From Silence to Sorcery

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From Silence to Sorcery
From Silence to Sorcery.jpg
Studio album by John Zorn
Released June, 2007
Genre Avant-Garde
Contemporary classical
Length36:09
Label Tzadik TZ 8035
Producer John Zorn
John Zorn chronology
Asmodeus: Book of Angels Volume 7
(2007) Asmodeus: Book of Angels Volume 72007		From Silence to Sorcery
(2007)		 Filmworks XIX: The Rain Horse
(2008) Filmworks XIX: The Rain Horse2008

'From Silence to Sorcery' is an album of contemporary classical music by John Zorn which features three instrumental works touching upon themes of magic and mysticism. "Goetia" is a set of variations for solo violin written in 2002. "Gris-Gris" (2000) is a work for thirteen tuned drums performed by William Winant inspired by the music of Korean Shamanism, Haitian Voodoo and a scene from Howard Hawks’ classic film To Have and Have Not . Scored for clavichord, three muted strings and percussion, 'Shibboleth" (1997) is a tribute to the Jewish poet Paul Celan. [1]

Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s to early 1990s, which includes modernist, postmodern, neoromantic, and pluralist music. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 musical forms.

John Zorn American composer, saxophonist and bandleader

John Zorn is an American composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist, and multi-instrumentalist with hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, and producer across a variety of genres including jazz, rock, hardcore, classical, surf, metal, soundtrack, ambient, and improvised music. He incorporates diverse styles in his compositions, which he identifies as avant-garde or experimental. Zorn was described by Down Beat as "one of our most important composers".

Goetia practice involving conjuration of demons

Goetia or Goëtia is a practice that includes the conjuration of demons, specifically the ones summoned by the Biblical figure, King Solomon. The use of the term in English largely derives from the 17th-century grimoire Lesser Key of Solomon, which features an Ars Goetia as its first section. It contains descriptions of the evocation, or "calling out", of seventy-two demons, famously translated from Latin into English by S. L. MacGregor Mathers and published by Aleister Crowley in 1904 as The Book of the Goetia of Solomon the King.

Contents

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [2]

The Allmusic review by Stephen Eddins awarded the album 4½ stars stating "it's notable for the variety of its sonorities, for its disciplined economy, and for the integrity of the evocative sound world he creates". [2]

Writing for All About Jazz, Troy Collins commented "A remarkably restrained effort in contrast with his usual output, Zorn again proves his creative viability as a post-modern renaissance man with a sublime collection of chamber music". [3]

<i>All About Jazz</i> comprehensive American website for jazz enthusiasts and professionals, based in Philadelphia

All About Jazz is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, Jazz Near You, about local concerts and events.

Track listing

All compositions by John Zorn

  1. "Goetia I" - 0:57
  2. "Goetia II" - 2:46
  3. "Goetia III" - 1:07
  4. "Goetia IV" - 1:42
  5. "Goetia V" - 1:12
  6. "Goetia VI" - 1:54
  7. "Goetia VII" - 2:53
  8. "Goetia VIII" - 1:20
  9. "Gris-Gris" - 9:41
  10. "Shibboleth: I Abglanzbeladen/II Im Leeren (In Empty Space)/III Mandelnde (Almond-like)/IV Hinterlassne (Left Back)/V Etwas Wie Nacht (Something Like Night)/VI Aus Verlorem (From Things Lost)" - 12:37

Personnel

Jennifer Choi is a Korean-American violinist based in New York City. Choi graduated from the Juilliard School and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and has performed in a variety of settings including solo violin, chamber music, and creative improvisation and performed with the Oregon Symphony, the Portland Columbia Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Portland Youth Philharmonic, and the String Orchestra of New York City (SONYC) among others.

Violin bowed string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths

The violin, sometimes known as a fiddle, is a wooden string instrument in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and highest-pitched instrument in the family in regular use. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino piccolo and the kit violin, but these are virtually unused. The violin typically has four strings tuned in perfect fifths, and is most commonly played by drawing a bow across its strings, though it can also be played by plucking the strings with the fingers (pizzicato) and by striking the strings with the wooden side of the bow.

William Winant is an American percussionist.

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References

  1. ↑ Tzadik catalogue
  2. 1 2 Eddins, S. Allmusic Review accessed October 23, 2013
  3. ↑ Collins, T. All Abour Jazz Review, July 6, 2007.
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