Ellen Arkbro - For organ and brass
For organ and brass by Ellen Arkbro
Pipe organs have always been one of the best suited instruments for minimalism and drone music. Although you can play sustained tones on one, the sounds is often moving in interesting ways, many times thanks to it bouncing against the walls and moving around in the room in which the pipe organ is placed.
When accompanied by other classical orchestral instruments, the result is often very alive and pleasing.
Ellen Arkbro's composition released in April 2017 and performed by Johan Graden (organ), Elena Kakaliagou (horn), Hilary Jeffery (trombone), and Robin Hayward (tuba) is no different.
Ignoring the convuluted story behind the composition (which often is the case with contemporary classical music, that there's always a perverse need for a story outside of the music) about meantone temperament and the search for a perfect organ, the music holds its own very well.
