Richard Reed Parry: Music for Heart and Breath

by Richard Reed Parry, Kronos Quartet, Nico Muhly, yMusic

Overview

Richard Reed Parry is one of the members of the monstrously successful Montreal rock band Arcade Fire. This said, try this album out on a friend without identifying the composer, and s/he will be unlikely to guess that it comes from any kind of rock-to-classical crossover background. Parry was not classically trained but had frequent exposure to classical music in his youth, and the music is notated and possessed of an economy and a structural orientation rare in a composer coming from the top echelons of the rock world. The title Music for Heart and Breath refers to the fact that the performers determine the tempo of the music by referring to their own heartbeats and breathing, not in a general way but wearing stethoscopes to put themselves in close touch with their own rhythms. The instrumental contributions are seen as elaborations of these basic beats. One is reminded of Moondog's recollection of the Arapaho music he heard as a youth: "the running beat, and alongside it the walking beat, which is also the universal heartbeat." The booklet makes the grandiose claim that Parry is "slowly creating a new paradigm." Moondog aside, the analogy of music with breathing or with heartbeats is hardly new, and Parry draws on minimalist composers from Steve Reich to Arvo Paert. The pieces tend to sound similar to one another; the genius of Reich and Philip Glass is that, no matter how simple the music may be, each work remains distinctive. Still, Parry doesn't sound precisely like anyone else, either, and for an initial attempt this is pretty impressive. His textures are not continuous like those of most of the minimalists; the music is divided into short phrases that are like conversational utterances, and some of the textures -- hear the glissandi in the concerto-like "For Heart, Breath and Orchestra" (track three) -- are quite evocative. The whole thing succeeds as a sort of night music, and Parry's engineering team, sending the music rock-style among several different studios, gets superb results. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	07/15/2014
Label:	Deutsche Grammophon
UPC:	0028947930617
Rank:	248936

Tracks

1. Quartet for Heart and Breath
2. Heart and Breath Sextet
3. For Heart, Breath and Orchestra
4. Interruptions (Heart and Breath Nonet)~1. Miniature 1
5. Interruptions (Heart and Breath Nonet)~2. String Peaks
6. Interruptions (Heart and Breath Nonet)~3. Wind's Idea
7. Interruptions (Heart and Breath Nonet)~4. Miniature 2
8. Interruptions (Heart and Breath Nonet)~5. Sticks / Tension
9. Interruptions (Heart and Breath Nonet)~6. French Guitars
10. Interruptions (Heart and Breath Nonet)~7. Freeform Wings / String Drones
11. Duet for Heart and Breath
12. Quartet for Heart and Breath (For Kronos)

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Kronos Quartet   Primary Artist,String Quartet
Nico Muhly   Primary Artist,Piano,Celeste,Conductor
yMusic   Primary Artist,Ensemble
Richard Reed Parry   Primary Artist,Double Bass,Piano
Clarice Jensen   Cello
Caroline Shaw   Violin
Hideaki Aomori   Clarinet
Nadia Sirota   Viola
Annaliesa Place   Violin
Arthur Sato   Oboe
Shawn Conley   Double Bass
Yuki Numata   Violin
Amelia Lukas   Flute,Piccolo
Aaron Dessner   Guitar
Bryce Dessner   Guitar
Caleb Burhans   Viola
Brian Snow   Cello
Courtney Orlando   Violin

Technical Credits

Adam Sweeting   Liner Notes
Scott Fraser   Engineer
Jens Schuenemeyer   Booklet Editor
Burkhard Bartsch   Project Coordinator
Christian Badzura   Executive Producer
Guillaume Simoneau   Cover Photo,Photography
Dylan Shad   Assistant Engineer
Adam Armstrong   Assistant Engineer
Clara Claus   Back Cover,Watercolor Artwork
Mareike Walter   Package Design
Richard Reed Parry   Composer,Producer,Liner Notes
Bryce Dessner   Producer
Nick Lloyd   Mixing,Engineer
Merle Kersten   Art Direction,Cover Design