Peter Hannan – Rethink Forever
This CD recently showed up at random in my post office box, and boy I’m sure glad it did! Canadian composer Peter Hannan joins forces with three venerated Vancouver vocal entities, slathers them with weird electronic effects, and, in the process, pops open a strikingly odd treasure chest of pure sonic pleasure. The title track floats into your hammers, stirrups and anvils on a 19-minute long barge full of joyful, melodic choral singing, courtesy of Musica Intima, perfectly meshed with synth drones, cut-up vocal shards, snappy drum samples and flying saucers lifting off. The text is composed of the 200 most common English words, phrases from a love advice web site and a Tallis song.
Clocking in at little more than half that length, “The City of Granada on the Surface of Mars” somehow achieves a similar effect without electronics, as Musica Intima’s additional vocals supply the held tones and effects. The text on this one is inspired by Christopher Columbus’ commentary on his first voyage to the new (to him) world combined with NASA info on the 1996 Mars Pathfinder mission. Another 19-minute track, “Happiness Index,” a meditation on the state of human happiness, employs the Vancouver Cantata Singers, an ensemble twice as large, for a more traditional-sounding choral work. 19 more minutes of this music definitely wouldn’t bother me, and, sure enough, it arrives in the form of “No Brighter Sun, No Darker Night.” On this final track, the text of which is inspired by the composer’s trips to AIDS / HIV-ravaged Lesotho, Siri Olesen sets out solo with her delicate soprano singing on another long journey through a gently rushing log flume full of strange electronic flourishes and spare instrumental samples–only to climax with an energetic, rock-like section peppered with thunder and lightning. I don’t usually listen to a lot of choral music, so Rethink Forever is a nice change of pace for me–and maybe you, too.
Label: Artifact Music Catalog Number: ART 040 Format: CD Packaging: Jewel case Tracks: 20 Total Time: 69:15 Country: United States Released: 2010 More: Official, Wikipedia
Text ©2011 Arcane Candy
Hi,
I am a beatmaker, composer, writer, programmer/modulator, and producer of live and electronic music. I am interested in Peter Hannan’s music as a student of music, having studied with him, as his pupil. I think this music, from the reading of the review, is an interesting contribution to the musical cannon, because it includes all of the fields of singing, composition, computer, electronic music, and electronics. It is an impressive contribution.
Regards,
Keir Nicoll