This volume features pieces that could easily fit into a religious ceremony albeit an idiosyncratic one. The opener, Our Father, among his last surviving scores, is for two male voices and has the stark, brooding sound of a medieval chant.
Eastman intended this as a companion to The Holy Presence of Joan d'Arc, 20 seething, soulful minutes, recorded here in Clarice Jensen's transcription for 10 cellos by a very multitracked Seth Parker Woods.
The piece's peaceful, even murmuring moments keep tumbling into disconsolate intensity, but Richard Valitutto maintains a core of serenity in the midst of all the heated passion.
Zorn's musical dialect can vary wildly, but this is some of the gentlest, most openly beautiful music he's made. These dances, laments and fantasias sound like they could fit into some alternate Baroque era, which makes for a wonderfully odd combination with their musical language.
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