Songs of the Sea: The Regatta Suite
Jeff Rona
" No surprise to discover how easily it is to appreciate Songs of the Sea. "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the promotional release
It has been a while since composer Jeff Rona enriched my home with his music. White Squall was the first, Earthsea the last. Now he contributed his skills to what is probably the most powerful Olympic Games the world has seen yet; The Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing, China. Amongst many composers and performers, Jeff Rona was asked to write music for the Olympic Regatta (including a four city tour of China). From that enriching experience came Songs of the Sea: The Regatta Suite. Considering water always translates well through music, it is no surprise to discover how easily you can appreciate Songs of the Sea.
The noble "Calling of the Sea", with its the blazing heroics with drums opens the CD. What follows next is a concert program of riches, where both the powerful meets the personal.
In "The Noble" everything is full of forces. The fanfare opening, the theme growing to a powerful send off, ... it is like an Earthsea cue but larger and only more powerful. Basically what Earthsea should have been. Anyway, "The Noble" is one of the many highlights of this selection.
The soft underscore during "Songs for the Salmon" who are underscoring a narrating poet, "On the Open Sea" which goes from a soft to a big finish (this is Immediate Music trailer music) as well as "Reflections for Oboe and Strings" are lovely softer pieces. In between those the most powerful piece awaits you. "Great Journey" surely is heroic stuff. Think of a Star Trek: Voyager theme and you'll get the idea.
Star Trek lingers through "Intrepid" as well, but this through the Goldsmith like string work of Star Trek V. Accompanied with this, we have the occasional brilliant mix of drums and fanfares leading to something magical. In "Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra" the combination of violinist Frank Ge-Fang Yang with a growing orchestra is enough to give you goosebumps.
The big "Horizon" which once more explodes after a time has many things going for it. The strings conjuring up the feeling of flight, blazing heroic fanfares and a nice powerful finish. This is concert music meant for one reason only and that is to deliver. The song, written by Lisa Gerrard and performed admirably by Hila Plitmann is sadly a bit too much focused of coming off like James Horner's "Listen to the Wind" from The New World. Nonetheless it is quite lovely and beautiful if you take away the similarities.
I had the pleasure to discover this entire album without knowing what to expect. Often these are the situations that deliver the most enjoyable music. I cannot call Songs of the Music: The Regatta Suite music you haven't heard before. The influences are sometimes a bit too noticeable. But these are concert performances. They are meant to state the obvious and keep the unnoticeable noticeable. This makes that Songs of the Sea is a well rounded out album where power and beauty grace your speakers, in a familiar yet very potent fashion.
The music is available from online stores including iTunes, Amazon and other digital music services.
Tracklisting
1. Calling of the Sea (5.50)
2. The Noble (5.57) Excellent track
3. Song for the Salmon (David Whyte as Poet) (6.34)
4. Great Journey * (4.17) Excellent track
5. On the Open Sea * (5.31) Excellent track
6. Reflections for Oboe and Strings (5.18)
7. Intrepid (6.55)
8. Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra (Frank Ge-Fang Yang on Violin) (7.05) Excellent track
9. Horizon * (6.12) Excellent track
10. Widsom of Wind (Hila Plitmann as Soprano) (6.07)
* Composed by Jeff Rona & David T. Edwards
Total Length: 59.53
The noble "Calling of the Sea", with its the blazing heroics with drums opens the CD. What follows next is a concert program of riches, where both the powerful meets the personal.
In "The Noble" everything is full of forces. The fanfare opening, the theme growing to a powerful send off, ... it is like an Earthsea cue but larger and only more powerful. Basically what Earthsea should have been. Anyway, "The Noble" is one of the many highlights of this selection.
The soft underscore during "Songs for the Salmon" who are underscoring a narrating poet, "On the Open Sea" which goes from a soft to a big finish (this is Immediate Music trailer music) as well as "Reflections for Oboe and Strings" are lovely softer pieces. In between those the most powerful piece awaits you. "Great Journey" surely is heroic stuff. Think of a Star Trek: Voyager theme and you'll get the idea.
Star Trek lingers through "Intrepid" as well, but this through the Goldsmith like string work of Star Trek V. Accompanied with this, we have the occasional brilliant mix of drums and fanfares leading to something magical. In "Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra" the combination of violinist Frank Ge-Fang Yang with a growing orchestra is enough to give you goosebumps.
The big "Horizon" which once more explodes after a time has many things going for it. The strings conjuring up the feeling of flight, blazing heroic fanfares and a nice powerful finish. This is concert music meant for one reason only and that is to deliver. The song, written by Lisa Gerrard and performed admirably by Hila Plitmann is sadly a bit too much focused of coming off like James Horner's "Listen to the Wind" from The New World. Nonetheless it is quite lovely and beautiful if you take away the similarities.
I had the pleasure to discover this entire album without knowing what to expect. Often these are the situations that deliver the most enjoyable music. I cannot call Songs of the Music: The Regatta Suite music you haven't heard before. The influences are sometimes a bit too noticeable. But these are concert performances. They are meant to state the obvious and keep the unnoticeable noticeable. This makes that Songs of the Sea is a well rounded out album where power and beauty grace your speakers, in a familiar yet very potent fashion.
The music is available from online stores including iTunes, Amazon and other digital music services.
Tracklisting
1. Calling of the Sea (5.50)
2. The Noble (5.57) Excellent track
3. Song for the Salmon (David Whyte as Poet) (6.34)
4. Great Journey * (4.17) Excellent track
5. On the Open Sea * (5.31) Excellent track
6. Reflections for Oboe and Strings (5.18)
7. Intrepid (6.55)
8. Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra (Frank Ge-Fang Yang on Violin) (7.05) Excellent track
9. Horizon * (6.12) Excellent track
10. Widsom of Wind (Hila Plitmann as Soprano) (6.07)
* Composed by Jeff Rona & David T. Edwards
Total Length: 59.53