eMusic Review 0
Timed for release on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Ted Hearne's Katrina Ballads offers a new kind of "song cycle." Unlike, say, Schubert's Schwanengesang, Hearne is not setting poetry to music, but rather the actual texts of observers, survivors and the almost comically inept government (big emphasis on "almost" there) officials who were involved in the catastrophe in New Orleans. Composed for a series of gifted singers and a hybrid chamber music ensemble that includes electric bass, electric guitar, and drums, the Katrina Ballads touch on jazz, gospel, rock, and Broadway-style show tunes within the context of a contemporary classical score.
The opening prologue is essentially a long recitative. If this were a Handel oratorio, it would lead directly into an aria; instead, it leads into an evocative instrumental melody ("When We Awoke") played on French horn, backed by an increasingly agitated ensemble in one of the album's finest moments. Another comes later, as Ted Hearne himself sings George W/ Bush's infamous assessment of the relief efforts in "Brownie You're Doing A Heck Of A Job." A strikingly virtuosic vocal performance, full of odd leaps and contortions, it walks an uneasy line between witty, over-the-top parody and a cry of… read more »
