Davachi, Sarah - Cantus, Descant
SKU
39-CD-LAM-001
“This is an album I have dreamed of for decades. I've experimented with this kind of sustained harmonic shifting and drone but never come close. This is what organs are built for but very few composers have the courage to explore the unique possibilities they create.”–Stuart Maxwell
“The new Sarah Davachi record is an 80 minute, 17 track double album meditation on impermanence and endings, framed by minimalistic organ études and careful harmonic layering. On two tracks the artist’s own vocals are also heard for the first time. The title of the record – Cantus, Descant – has both literal and metaphorical meaning and is something of a concept album that addresses the relationship between the two.”
"Cantus, Descant falls into place around a series of pieces titled 'Stations I-V', all of which feature the aforementioned 1479 pipe organ. Tuned in Renaissance meantone temperament, the archaic instrument requires two to operate. Playing while assisted by bellows pumper Hans Fridom, Davachi suspends each note in midair, allowing it to ring out and eventually drop away into the pews as others float up and softly take its place. The 'Stations' evoke the 1960s minimalism of La Monte Young and Catherine Christer-Hennix while remaining firmly rooted in sixteenth century harmonic structures. After their filigreed drones, the following piece, an unhurried fugue titled 'The Pelican', sounds as baroque as a zenned-out Bach. It is perhaps the record's most literal illustration of the interplay Davachi seeks to unpack between "cantus" (the voice) and "descant" (its counterpoint), and one of its most charmingly direct. 'Ruminant' adds violin to the mix, collapsing the "Early Minimalism" of Tony Conrad with the glowing timbre of early music, while 'Still Lives' and 'Oldgrowth' wash the listener in blooming, reedy oscillations." - The Quietus
- LabelLate Music
- UPC5060384619095