A real jewel in the crown of his ouvre, this album highlights Vangelis' ability to create a unique sound-world for a single musical project. This time it involves that period of the year, sort of fresh early spring, when new life crops up everywhere all of a sudden: the start of a new cycle of life and death, hence the album-title 'Soil Festivities'. Vangelis manages to get across this feeling of "the miracle of nature" really well and in a very direct sense - there's nothing wishy-washy or New Age about it. Accordingly, it's also completely devoid of the human factor - quite unlike for instance the Romantic composers like Mahler who very much viewed nature as being linked to Man's inner state.To achieve the maximum effect of freshness Vangelis uses some rather exotic harmonies (mostly in major keys - his usual nostalgia isn't really apparent here), random percussion-effects and "jumpy" melody-lines.
The long first movement is set to a brisk walking tempo and sometimes accompanied by rain-effects. Added to this Vangelis lets loose his improvisational skills to probably indicate the many forms of life springing into existence. The second movement has a more tune-like quality and could be meant as the musical image of a plant growing beautifully but then withering away. This is the most tranquil piece of the lot, in contrast to the next three which are darker in atmosphere. The third movement shows the violent side of nature with moments of despair alternating with ones of glory, indicating the struggle to survive, whilst the fourth is more contemplative and a bit gloomy. The best is saved for last: a wonderfully loose piece in which Vangelis again shows his skill at improvisation, going through many moods and tempos before setting up an emotional conclusion to this feast of life.
Presenting a very direct and well-balanced view of the natural world, one cannot recommend this album too much, but don't expect anything Romantic.
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