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Music is a sensuous art; it may permit or even demand intellectual distance, but to take the next step to humor is comparatively rare. All the way back to Mozart's Musical Joke, K. 522, and beyond, composers have struggled with the idea of humor in music. That's what makes this ironically titled release by Chicago's Spektral Quartet welcome: it not only strives for humor, but approaches the idea from different angles. That some of the approaches are more successful than others is no reflection on the performers, who offer a sharp, clean reading, not overdoing the jokes, of a locus classicus of the genre, Haydn's String Quartet in E flat major, Op. 33, No. 2, subtitled "The Joke." The best comes right up front here: Sky Macklay's Many Many Cadences is just what the name suggests, but the cadences are not quite convincing, and the process of getting to them becomes progressively more complex. The work is entirely original in conception, not laugh-out-loud funny, but subtly confounds expectations all along the way. David Reminick's The Ancestral Mousetrap confounds expectations in a different way, calling upon the quartet's members to sing rather nonlinear texts. Chris Fisher-Lochhead's Hack is a long series of short portraits in sound of prominent comedians. The movements are labeled, but it's unlikely that without the labels you'd be able to guess the identity of, say, "Sarah Silverman." Sample her and see; even if it doesn't say "Sarah Silverman" to you, it's not boring, and indeed, nothing on this intriguing release could be described this way. Some of it may even make you laugh.
© TiVo
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Many Many Cadences (Sky Macklay)
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - Sky Macklay, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
The Ancestral Mousetrap (David Reminick)
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - David Reminick, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - David Reminick, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - David Reminick, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - David Reminick, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - David Reminick, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
String Quartet No. 30 in E-Flat Major, Op. 33 No. 2, Hob. III:38 "The Joke" (Joseph Haydn)
Franz Joseph Haydn, Composer - Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Franz Joseph Haydn, Composer - Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Franz Joseph Haydn, Composer - Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Franz Joseph Haydn, Composer - Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Hack, Set 1 (Chris Fisher-Lochhead)
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chris Fisher-Lochhead, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chris Fisher-Lochhead, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chris Fisher-Lochhead, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Hack, Set 2 (Chris Fisher-Lochhead)
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chris Fisher-Lochhead, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chris Fisher-Lochhead, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chris Fisher-Lochhead, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chris Fisher-Lochhead, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Hack, Set 3 (Chris Fisher-Lochhead)
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chris Fisher-Lochhead, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chris Fisher-Lochhead, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chris Fisher-Lochhead, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chris Fisher-Lochhead, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chris Fisher-Lochhead, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chris Fisher-Lochhead, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chris Fisher-Lochhead, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chris Fisher-Lochhead, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chris Fisher-Lochhead, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chris Fisher-Lochhead, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chris Fisher-Lochhead, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Hack, Set 4 (Chris Fisher-Lochhead)
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chris Fisher-Lochhead, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chris Fisher-Lochhead, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chris Fisher-Lochhead, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Spektral Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chris Fisher-Lochhead, Composer
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
Album review
Music is a sensuous art; it may permit or even demand intellectual distance, but to take the next step to humor is comparatively rare. All the way back to Mozart's Musical Joke, K. 522, and beyond, composers have struggled with the idea of humor in music. That's what makes this ironically titled release by Chicago's Spektral Quartet welcome: it not only strives for humor, but approaches the idea from different angles. That some of the approaches are more successful than others is no reflection on the performers, who offer a sharp, clean reading, not overdoing the jokes, of a locus classicus of the genre, Haydn's String Quartet in E flat major, Op. 33, No. 2, subtitled "The Joke." The best comes right up front here: Sky Macklay's Many Many Cadences is just what the name suggests, but the cadences are not quite convincing, and the process of getting to them becomes progressively more complex. The work is entirely original in conception, not laugh-out-loud funny, but subtly confounds expectations all along the way. David Reminick's The Ancestral Mousetrap confounds expectations in a different way, calling upon the quartet's members to sing rather nonlinear texts. Chris Fisher-Lochhead's Hack is a long series of short portraits in sound of prominent comedians. The movements are labeled, but it's unlikely that without the labels you'd be able to guess the identity of, say, "Sarah Silverman." Sample her and see; even if it doesn't say "Sarah Silverman" to you, it's not boring, and indeed, nothing on this intriguing release could be described this way. Some of it may even make you laugh.
© TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 32 track(s)
- Total length: 01:05:36
- 1 Digital booklet
- Main artists: Spektral Quartet
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Sono Luminus
- Genre: Classical Chamber Music
(C) 2016 Sono Luminus (P) 2016 Sono Luminus
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