Sunday, December 24, 2017

top 10 albums of the year: #3





3.

Three Worlds: Music from Woolf Works - Max Richter



Max Richter's score to Wayne McGregor's ballet triptych is a radiant listen. Sometimes it bears chord change similarities, likely in homage, to Philip Glass' score to The Hours. It's also full of strings and broad gestures, spoken interludes--including Virginia Woolf herself--and eerie, stuttering synthesizers. There's a lot of complexities and textures on this entrancing, enveloping album.






"When we began to discuss making the ballet, I hunted around for material of all kinds, photographs, memoirs, biographies. I never expected to find a recording of Virginia Woolf - this is the only one to survive. It’s like a tremendous time machine which allows you to hear her voice and wonderful use of language. I’ve used spoken-word elements quite often in my work, so to come across Virginia Woolf reading her own words was like a Christmas present. That lit the fuse for the musical language of the ballet’s first act, based on Mrs. Dalloway, and the piece grew from there." -Max Richter





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