War Chant
Boston Modern Orchestra Project conducted by Gil Rose
A new disc of music by Evan Ziporyn is always a surprise. It could be anything from serene chamber music to over the top clarinet virtuosity to plugged-in gamelan music. But I was still startled by a new disc of his orchestral music featuring the seemingly ubiquitous Boston Modern Orchestra Project, particularly by his 2004 composition War Chant. There’s nothing overtly militaristic about this brooding, surreal work inspired by sounds heard inside an airline cabin but perhaps that’s what makes it such a compelling sonic metaphor for the current hazy armed conflict known as “the war on terror.”
—FJO