PETER MARGASAK: My Favorite albums of 2020—part 1
PETER MARGASAK: My Favorite albums of 2020—part 1
33. Roomful of Teeth, Michael Harrison: Just Constellations (New Amsterdam)
Composer Michael Harrison studied with both La Monte Young and Pandit Pran Nath, and those experiences reinforced a career-long interest in Indian classical music and just intonation, an ancient tuning system where the intervals in a scale are derived not from a constant frequency multiplier but from varying ratios of whole numbers. This stunning work commissioned by the sublimely versatile vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth is his first piece for a choir, and he worked closely with the group to refine his ideas, responding to recordings of each new iteration to further fine-tune the four-part composition. The results are gorgeous; sonorous long tones glide in ever shifting harmonic combinations, each of which hang patiently in the air.”