Eternal Ghosts
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Eternal Ghosts | ||
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| Studio album by Graham Bowers | ||
| Released | January 1998 | |
| Recorded | 1997 | |
| Genre | Experimental music | |
| Length | 50.00 | |
| Label | Red Wharf | |
| Producer(s) | Graham Bowers | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Graham Bowers chronology | ||
| Transgression (1997) |
Eternal Ghosts (1998) |
Pilgrim (1999) |
Eternal ghosts is the third album by Graham Bowers avant-garde British composer. Released in January 1998, it is the third work of a trilogy, the first being Of Mary's Blood and the second Transgression
Contents |
[edit] Overview
As an Overview, the following is much the same in format and wording as Of Mary's Blood, the first work in his trilogy, and similarly so for Transgression.
Bowers’ approach to musical composition tends to bypass the usual conventions of musicality, placing more emphasis on what he describes as "associative listening" (the association of sound related to life experiences) and "Sound Theatre" where, and I quote "if a sound is produced either intentionally or unintentionally on a musical instrument, or is a found sound, if it has relevance and contributes to the assigned and adopted identity within my approach to a composition, it has validity".
The album consists of one continuous 50 minute track which is divided into three sections ‘Which is’ ‘Which was’ ‘Which is to come’. The music and sounds are multi layered and in the main acoustic instruments heavily treated with digital audio effects, positioned within the stereo perspective to enhance and illustrate the presence and interactivity of identity.
The artworks accompanying the CD are reproductions of Bowers’ figurative and surrealistic paintings.
The album received critical acclaim and examples of reviews can be seen at the website of Red Wharf (See External links)
The concept behind his thinking is best described by Bowers, so again; I quote, in this instance from the transcript of a radio interview for a Canadian broadcast. "In the case of the Trilogy, which is Of Mary's Blood, Transgression and Eternal Ghosts, there was an element of forethought in that I wanted to create three separate pieces, where all pieces made some form of reference to each other, not so much in the musical content but in their overall statement. The concept is an attempt to illustrate through music a ‘snapshot’ of where mankind is at this moment in time in terms of his evolving development with respect to his knowledge, his mortality, morals, and spirituality. This snapshot is my own objective view based on the fact that I am a product of a society and culture based around the Christian religion. Of course it is a gross over generalisation and not meant in any way to pass any intellectual or social comment, it is an audio ‘snapshot’ for the photograph album. Whether I would have seen the world in a different way had I been Jewish, Muslim, Hindu or whatever I just don’t know. I am an atheist, but the product of Christianity, so for me a good starting point was the fertilisation of Mary, with the introduction of 23 chromosomes from God almighty to join the 23 chromosomes waiting in the egg within her earthly body. The message of the resulting DNA’s blueprint for life and intrinsic spirituality, possibly being ‘Always is’, ‘Always was’, ‘Always shall be’, which are the three sections that make up Of Mary’s Blood" The sleeve note on Transgression, ’Change by the exercise of will, through choice, necessity and coercion’ sums up for me the trials and tribulations of living a life on both the physical and spiritual levels, again this is made up of three sections, in this case ‘By thought’, ‘By word’, ‘By deed’
Eternal Ghosts relates to the ceaseless ongoing continuum of the DNA’s blueprint, again both physically and spiritually. ’Of flesh and blood, Body and spirit. Worlds without end’, are the sleeve notes and the three sections that make up this final part are ‘Which is’, ‘Which was’, ‘Which is to come’. I had musical ideas and views, in a very sketchy sense for all three works and specific ideas that I hoped to incorporate in two of the works, but I worked through all three works in a linear fashion, in what I suppose could be called an.....organic way".
[edit] Track listing
- "Which is ~ Which was ~ Which is to come" – 50:00
[edit] Personnel
- Performed by
- Graham Bowers - vocals, piano, synthesizer, hammer dulcimer, violin, cello, saxophone, clarinet
- Peter B Gallagher - guitar
- Mark J Porter – saxophone, bass guitar
- William Henshall – vocals
- Jim Keddie – percussion
- Mary Heathcote – vocals
- Annie Billington – cello
- Mixed by
- Engineered by
