Sunday, January 19, 2025

Christopher Whitley - Almost As Soft As Silence [self-released album]

Out on the circuit since November 1st, 2k24 is "Almost As Soft As Silence", the latest - and self-released... - album outing conceived by Canadian composer and violin player Christopher Whitley who, over the course of roughly half an hour, presents a set of fifteen solo improvisations, all recorded at St. Stephen's Church in Belvedere and performed on a classic Stradivari violin dating back to the year 1700. This fact alone might catch the attention of the dedicated fan and follower of Modern Classical x Contemporary Classical music, yet even more astounding is the fact that this album is an unedited single take real time recording - a technical and conceptual approach rarely present in today's musical environment anymore, no matter what genre, style or other sub-section of music one might think of. This being said, the album captures somewhat of an essence of where Christopher Whitley stands today, both in expertly execution of his craft as a highly focused and technically skilled player as well as in his compositional spontaneity which is even recognizable by the classically inexperienced listener exposed to the deep and tender flow of pieces like "Patience" and its immediate follow up "For The Most Part", with "a5 b5 g5" evoking memories of rural dances of yore whereas "Song" providing quite a contrast with its intense, off-kilter tonality and harsh, at times almost brutalist bowing techniques, "Twelve" indulging in an ebb and flow of whirling high frequency details for a minute and "Echo Pasture" serving an expertly balanced interplay of sound and silence just to name a few. Quite a treat for all collectors of Contemporary Classical music out there.

Album artwork on Instagram!

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