Words in the Way

New York Times classical reporting, never great, seemed particularly bad this week with this carping piece on, no kidding, liner notes from an album released in March 2005.

I hate pretentious writing as much as the author, and let's face it, modern classical inspires a lot of it but a) is a composer responsible for what's written about his music b) is there anything so confusing in the examples Holland cites and c) is the classical music beat so slow we actually need to make space for an article like this?

Also, if, as Holland writes, words get in the way, what of the music? The single paragraph at the end, tackling the apparently all-important issue of sound, doesn't give us many clues.

I'll blog more on Dalbavie and the spectral movement over the next few weeks. Contrary to what Holland may think, the music does say something new and is also unusually accessible, even sensuous.

Meantime, if you're interested, check this excellent post on Gerard Grisey's "Talea," a spectral classic if there is such a thing and one of my favorite pieces of music, period.