Dark Opus (dancing with demons)
by William Henshall
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Digital Album
Immediate download of 5-track album in your choice of 320k mp3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire.
Published through Red Wharf. www.red-wharf.comBuy Now ₤5 GBP
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Dark Opus (dancing with demons)
Dark Opus is an extraordinary piece of musical composition, written and recorded in 1983 as a sound score for a multimedia art work in collaboration with artist Graham Bowers, and finally released to the public 23 years later without modification is testament to its longevity and quality.
Recorded long before computer technology had eased the process of sound production, the mind boggles as to how some of the superb, sensitive and very musical sound effects were achieved. Having a duration of approximately 25 minutes the work has been formatted into 5 tracks, each track following and preceding the next in a continuous flow (I am assuming the reason for this is to satisfy the demands of
The music flows effortlessly through the dramatic mood changes and is full of excellent musical surprises, notably the simple, but achingly emotive refrain of a picked banjo, the audio ‘thickness’ of ‘Mrs Doings Harmonium’ (whoever or whatever that might be), the musical quality in terms of arrangement, dynamics and playing (Ronnie Henshall) of the soprano, alto and tenor saxophone section, and not forgetting the very strange, powerful and disturbing choral passages.
In conclusion, this is an excellent piece of music, and one which is difficult to place in any one genre, if pushed I would say; contemporary classical, dark ambient, avant-garde, and progressive. I have no hesitation in recommending this work, in my opinion it really is ‘a gem’ and well worthy of adding to the discerning listener’s collection. ... moreBuy Now ₤7.50 GBP
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wollef doog nibor
04:39
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2. |
cusp of nadir
03:47
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lost in eden
06:11
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beyond erebus stones
03:24
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5. |
rack of succubus
05:40
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about
Tokafi
www.tokafi.com/newsitems/cd-feature-william-henshall-dark-opus/
CD Feature/ William Henshall: "Dark Opus"
A mild psychedelic wind: Henshall has a strong empathy for the grotesque and the bizarre.
article image
Up until a short while ago, the Red Wharf label was “merely” a nom de plui for the outfit releasing Graham Bowers solo material, which by its status of collages in between the organic and the electronic has always been a collaborational effort in some form. As Bowers is slowly returning to the limelight, he has increasingly resculpted his company into featuring artists he either feels strongly related to or with whom he has worked with in the past. “Dark Opus” falls into the latter category, a barely twenty-four minute long EP with material dating back to 1983.
Back then, Bowers was still more of a sculptor and painter than a composer and William Henshall provided him with music for a multimedia art work. One can’t help but feel that he has been a source of inspiration to Bowers in some way or the other, as his style displays obvious similarities with the one of his current label boss: A colourful array of instruments, including a Zither, a Piano Harp, a Moog Synthesizer and the Harmonium of a certain Mrs. Doins, as well as instrumental contributions by Ronnie Henshall on various Saxophones, Ralph Johnson on Violin or Royston Dodd on vocals combine for delirious meditations between veritable nightmares and lucid fever dreams. Just like Bowers, Henshall has a strong empathy for the absurd, the grotesque and the bizarre, blurring the line between free-form soundscspes and ecstatic musique concrete. What differentiates their styles is the degree to which the latter allows longer stretches of light and tangibly harmonic passages into his dark corridors. His voice is characterised by the constant passage from opaque lines to high-pixel intensity, from upbeat moods to passages of almost lifeless depression and alienation as well as by a perpetous confusion of the senses: On the central key piece “Beyond Erebus Stones”, he plays his Tenor Banjo like a Sitar and “Wollef Doog Nibor” could be damn cool Jazz, if it didn’t decide against it all of the time.
If artists team up for a border-blowing joint venture, things mostly end up being either pretentious or a mess (or both). In this case, however, the result is appreciatively varied and almost catchy. There is a mild psychedelic wind that blows through all of the pieces, preventing them from being l’art pour l’art and lifting them into a weightless sky of their own. It wasn’t to be expected, but even the distinct aesthetics of Graham Bowers have now been integrated into a lively community of like-minded companions – albeit by himself.
By Tobias Fischer
www.tokafi.com/newsitems/cd-feature-william-henshall-dark-opus/
CD Feature/ William Henshall: "Dark Opus"
A mild psychedelic wind: Henshall has a strong empathy for the grotesque and the bizarre.
article image
Up until a short while ago, the Red Wharf label was “merely” a nom de plui for the outfit releasing Graham Bowers solo material, which by its status of collages in between the organic and the electronic has always been a collaborational effort in some form. As Bowers is slowly returning to the limelight, he has increasingly resculpted his company into featuring artists he either feels strongly related to or with whom he has worked with in the past. “Dark Opus” falls into the latter category, a barely twenty-four minute long EP with material dating back to 1983.
Back then, Bowers was still more of a sculptor and painter than a composer and William Henshall provided him with music for a multimedia art work. One can’t help but feel that he has been a source of inspiration to Bowers in some way or the other, as his style displays obvious similarities with the one of his current label boss: A colourful array of instruments, including a Zither, a Piano Harp, a Moog Synthesizer and the Harmonium of a certain Mrs. Doins, as well as instrumental contributions by Ronnie Henshall on various Saxophones, Ralph Johnson on Violin or Royston Dodd on vocals combine for delirious meditations between veritable nightmares and lucid fever dreams. Just like Bowers, Henshall has a strong empathy for the absurd, the grotesque and the bizarre, blurring the line between free-form soundscspes and ecstatic musique concrete. What differentiates their styles is the degree to which the latter allows longer stretches of light and tangibly harmonic passages into his dark corridors. His voice is characterised by the constant passage from opaque lines to high-pixel intensity, from upbeat moods to passages of almost lifeless depression and alienation as well as by a perpetous confusion of the senses: On the central key piece “Beyond Erebus Stones”, he plays his Tenor Banjo like a Sitar and “Wollef Doog Nibor” could be damn cool Jazz, if it didn’t decide against it all of the time.
If artists team up for a border-blowing joint venture, things mostly end up being either pretentious or a mess (or both). In this case, however, the result is appreciatively varied and almost catchy. There is a mild psychedelic wind that blows through all of the pieces, preventing them from being l’art pour l’art and lifting them into a weightless sky of their own. It wasn’t to be expected, but even the distinct aesthetics of Graham Bowers have now been integrated into a lively community of like-minded companions – albeit by himself.
By Tobias Fischer
credits
released 01 January 2005
William Henshall: Fretless Bass, Zither, Piano Harp, Moog, Treble Recorder, Tenor Banjo, Guitar, Harmonium, Drums and Percussion, Heartbeat, Voices and Drones.
Ronnie Henshall: Tenor, Alto and Soprano Saxophones.
Ralph Johnson: Violin
Royston Dodd: Additional Vocals.
Artwork: John Smith and Graham Bowers
William Henshall: Fretless Bass, Zither, Piano Harp, Moog, Treble Recorder, Tenor Banjo, Guitar, Harmonium, Drums and Percussion, Heartbeat, Voices and Drones.
Ronnie Henshall: Tenor, Alto and Soprano Saxophones.
Ralph Johnson: Violin
Royston Dodd: Additional Vocals.
Artwork: John Smith and Graham Bowers
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- Track Name: cusp of nadir
- experimental, contemporary, avant garde, new music, sound theatre, electro acoustic, dark ambient,
