Mercy

List Price: $17.98
Our Price: $10.61
You Save: $7.37 (41%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $9.95 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details

CD Details

Music reviews of Mercy

Music Review: Otherworldy Music
Rating: 5 Stars

Mercy is the latest work to be recorded in the Monk canon, and it is a beauty. The piece is conceived for her vocal ensemble with the addition of a trio of multi-instrumentalists. Monk's process with a composition is interesting. She will supply sketches to her performers and then develop the work through improvisation, much like the process used by many modern dance troupes. The material is based on familiar musical modes and superficially has a resemblance to better known minimalists like Steve Reich and Phillip Glass. Except that with Monk, the improvisational element in the piece gives the works an internal life that goes beyond mere process music. Each piece is a journey, with a wonderful mix of the familiar and the surprising. The acuity of the vocal ensemble is astounding. They have all worked with Monk for many years and have assimilated her vocal techniques while each of them brings something original to the process. The result is a haunting recording, gently breaking over the listener like waves, but with a reservoir of deep emotion.

As always with a Monk work, it's a shame not to have a visual document for this piece. As DVD and CD-ROM technology get more and more advanced, it seems to me that this kind of work would be a no-brainer for technology. A DVD of the work might be more hypnotizing...in fact, if the work was recorded especially as a DVD, as opposed to a recorded live performance, this might be the best way to experience Monk's haunting work. That being said, this CD is a lovely, if only partial, document. ECM and Manfred Eichter have once again recorded this in their trademark sound.... spacious and dark, with an ambience that is as much a part of the music on their label as anything the performers do. This is marvelous late night music...deeply calming and emotionally moving. It is also one of the best introductions to the unique work of one of New York's most interesting post-modern figures.

Description of Mercy

Classical CDs

• Music > Styles