The Passing Measures

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Hearing David Lang's The Passing Measures for the first time, you can't help but feel drawn into the composer's sound world. This CD consists of just one track: one hauntingly beautiful, 42-minute track. Reminiscent of the more soothing works by Morton Feldman, Brian Eno, and Gavin Bryars, Lang's piece is as ambient as they come; a single, extended chord ebbs and flows and resonates for nearly an hour. Performed by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, clarinetist Marty Ehrlich, and a women's choir all playing as softly as possible, the entire performance was later amplified, bringing to light the eerie nature of these musicians holding back. Sounding both atmospheric and electric, the simple formula for this orchestral piece works; just don't expect much in the way of drama. The CD begins with the musicians already in flight and it ends with a simple contemplative touchdown. An acquired taste, for sure, but utterly mesmerizing. --Jason Verlinde

The Passing Measures, Music, David Lang, Marty Ehrlich, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Paul Herbert, Avant-Garde, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Electronic/Avant-Garde/Minimalist Music, Modern Composition, Orchestral & Symphonic, Process-Generated
The Passing Measures
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • On a level with Gavin Bryars' works....
  • A truly amazing ambient piece...
  • shimmering, beautiful, timeless
  • absolutely beautiful
 The Passing Measures
David Lang , Marty Ehrlich , Birmingham Contemporary Music Group , City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Chorus , and Paul Herbert
Manufacturer: Cantaloupe
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

ElectronicElectronic | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music | Computer
GeneralGeneral | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ClassicalClassical | Imports | Stores | Music
Similar Items:
  1. Child
  2. Elevated
  3. Classics
  4. World To Come
  5. Weather

ASIN: B00005B67B
Release Date: 2001-04-10

Tracks:

  1. The Passing Measures

Amazon.com

Hearing David Lang's The Passing Measures for the first time, you can't help but feel drawn into the composer's sound world. This CD consists of just one track: one hauntingly beautiful, 42-minute track. Reminiscent of the more soothing works by Morton Feldman, Brian Eno, and Gavin Bryars, Lang's piece is as ambient as they come; a single, extended chord ebbs and flows and resonates for nearly an hour. Performed by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, clarinetist Marty Ehrlich, and a women's choir all playing as softly as possible, the entire performance was later amplified, bringing to light the eerie nature of these musicians holding back. Sounding both atmospheric and electric, the simple formula for this orchestral piece works; just don't expect much in the way of drama. The CD begins with the musicians already in flight and it ends with a simple contemplative touchdown. An acquired taste, for sure, but utterly mesmerizing. --Jason Verlinde

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars On a level with Gavin Bryars' works...........2006-04-12

If you like the quiet moving beauty of Gavin Bryar's Sinking of the Titanic, then you will likely love this masterpiece.

I installed this CD in my car (which I use too much for work) and was instantly removed from the mundane. This is a quiet piece (the CD is one long hymn)but not so hushed that it doesn't counteract the sounds of motoring. A very rare find indeed.

5 out of 5 stars A truly amazing ambient piece..........2005-06-29

This cd, to put simply, is well worth the price. There is an amazing atmosphere here. It reminds me very much of Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians, the Pulses sections, if you took out the percussive sounds of the instruments and left only the echo, the resonance. There is a very continuous, steady feel about the piece, yet i find certain moments bring certain moods, those of sheer brilliance and happiness, and those which remind me of the aftermath of a war or something of that sort. It is also a very dissonant, echoing, droning piece, marked by moments where certain voices in the orchestra make themselves gradually more present, and then fade back into the lush background. All the while, light percussion scrapes and rattles, very quietly, which adds surprisingly gentle texture to the song, as though the orchestra is the ocean waves and the percussion is the rattling of distant buoys or the light crash of water on the rocks.

This is a work of astounding beauty, and is ideal for a fan of any kind of music that is ambient, meditative, relaxing, etc. etc.

5 out of 5 stars shimmering, beautiful, timeless.......2004-07-11

reminiscent of Morton Feldman but more lush, more "ear-candy" if you will. the composition seems like a single perfect moment stretched and extended and each time i play it i never want it to end.

5 out of 5 stars absolutely beautiful.......2001-04-24

This is one of the most beautiful discs I've heard in a while -- continuing in the tradition of Brian Eno's live "Music for Airports" record (Lang is one of the co-founders of Bang on a Can), it's a slow, very slow, movement through orchestral shimmering magic. It's in the ambient tradition, but it'll sneak up on you and grab your attention when you're least expecting it -- though it will do so in its own slow, aching way... it's also beautifully recorded, i give it a huge recommendation.
Halo of Dark Stars
Average customer rating: Not rated
    		Halo of Dark Stars

    Manufacturer: Cambria Records
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    ComputerComputer | Electronic | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Jazz | Styles | Music
    ASIN: B00000K2EI
    Release Date: 1999-06-29

    Tracks:

    1. Cold River of Light
    2. In Measures Being Kindled: Very Percussive-Matallic
    3. In Measures Being Kindled: Very Light-Magical Stu
    4. In Measures Being Kindled: Propulsive-Jazzy-Somewhat Crazed
    5. Intrusions
    6. Winter Music: Fifteen Variations in Search of a Theme
    7. Winter Music: Pianissimo (For Elyse)
    8. Winter Music: Illuminations
    9. In the Shadow of Passing Angels [Live]
    10. Attractors
    11. Halo of Dark Stars
    Musick as Befitts a Quene
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • Give yourself a delightful treat and order this disk right now
    		 Musick as Befitts a Quene

    Manufacturer: Wild Boar Records
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    Baroque Dance SuitesBaroque Dance Suites | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music | Allemandes | Courantes | Gigue | Sarabande
    DancesDances | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music
    PavanesPavanes | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music
    Byrd, WilliamByrd, William | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
    Gibbons, OrlandoGibbons, Orlando | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
    FantasiesFantasies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
    PreludesPreludes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
    Character PiecesCharacter Pieces | Short Forms | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
    GroundsGrounds | Variations | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
    Ballets & DancesBallets & Dances | Renaissance (c.1450-1600) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
    ASIN: B000005VWO
    Release Date: 1996-01-15

    Tracks:

    1. Prld in a
    2. Fant in d
    3. Vars Upon 'The Leave Bee Greene'
    4. Alman
    5. Pavane & Galliard
    6. Pavane & Galliard
    7. Fant
    8. The Lady Folliott's Galliard
    9. Tell Me Daphne
    10. Fant Of Four Parts
    11. Mrs. Katherin Tregian's Paven: Pavana Chromatica
    12. Allemanda
    13. Pavana 'Lachrimae'
    14. Chi Passa Per Questa Strada?
    15. Pavan 'Ph. Tregian'; Galliard
    16. Pavan 'Ph. Tregian'; Galliard
    17. Pavane & Galliarde
    18. Pavane & Galliarde
    19. The Passing Measures Pavan & Galliard
    20. The Passing Measures Pavan & Galliard
    21. My Lady Nevell's Grounde

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars Give yourself a delightful treat and order this disk right now.......2005-12-03

    What a delightful CD this is! While the title refers to a virginal which has come to mean a cross strung plucked instrument, it did not mean that in its time. It was simply the generic English term for plucked string instruments - the whole harpsichord class of instruments as we would refer to them today.

    Edward Parmentier is a wonderful musician and scholar. Here he provides us with a nice cross section of English keyboard music from the mid-sixteenth to the mid-seventeenth centuries. He plays them on a very nice instrument by Keith Hill that was modeled on a seventeenth century Flemish instrument by Johannes Ruckers. It is recorded wonderfully well so we can hear the whole sound of the instrument including the action, which is, after all an important part of the harpsichord sound.

    One of the nice things about Parmentier's playing and scholarship is his use of various tunings appropriate to the time and character of the pieces he plays. The notes indicate that he is using a quarter comma meantone temperment. What this means is that the more "chromatic" the piece is (the further it heads away from the home key in which the instrument was tuned) the more of a bite there will be in some of the notes. This adds a wonderful spicey flavor to the notes and harmonies. He also notes that the instrument is capable of playing multiple ranks that can all be tuned slightly differently so when they are employed together there is a wonderful chorus effect that makes the sound even more colorful.

    The pieces recorded here are a great deal of fun. There are improvisatory pieces, dances, a variation on a theme, and a grounde (variations over a steady bass or harmonic progression). Some are only a minute and a half long and others run up to nine minutes. The disk has more than 76 minutes of music and I find listening to it a great joy.

    Strongly (even emphatically) recommended.
    Dublin Virginal Manuscript
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      		Dublin Virginal Manuscript

      Manufacturer: Koch Discover Int'l
      ProductGroup: Music
      Binding: Audio CD

      Ballets & DancesBallets & Dances | Renaissance (c.1450-1600) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
      GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
      GeneralGeneral | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
      CDs Under $7CDs Under $7 | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music
      All Bargain TitlesAll Bargain Titles | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music
      ASIN: B00000K3HI
      Release Date: 1999-09-21

      Tracks:

      1. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript: Branle L'Homme Arme
      2. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript: Pavan/Galliard To The Pavan Before
      3. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript: Almande Le Pied De Cheval
      4. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript: Almande Bruynsmedelijn
      5. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript: Galliard
      6. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript: Like As The Lark Within The Merlion's Foot
      7. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript: Pavan
      8. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript: Two Dances
      9. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript: Pavan/Galliard To The Pavan Before
      10. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript: Almande Du Prince/Reprise Of The Almande Du Prince/Galliard
      11. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript: Passing Measures Pavan/Galliard To The Passing Measures Pavan
      12. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript: Vars On Chi Passa
      13. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript: Branle Hoboken
      14. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript: Dance
      15. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript: Pavan (Master Tayler)/Galliard To The Pavan Before
      16. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript: Vars On The Romanesca
      17. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript: Almande Guerre (Was Not Good King Solomon)
      18. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript: Divisions On The Goodnight Ground
      19. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript: Tintelore D'Angleterre (The Earl Of Essex Measure)
      20. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript: Pavan/Galliard To The Pavan Before
      21. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript: Gentil Madonna (Turkeylony)
      22. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript: Vars On Chi Passa
      23. Fitzwilliam Virginal Book: Fitzwilliam Virginal Book: Passamezzo Pavan & Galliard

      Music Review:

      1. The Radiant Voice of Barbara Bonney
      2. The Unknown Ives, Volume 2
      3. The World of the Spanish Guitar [Import]
      4. United We Sing
      5. Verdi - Luisa Miller / Pavarotti · Caballé · Milnes · Giaiotti · Reynolds · van Allan · NP · Maag
      6. Verdi: Requiem Mass; I Vespri siciliani
      7. Victoria: O Quam Gloriosum; O Quam Gloriosum
      8. Vivaldi: Twelve Concertos, Op. 8 (Includes the First Ever Recording of the Four Seasons)
      9. Wagner: The Complete Karl Muck Parsifal Recordings, Orchestral Suite, etc / Muck
      10. A Victorian Noël

      Music Review

      music review

      Music Review

      Gods and Monsters [Import]

      18 Chorales Bwv 651-668

      A Venetian Vespers of 1640

      The Road to Ensenada

      At the Party [CD-single] [Import]

      Americana Series: Appalachian Aire

      20 Great Accordion Hits [Import]

      At Fillmore East [Live] [Original recording remastered]

      A Flashing Blur of Stripped Down Excitement

      link-web.net Music Review: Marta Eggerth - My Life My Song

      1951-1952

      14 Canonazos Bailables 2001

      12 Grandes Exitos [Import]

      Tchaikovsky: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-3; Violin Concerto

      Pure Disco