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 Review
A
real jewel in the crown of his oeuvre, this album highlights Vangelis' ability
to create a unique sound world for a single musical project. This time it
involves that period of the year, sort of fresh early spring, when all of a
sudden new life crops up everywhere, the start of a new cycle of life and death,
hence the album-title. Vangelis manages to get across this feeling of "the
miracle of nature" really well and presents a very direct close-up view of
the (microscopic) natural world. Accordingly, it's almost completely devoid of
the human factor, his usual nostalgia isn't really apparent here and no voices
are used. This unlike for instance the sometimes rather mystical leanings of New
Age or the late Romantic composers like Mahler who very much viewed nature as
being linked to man's inner state. It's also unlike the music Vangelis did for
the Rossif nature documentaries, where the human factor comes into the
commentary and way of presenting the images, making for a different atmosphere
musically.
To achieve the maximum effect of freshness Vangelis uses some rather exotic
harmonies, creative percussion and jumpy melody-lines. Also notice the rare use
of double bass plucking sounds. The long first movement is set to a brisk
walking tempo and is sometimes accompanied by rain-effects. On top of this
Vangelis lets loose his improvisational skills to probably indicate the many
forms of life springing into existence. The second movement has more of a
tune-like quality and could be meant as the musical image of a plant growing
beautifully but then withering away. This is the most tranquil piece of the lot,
in contrast to the next three which are darker in atmosphere. The third movement
shows the violent side of nature with moments of despair alternating with ones
of glory, indicating the struggle to survive, whilst the fourth is more
contemplative and a bit gloomy, perhaps indicating slowed-down nightlife
activity. The best is saved for last: a wonderfully loose piece in which
Vangelis again shows his skill at improvisation, going through many moods and
tempos before setting up an emotional conclusion to this feast of life.
Review by Ivar de Vries
Movements
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