#228 The Smell of Work

Dense, layered, harmonized–that's for sure. But mostly, it smells of oil, grease, reek. Maybe it's about the way how the chorus is integrated to the orchestra sound. There's music, and there's real work, happening somewhere, out of our sight; something robust is being done, so we can listen to the poem by John Donne: Though I speed not, I cannot miss.

This is the first, and maybe the best recording of Harmonium. Exciting, fresh, vivid recording.

Composer: John Adams
Work: Harmonium, Part 1: Negative Love
Recording: San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Edo de Waart

#84 The Smell of Industrial Love

It's love that smells of oil. Cold, abruptive, steel love, pervert but still love. Fractions are combined with fractions, there's no rush, very spatial feeling comes from the music.

This is a composition for Los Angeles and about Los Angeles. I can hardly find something better to listen to during my first day in L.A. Through the windows of rented Ford Edge, the city looks distant, inert. I need to come back.

Composer: John Adams
Work: City Noir, II. The Song Is For You
Recording: Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel