Scottish Chamber Orchestra - Cantus

Part's Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten disorientates the audience with numerous

layers of dissonance, atonal motifs, emulating the frigid, mysterious winter (maybe an

acknowledgment to Sibelius's concertos). Strangely, I was not drawn to a particular section since

their dynamics and styles matched, not to mention the proximities of the notes were very close.

The orchestra maintains this ambiance very well, for there was no noticeable harmonic resolution

- it was all dissonance. They possess high caliber to drone dissonant intervals while keeping their

centered pitch. However, complex, dissonant harmonies obstruct the moving notes, giving the

impression that there are no melodies, but muffled sounds. From my perspective, I did not know

whether to interpret them as deliberate or mistaken - but it did contribute to that layer of

unknown. For instance, the violins and the woodwinds have obscured call-response motifs

passed around each other through the mist of dissonance. Ironically, the coherent harmonic

resolutions towards the middle of the piece contribute to tension. Typically, composers express

tension through harmonic dissonance - but Part fight against this trend by using the vibrato's

texture, viola's melody, and coherent harmonic resolution. Towards the middle of the piece, the

2nd violins and the violas emphasize their bow strokes to stand out against the clashing

harmonies, and the cellos take after them. Overall, I am not a fan of these seas of dissonance -

within the pedal sections, the changes in harmony are too subtle, which obstructs the progression

of the phrases (even the ending was way abrupt).