There is a natural fascination with the distant past. That magnetic
pull is potentially all the stronger when expressed in music.
I first explored this in music with a review of a luxurious designed
CD of ancient Egyptian harp material. There too, as here, the
element of speculation was well to the fore. The collection was
by Rafael Pérez Arroyo and was captured on the Natural
Acoustic Recordings label on
NAR-0010-01 by
the Hathor Ensemble.
In Marcel Pérès's
Contemplations the composer
meditates across nine movements on a collection of ancient Egyptian
texts known as
The Book of the Dead. The texts - which
are printed in French and English translation - reflect the 'transformation
of consciousness' that occurs after physical death. The style
is reflective - tonal yet with the sort of piercing harmonic
crunches one encounters in the music of Howells. A sense of slow
radiant light suffuses
L'aube de la nuit while a darker
accent grips
Les lueurs de la Paix which is again slow
and evolutionary although more assertive in its second section
which introduces a Messiaenic harmonic edge. A discreet dissonance
adds a Cimmerian otherworldliness to
Heliopolis (1:56).
A resonating bell seems to sound out in
Le Gouvernail de l'Orient.
More dissonance returns for angular stabbing figures which criss-cross
the music's immanent slow gait in
Le Passage. In
L'Ancien
des jours a subtle apotheosis has been completed and the
music, again steadily glowing, harks back to
L'aube de la
nuit. Now though, the melodic content is a degree more candid
- for the first time - a sort of liberation is achieved.
The music is lovingly played by the composer who brings great
concentration to the piece. This is not for you if you are looking
for a dramatic epic. On the other hand if you seek a sustained
meditative experience and are prepared to trust in Pérès
and immerse yourself then this is too good to miss.
Rob Barnett
Marcel Pérès (organ) 
