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British composer John Tavener continues to realize his spiritual obsessions with his work Total Eclipse, given its world premiere recording here. This much-anticipated collaboration with Paul Goodwin and the Academy of Ancient Music follows Eternity's Sunrise, which was a commission by the famous Early Music ensemble to celebrate its 25th anniversary. Integral to this performance is soprano Patricia Rozario, whose experience in interpreting Tavener's "holy minimalism" has made it almost second nature for her. Total Eclipse explores both religious and musical elements, combining them to illustrate the idea of metanoia, or conversion, which is Tavener's focus here. The piece, a single movement in four parts, is structured using the conversion of St. Paul as a platform. The requested stage positioning of the instruments, voices, and choir plays a significant role in symbolizing Saul's transformation, which--while the aural-spatial landscaping is captured quite well in this recording--can only be truly experienced in a live performance (the work was premiered at St. Paul's Cathedral in June 2000). A soprano saxophone (representing Saul), at times wailing with Coltrane-esque intensity (to "be played in a deliberately anarchic manner"), at other times questioning softly, is beautifully and appropriately pitted against the period instruments of the Early Music ensemble with a near chilling effect. In addition to the sax, Tavener--outside his now familiar simple use of harmony--employs several newer compositional techniques and instrumentation: the work embraces improvisation, microtonal textures, Far Eastern percussion instruments, and an earth-shattering ensemble of 19 tympani. Also on this disc is Agraphon, a setting of the poem by the Greek poet Angelos Sikelianos. It was commissioned by the Athens Concert Hall, and also features Rozario. --W.T. Arnold |
