This 2024 release by violinist
Rachel Lee Priday
has an intriguing backstory. University of Washington oceanographer
Georgy Manucharyan
asked
Priday
, who is on the faculty of the same institution, for help in finding classical pieces that could accompany videos he was posting online.
, in turn, became fascinated by the project and commissioned new works from composers, asking them to watch
Manucharyan
's videos and respond to them musically. All the works on the album, except for the final
Violin Sonata
by
Christopher Cerrone
, stemmed from these commissions. It is an interesting tale and a sterling example of cross-disciplinary collaboration, but listeners to the album may experience it somewhat differently. Most of the pieces do not have the ponderous movement of ocean waters one might expect (and one might not guess the subject matter without knowing it in advance). Instead, the music is mostly furious and extraordinarily intense, with jarring contrasts and repeated notes that fragment into a rainbow of overtones. Only with the
Convection Loops
Cristina Spinei
does the intensity level drop somewhat. Sample the three-movement
to speak in a forgotten language
Leilehua Lanzilotti
for an idea. This is virtuoso music that poses numerous challenges for the soloist, and these are dispatched impressively by
, a contemporary music specialist. The sound from a chapel in Washington state would have been too live for most music, but here, it is just the ticket. This album may accomplish something a bit different from what it set out to do, but it will hang in the mind. ~ James Manheim