Harmonic Divergence is the perfect companion piece to Steven Wilson’s highly acclaimed 2023 album The Harmony Codex. On this very limited nine track release, music from the original album has been remixed and reimagined by Wilson, alongside longtime bandmates/collaborators and like-minded bands and producers. The result is a warped mirror image of the original, where oblique electronics are replaced by spidery gothic guitar riffs and cyclical piano tracks are mutated and transformed for the dance floor.
The program is taken from the Squarcialupi Codex, a lavish manuscript of 14th-century Italian music, named after a 15th-century organist at the cathedral of Florence who came into possession of it. It is located in a Florence library but is now available in a very expensive facsimile. The music, all secular works originating in Florence, is grouped by composer (a portrait illuminates each group) and arranged in chronological order of their age. The first five composers have only six selections here, with the rest of the disc devoted to Bartolino and Andreas. The disc takes its title from Giovanni’s madrigal in praise of music, the first piece on the disc.
Harmonic Divergence is the perfect companion piece to Steven Wilson’s highly acclaimed 2023 album The Harmony Codex. On this very limited nine track release, music from the original album has been remixed and reimagined by Wilson, alongside longtime bandmates/collaborators and like-minded bands and producers. The result is a warped mirror image of the original, where oblique electronics are replaced by spidery gothic guitar riffs and cyclical piano tracks are mutated and transformed for the dance floor.