He didn’t just meet them — he beat them, and left them in the dust!

“Baba Yetu” is back, with more epic orchestration, and a thrilling chorus by the Soweto Gospel Choir. “Mado Kara Mieru” is a beautiful song in Japanese, about a cycle of seasons; this alludes to the cycle of human life within the song, and the overall cycle of day-night-dawn in the album. “Lux Aeterna” (Latin) and the “Hymn do Trójcy Swietej” (Polish, featuring Frederica von Stade) plant a foot solidly in the classical tradition — this is an album that welcomes lovers of the orchestral and operatic traditions. And so on through eight other tracks, each in a different language.

Part of what makes the album so brilliant is the clever interweaving of themes from one track into another. Here are riffs from “Lux Aeterna” and “Mado Kara Mieru” woven into “Baba Yetu” and “Hayom Kadosh”. There the opening chant and strings of “Hayom Kadash” recall starts of “Baba Yetu” and “Caoineadh”. But what I think is most compelling is how the ending of the final track, “Kia Hora Te Marino”, segues so seamlessly into the start of the first track, “Baba Yetu”. This makes the whole album a circle. You can start it at any point, and it will roll forever. In fact, I normally play the album starting from “Sukla-Krsne” (near the “end”), and put my player on repeat.

I’m used to any work, even ones I really like, getting stale after one or two hearings. I have to put them away for some days or weeks before I’m ready to hear them again. Somehow, Tin has, with this album, written such a delicious confection that I can listen to it over and over for hours. If it were possible to wear out a digital music file from repeated playing, my bits would would be in tatters. But fortunately, the files hold up just as well as Tin’s music.

Not familiar with Jenkins’ work?! :O
.-= Wendell´s last blog ..M.E.T. =-.