Monday 22 April 2019

Albert Alan Owen's beautiful follow up to Keyboards: Following the Light from 1982




The album is slightly more electronic, minimalist, less tight, versus the masterpiece inaugural album which was so packed with interesting ideas.  From the database you can see there is really only 1 composition here, separated into 3 movements.  The violinist Katherine Sweeney reappears here but is less in prominence.  As sample track, I just put up the shortest one, the middle movement:





The thing is, had I been introduced to him just from this work alone I would have definitely been enchanted.  But nonetheless the first born son is the genius here.
And as we know from his discography, from now on-- so far as I know-- he sold his soul to the commercial library record devil.




5 comments:

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  2. Interesting to read your thoughts on this music. Personally I prefer Following the Light to Mysteries, but that's just me.

    I think you're being a little unfair to dismiss all his music after 1982; Owen has always composed Art Music in parallel with library music (one must pay the bills!), and it's released on different labels to the library music.

    I'd seriously recommend checking out albums like 'The Source of Light', 'High Places', 'Blue Queen', and 'Know This Hear This' before passing final judgement.

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    1. Sure, because it follows a pattern on this blog (70s complexity to 80s simplicity) I am definitely too harsh here, and I would definitely check those works out however I'm having trouble finding out how to get copies of those

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