Resonating Earth, the new album from American pianist Carolyn Enger, was created in response to the climate crisis and emerged from her deep connection to nature and her dedication to environmental activism.
Enger lives in a wooden house outside Manhattan, a building which creates a wonderful chamber in which the sound of her seven-foot Steinway grand piano really comes alive. In addition, her personal practice of yoga and meditation initially resulted in a project Enger envisioned calling Resonance as an antidote to the stressful hustle and bustle of modern life.
John Cage: Dream (Carolyn Enger, piano)
Carolyn Enger © J. Henry Fair
‘Resonating Earth’ presents an engaging and immersive programme of ambient or minimalist music by mostly contemporary composers, some of whom are themselves engaged in artistic or political activism, including ” target=”_blank”>Meredith Monk – whose pieces Quarry Waltz and Ellis Island bookend the album with their themes of totalitarianism and the promise of freedom respectively – Nico Muhly, Wolfgang Rihm, Missy Mazzoli, John Cage, John Luther Adams, and Philip Glass. While some of the pieces are directly related to or inspired by social causes, environmental disasters or political events, others have been selected simply because they offer a sonic environment conducive to contemplation and openness. Whatever the inspiration behind the pieces, each brings unique perspectives and emotional depth.
In A Landscape, one of John Cage’s most famous and popular piano works, provides an oasis of tranquillity at the heart of the album with its gently twining melody and ethereal atmosphere, which invites the listener to relax and reflect. The mesmerising repetitions in Etude No. 2 by Philip Glass offer a similarly reflective soundscape.
John Cage: In a Landscape – Carolyn Enger – Resonating Earth
in the brittle quietude by Iman Habibi was written shortly after the onset of the Covid pandemic. Habibi says of his piece, “[it] explores the vacuum that was created following the pandemic, and the fragility of our ecosystem as musicians”. It is dedicated to an uncle who died during the pandemic. A delicately expressive and intimate miniature, it has Debussyan harmonies and shimmering arpeggios in the highest register of the piano.
There are some intriguing pieces on this album too. Gustave Le Grey by Caroline Shaw uses Chopin’s Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17, No. 4, a work infused with poignancy and a nostalgia for the homeland, explores the powers of succour, refuge, and assurance. Meanwhile, The Birds of Barclay Street by Sean Hickey attempts to express in music the pain, bereavement, and anguish prompted by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Overall, this is a most engaging collection of ambient pieces, offering the listener an opportunity to withdraw, reflect, and unwind to music that is sensitively performed and intelligently curated.
Meredith Monk: Ellis Island (arr. for solo piano) (Carolyn Enger, piano)
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