Classical Music Discoveries

Composer and librettist John Aylward today releases the soundtrack for his one-act chamber opera Oblivion on New Focus Recordings, with a feature-length film through Graham Swon’s Ravenserodd Productions scheduled to follow in fall 2023. With a portfolio of work called “mysterious, iridescent and daring” (Gramophone Magazine), Aylward takes those elements to spellbinding extremes in this new work exploring the value of self-knowledge, the nature of redemption, and our capacity to distinguish truth from falsehood. Drawing inspiration from Dante’s Purgatorio, Oblivion takes us inside a surreal netherworld where two disoriented Wanderers struggle to make sense of their existence, unsure of whose account to trust – or whether they even want the answers. The scene is set by Aylward’s score for four voices, backed by viola, cello, double bass, electric guitar, and electronics. Notes by Dan Lippel, who performs the electric guitar part, call the score “beguiling and mysterious … virtuosically intertwining spoken and sung texts with angular figures in the instruments. … The closing material in the ensemble has an ethereal and disembodied ambiance as if the musical figures themselves are circles in Purgatory.”

Oblivion Tracklist

John Aylward – Oblivion

     I. Prologue [4:13]

     2. Scene 1 [6:29]

     3. Scene 2 [8:21]

     4. Scene 3 [6:05]

     5. Scene 4 [12:48]

     6. Scene 5 & Interlude [12:19]

     7. Scene 6 [14:20]

Total time: 64:35

This album is broadcasted with the permission of Katy Salomon representing Primo Artists.