"In the ebb of slack water..." from: American War Requiem "Normandy 1944" opus 159; nr.3 Epilogue "In the ebb of slack water...".
A piece for soprano, choir, harp and strings. The song with orchestral accompaniment are beautifully written, and have a directly communicative eloquence which is at once touching and profound. The music has a deceptive appearance of simplicity on first acquaintance; lush and gently melancholy as it may appear, there is a bittersweet quality that suddenly turns just a fraction further in the direction of bitterness - no, this is not a composer who has rediscovered some 'true' direction for 20th-century music; such a suggestion belittles him. He is a composer of understatedly powerful music in a tradition worthy of great honor, transporting music of immediacy and drama.
Source: | www.recordsinternational.com |