Block Ensemble

Attention, ce livre va déplaire, heurter, hérisser! Il va peut-être,…aussi, convaincre.
Une fois bien distinguée, en guise d'avant-propos, la différence fondamentale entre une activité moralement condamnable et le droit inaliénable juridiquement reconnu à tel ou telle de l'exercer, Walter Block entend démontrer, en bon économiste utilitariste, que ces activités que notre société rédécouvre sont non seulement acceptables mais bénéfiques pour l'ensemble de la communauté (elles répondent toutes, en effet, à une demande des citoyens )…

Heiner Goebbels - La Jalousie, Red Run, Herakles 2, Befreiung - Ensemble Modern (1993) {ECM New Series 1483}
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© 1993 ECM Records | ECM New Series 1483
Classical / Electronic / Contemporary Classical / Modern Composition / Avant-Garde / Experimental

Sometimes music is so theatrical that it needs no stage or actors to enlighten its listeners. If such music comprised a genre in and of itself, composer Heiner Goebbels would be one of its most idiosyncratic masters. Along with Michael Mantler, Goebbels represents a theatrical strand in the ECM universe that challenges the reviewer attempting to describe it, yet which is perfectly clear once it reaches the ears. My first encounter came through Surrogate Cities, a dazzling piece of music theatre that remains the yardstick by which I’ve measured all Goebbels experiences since. That being said, the more I hear, the more I recognize the futility of such comparison, for in his decidedly textual sound there is equal room for any and all sentiments to frolic, dance, and weep.

The Tenebrae Responsories have been recorded three times before; once by a full choir, once by solo voices and, most recently and successfully, by The Tallis Scholars directed by Peter Phillips on Gimell. Like Phillips, Philippe Herreweghe uses a medium-sized ensemble, producing a rich and sonorous tone, but despite that is still able to achieve a clean and clear overall sound with an attractively luminous quality in the upper voices. The performances of these pieces, and of the four motets which round off the Gesualdo sequence, are characterized by a firm sense of their architecture (or at least of an architecture since the composer's block technique often confounds symmetry), and by sensitive attention to details of attack and articulation particularly in the more dissonant moments.

It's quite an achievement to become famous in one's lifetime, even to be hailed as a great master, yet the creators of Immortal Nystedt seem to have presented the esteemed Norwegian composer his eternal reward a bit prematurely. Knut Nystedt is indeed celebrated in his country, and he has been honored with a knighthood in the Order of St. Olav for his work, so some kudos are clearly in order. But if the a cappella choral music on this SACD by Øystein Fevang with Ensemble 96 and the Bærum Vokalensemble is representative of Nystedt's best work, then the praise is a little extravagant.

Falkenberg, Suède. Le commissaire Bergström découvre le cadavre terriblement mutilé d'une femme.
Londres. Profileuse de renom, la ténébreuse Emily Roy enquête sur une série de meurtres d'enfants dont les corps présentent les mêmes blessures que la victime suédoise : trachée sectionnée, yeux énucléés et un mystérieux Y gravé sur le bras. Étrange serial killer, qui change de lieu de chasse et de type de proie…