eighth blackbird - fred

Abstract. Contemporary. If you like the music of Philip Glass and Steve Reich, you’ll like this music by Frederic Rzewski (pronounced ZHEV-skee).

This album is truly a work of art. At first, I wasn’t thrilled about the music. Honestly, this type of music isn’t my cup of tea... or so I thought. Coming back to the album the next day having read the album notes, I was able to appreciate what my ears were hearing. The music suddenly made sense to me. And I love it.

Pocket Symphony (2000) was specially composed for eighth blackbird. It’s purely abstract music. When I say abstract, I don’t mean atonal. It’s actually a healthy combination of atonal and tonal music. Many passages in the Pocket Symphony are quite lyric and surprisingly beautiful. Les Moutons de Panurge (The Sheep of Panurge) (1969) is a brilliant representation of a Rabelais tale that “lampoons conformity and mindless obedience to authority.” Coming Together (1971) was inspired by the letter of an inmate killed during the Attica prison uprising in New York.

This is eighth blackbird’s third album. Eighth blackbird formed in 1996, and since then has won multiple awards and toured around the globe. Eighth blackbird is currently in residence at the University of Richmond in Virginia and the University of Chicago.