An Experimental and Authentic Release from Composer Sarah Genevieve Burghart Rice
- R.A.G.
- Apr 1
- 3 min read
Composer Sarah Genevieve Burghart Rice recently released a full album of some outstanding pieces of work that bring together an enthralling and lush tone, brimming with gorgeous instrumentation and laced with emotion and mood.
The YET album is broken up into three different pieces, the first batch bringing out some deepening emotional value. You have operatic vocals, piccato performances on stringed instruments, and a blend of contemporary classical approaches in songwriting that really bring the pieces to life.
There is definitely a theatrical underbelly to the songs and very experimental approaches, especially with songs like "Like Her", which lets violins bounce the bow off the strings and perform short notes and melodies, giving a slight haunt but also a particular aesthetic.
These first three tracks all involve vocals and revolve around the violin as its instrumental focus. At times, the vocals blend in with the violin and layer melodies and notes on top of each other, creating a beautiful texture and tonality.
Although this is an experimental and unique approach, the overtones have the ability to sort of sweep you away with the pieces. They have that more stripped-down style, focusing again on just vocal and violin, but it's really alive and breathing.
Those first three pieces are astounding and sort of introduce you to some of the depth that the rest of the record holds.
The next segment of songs spans 5 pieces and is called The Hardscrabble. These pieces are fully orchestrated, from trumpets to wind instruments, strings, and live percussion.
The way the instrumentation is layered is brilliant, and the arrangement of these pieces keeps you on your toes on a near-constant basis.
The pieces are introduced with a track that has a melodic hook to it that keeps coming back to you. In between those, you have almost sporadic instrumentation, creating depth between everything.
One of the things I really enjoyed about these pieces is the way the rhythms of some of the instruments overlap each other and create their own aesthetic.
I feel like those rhythms coming together are a big part of why the pieces work the way they do.
One of my favorite pieces of this segment is called "Plummeting", which starts off with what feels and sounds like an oboe playing a beautiful melody and then more of the orchestra comes into play, thickening things up and bringing up the rise and intensity.
This is why I mentioned that a lot of these pieces feel like they're alive and breathing. There are rises and falls and intensities throughout the entire record, and Sarah was able to portray those in such a beautiful way so that they have an impact.
"Mobile (For Osanna)" was also a gorgeous piece that has a lot of slow burn to it. It takes a while building up to its more intense and largely orchestrated segments, but that's the way it's supposed to be.
Closes with a wild piece called "Murmurs from Limbo", which features chance, singing, very cinematic feeling sections, and build-ups.
This piece, in particular, feels like a waking dream or even a nightmare. It's got that feeling behind it and features an assortment of additional percussive instruments that sort of wind and real, giving the track that creepy underbelly.
Held out notes giving out dark sonic frequency also built the traction and tension. This all leads to that sort of nightmarish, cinematic appeal.
This is an album that was absolutely full of surprises, and each of these segments has its own vibe and style.
Sarah is definitely experimental and very inventive with her compositions, and she comes out unafraid to showcase those attributes, which in turn make this record very unique and addictive.
These are pieces of work that you can tell come from someplace within her and needed to come out.
By far one of the more imaginative records I've heard in a long time
Sarah's work has already won an ASCAP Morton Gould Award, and it doesn't seem like she's slowing down anytime soon.
Definitely put on some headphones and dive into this record when you can because it's quite an experience.
LABEL LINK (Neuma Records)
Comments