Macklay Archive

Spectral Quartet – “Serious Business” = Music of SKY MACKLAY; DAVID REMINICK; JOSEF HAYDN; CHRIS FISHER-LOCHEAD – Sono Luminus

by Audiophile Audition | Feb 18, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

Spectral Quartet – “Serious Business” = Music of SKY MACKLAY; DAVID REMINICK; JOSEF HAYDN; CHRIS FISHER-LOCHEAD – Sono Luminus DSL-92198, 65:26 (CD + audio-only Blu-ray – 5.1 DTS, 2.0 PCM and 9.1 Auro 3D with FLAC and MP3 files) (1/29/16) ****: Comedy and humor in music.  Reading the supplementary material that came with this disc I still wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s a tribute to humor, some in the music itself, some based on jokes by well known comedians rendered to music. It sounded strange, and vaguely dislikable, but the truth is this is an interesting ‘concept’ disc that hits its intended mark. It’s going to be hard to explain this in a review that is only text, but the Spectral Quartet said it well in their notes. Serious Business unpacks the theme of humor in classical music through the lenses of three works composed for Spektral by inventive young composers, and one entry from 1781. The quartet takes listeners on a wild ride through a bevy of colorful musical ideas, full of virtuosity and energy.” Agreed. It’s a wild ride. The music includes Sky Macklay’s Many Many Cadences, David Reminick’s The Ancestral Mousetrap, where the quartet sings some […]