Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

Trust me but you have never heard anything like this. Ever. Three CDs or two and a quarter hours of music; 13 soloists; five choirs; a symphony orchestra and the Contemporary Directions Ensemble. About 450 performers all held together under the forceful baton of Leonard Slatkin. But to what purpose? The American pianist and composer William Bolcom has long admired the visionary poetry of William Blake and over some 20 years as a professional musician he has been setting the 'Songs Of Innocence And Experience' to music. If you know Blake's poetry you will realise that this is quite a challenge. Some of the songs are as simple as a nursery rhyme (and anyone who has tried to write a nursery rhyme can tell you that it is not as easy as it looks) but others are passionate, angry denunciations of injustice and cruelty and who has not heard of "The Lamb" or "The Tiger"? Amazingly, brilliantly, Bolcom manages to bring these poems to life and, in so doing, gives us a magical musical tour across America using spirituals, folk songs, jazz, rock and on to serialism and dissonance. This is a unique piece and a brief review cannot do it justice.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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