response The Unquestioned Answer. The overall effect is to hear some important contemporary composers put together in a new and engaging way, and the album is beautifully recorded throughout. This release from Pentatone made classical best-seller lists in early 2025.

© James Manheim /TiVo