Label: Polydor Records (Germany), 825 245-2
Style: Electronic, Modern Classical
Country: Agria, Greece (29 March 1943 - 17 May 2022)
Time: 43:35
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 219 Mb
In hindsight, 'Mask' is an album that had been a long time in coming.
Glimpses of its unique atmosphere can be found as far back as in the
choral parts of 'Heaven & Hell', in the austerity of 'Odes' and even
in some of the more restless music of 'Antarctica'. Apparently, it
started life as a ballet-score and features the unaccredited English
Chamber Choir contributing plenty of strong choral parts using made-up
words. Because of its compelling "Sturm und Drang" nature, it is a
relatively untypical Vangelis album, as his music usually makes the
sage-like impression of somebody having been through it all and achieved
a sort of serenity. But not so on this occasion, because Vangelis
really digs deep here and unleashes some torrential and indeed restless
music upon us listeners. It can at first appear to be forbiddingly stark
or bombastic even, but there are some unexpected lighter moments as
well. There are many (Greek orthodox) religious overtones in the work
and it obviously meant a lot to Vangelis, who selected a few portions of
it for his 1991 Rotterdam concert - strangely enough, as it was
probably lost on much of its audience. However, it did of course provide
an opportunity for the huge choir participating, at least in practice,
as the concert itself was mostly a playback affair. The first Movement
sets the tone with swirling sequencers, heavy percussion-patterns and
complex choral parts in the outer sections. Its beautiful middle section
features a Bach-like solo-aria for contralto accompanied by Vangelis'
characteristic string sound, perhaps slightly marred by its seemingly
sampled nature and electronic enhancement, making it sound a bit
unnatural. Movement II provides a moment of structure before another
highly dramatic piece takes over, the slower third Movement where
several times the music momentarily tries to escape its own abyss.
Movement IV is most unusual, featuring a Gregorian chant-like dialogue
between baritone and choir set to a seemingly straightforward but subtle
instrumental background. After another "Sturm und Drang" piece which
like the first one loosens up in the middle, the final Movement at last
achieves relative serenity, ending the album on an emotional high after
the desperation that went before. The expression of this facet of
Vangelis' musical personality didn't end with 'Mask', in his later
oratorios 'Antigone' and 'Mythodea' the same type of choral music was
used.
(vangelismovements.com/mask.htm)
(vangelismovements.com/mask.htm)
01. Movement 1 (10:24)
02. Movement 2 (03:26)
03. Movement 3 (06:44)
04. Movement 4 (08:46)
05. Movement 5 (10:04)
06. Movement 6 (04:07)
