Word: tonal
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Wholeheartedly embracing a paradoxically deeply humanistic and pessimistic ethos, the record narrates the day of its eponymous protagonist’s failed suicide attempt. Each track represents a different moment in J. Smith’s day. Travis eschews chronological order and groups the tracks instead for tonal coherence (though the first and final songs, “Chinese Blues” and “Before You Were Young,” do mark the beginning and end of the character’s day).Fusing together a multitude of influences and showcasing a fair share of erudite literary...
...with a sense of sorrow on a profound level, as well as an appreciation for an intense beauty, and the two were married for me.” The film’s striking use of the Delta as both a backdrop and an important tonal and thematic element has already led some critics to call “Ballast” one of the best debut features in years. Hammer was given the award for Best Director at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The film, which will begin a theatrical run at the Kendall Square Cinema...
...Exhibition.” Originally written for piano, the ten-piece suite was orchestrated by French Impressionist composer Ravel for former music director of the Boston Symphony Serge Koussevitzky. The opening “Promenade” theme in B-flat recurs frequently throughout the piece, though with different tonal shadings. Levine directed the orchestra through a broad and majestic “Promenade,” which contrasted sharply with the subsequent, darker movement depicting a crooked-legged gnome scurrying about. The trumpet solos were particularly successful in carrying the main theme throughout the work despite the many interludes...
...quartets of Op. 18, in which Beethoven explored and exorcised his Haydnesque roots, or the five late quartets, in which he boldy ventured where no composer had gone before. The Stuttgart-based Melos Quartet offers cleanly phrased readings distinguished by flawless ensemble. If the listener could wish for more tonal opulence in a brooding work like the E Minor Quartet, Op. 59, No. 2, it is hard to argue with the precise articulation of Op. 59, No. 3's whirlwind obstacle course of a finale. As a bonus, the recording includes a sprightly performance of a quartet that Beethoven arranged...
...what follows.“Small” is the album’s masterpiece, a churning, transforming behemoth consisting of Gibbons’ vocals over a droning bass note and pieces of organ-driven jazz-guitar freak-outs filled with happy injections of feedback and tonal non-sequiturs. At almost seven minutes, it rewards the time it requires. The smoldering, near-space-rock “Threads” lets the album fall away, packed with chunky percussion and rousing, indignant, Björk-like howls from Gibbons. She seems to reach out for any last shred of reality...