Glenn Branca

A "ballet for orchestra in seven movements" performed by the New York Chamber Sinfonia, conducted by Glen Cortese. The first movement, entitled "The Temple of Venus, Pt. 1," gradually unfolds exquisitely beautiful sustained textures of massed tones, supported by propulsive multi-rhythms. In the second movement, "The Temple of Venus, Pt. 2," the sound clusters wave from side-to-side like borealis curtains, and the rhythms are placed internally...a massive, universal field of sound. The third movement (unspecified as to program) continues this sensuous love of clusters -- here they are more microtonal, and the progression is like a grand Japanese gagaku orchestra, tense chromatics spilling into beautious pentatonic clusters. The fourth movement begins with accented string choppings (reminiscent of The Rite of Spring) that develop in harmonic densities, similar to Branca's works with massed guitars. The fifth movement uses various delays of scale patterns and tunings that slowly build into sonorous mountains. The sixth movement, entitled "Fluid Density," also employs patterns closely related in pitch moving at varying rates, creating a sensuous "waving" or "fluid" effect. The final seventh movement is called "Polyhymnia" and uses the fluid-technique of the previous movement but tunes the patterns to "brighter" scales, achieving the sensuous texture of the first two movements. A truly magnificent experience in which the listener can willingly get lost. ~ "Blue" Gene Tyranny, All Music Guide