One way to appreciate the promise of Caroline Shaw's Narrow Sea is to note the reviews this release has garnered in Popmatters and other pop music organs. This is not the place for a harangue about the necessity for contemporary music to connect with general audiences beyond the crossover genre. Rather, it simply brings hope to observe the elegance and originality of Shaw's solution to the problem. Narrow Sea sets four texts and tunes from the 19th century popular hymnal The Sacred Harp ; there are five sections to the ...
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One way to appreciate the promise of Caroline Shaw's Narrow Sea is to note the reviews this release has garnered in Popmatters and other pop music organs. This is not the place for a harangue about the necessity for contemporary music to connect with general audiences beyond the crossover genre. Rather, it simply brings hope to observe the elegance and originality of Shaw's solution to the problem. Narrow Sea sets four texts and tunes from the 19th century popular hymnal The Sacred Harp ; there are five sections to the work, but one tune, the familiar "Wayfaring Stranger," opens and closes the set. The hymns are backed by the So Percussion ensemble, which makes an ideal partner for Shaw; indeed, one wonders whether the work took shape in any way collaboratively, inasmuch as Shaw and So Percussion have worked together in the past on Taxidermy, which closes out the program here. Whatever the case, the work is an ideal showcase for So Percussion, which amplifies the texts with sounds...
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