Mark Atkins & Michael Riesman - Philip Glass: Voices for Didgeridoo and Organ, Organ Suite (2013)

×

Mark Atkins & Michael Riesman - Philip Glass: Voices for Didgeridoo and Organ, Organ Suite (2013)

Close

The organ tracks were recorded on a unique privately-owned instrument in New York State, with the requirement by its owner that his name and the organ's location not be disclosed. This person has known Riesman from their time together at Harvard in the sixties, where they shared an appreciation of keyboard instruments of all kinds, and the two have kept in touch off and on over the years. When, a couple of years ago, Riesman casually mentioned that he was planning an organ album, this friend generously offered the use of his instrument which, at that time, was still under construction. The final elements were added, and voicing completed, just in time for Riesman's recording dates.

Mark Atkins was recorded in Sydney playing to a rough organ track prepared specifically for that session. Due to the fact that Riesman and Atkins live on opposite sides of the earth, it was difficult enough to find a time for Atkins and Riesman to get a half day in a studio together, and out of the question to find the days necessary to set up in a church or hall and do multiple takes of a joint performance. The didgeridoo is a strenuous instrument and Mark can play for only a limited number of minutes before needing a rest. Recording the didgeridoo and organ parts separately was the only way to make this album a reality. Riesman was on an Australian concert tour and arranged to meet Atkins in Sydney and supervise his session. Atkins' tracks were then brought back to New York and Riesman was able to listen to them on headphones while replacing the temporary organ tracks.

Orange Mountain Music

The origins of Philip Glass' Voices, for didgeridoo and organ was specific: a commission from the city of Melbourne, Australia, in 2001. Yet the instrumental combination works so well that it seems almost foreordained, and Glass went on to write further music for the soloist here, Mark Atkins. In this performance, the didgeridoo and organ tracks were recorded separately, in Australia and upstate New York, respectively, and in Glass' metronomic world this works well enough. Yet one hopes that this release on Glass' Orange Mountain Music label is enough to spur future live performances with both players in the same room. The addition of the didgeridoo to the relatively homogeneous texture of Glass' organ writing is dramatic, but it doesn't disturb the basic shifting fields of the composer's music. It just deepens their color and variety in an immensely attractive way. The blended sound environment of this release has nothing objectionable, but hearing the didgeridoo-organ combination will make you want to hear Voices in a place that really adds something to the work. It's compelling here, and it has the chance to be breathtaking; at the very least it's unlike anything you've heard from Glass before, and the composer had the sense to rein in the more variegated qualities of his recent music and to revel in the simple, striking pairing. The Organ Suite at the end of the album, designated as being composed by organist Michael Riesman, is actually a set of organ arrangements of a group of well-known Glass pieces; it's nowhere near the level of Voices, but it makes a reasonable postlude. Highly recommended for Glass fans.

Review by James Manheim, Allmusic.com

×

Mark Atkins & Michael Riesman - Philip Glass: Voices for Didgeridoo and Organ, Organ Suite (2013)

Close

×

Mark Atkins & Michael Riesman - Philip Glass: Voices for Didgeridoo and Organ, Organ Suite (2013)

Close

×

Mark Atkins & Michael Riesman - Philip Glass: Voices for Didgeridoo and Organ, Organ Suite (2013)

Close

×

Mark Atkins & Michael Riesman - Philip Glass: Voices for Didgeridoo and Organ, Organ Suite (2013)

Close