THE HERMETIC ORGAN VOLUME 12 - THE BOSCH REQUIEM

The twelfth volume in the improvised live organ series by prolific avant-garde maestro John Zorn also serves as the composer's tribute to one of his greatest influences, the 15th-Century Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch. The album was recorded live in the Great Church in Den Bosch (fittingly, the birthplace of the painter himself) in November 2023 as part of Zorn's 70th birthday celebrations. Comprising just two pieces, the album is one of the strangest in the Hermetic Organ series, not least because the composer for once forgoes the strict solo nature of these releases and collaborates with his longtime friend and colleague, jazz keyboardist John Medeski. Conceptually, the improvisations are based around fantastical religious imagery, forming a sort of tone poem meant to represent a journey into and across the underworld.

Part one of the album, Crossing the River Styx, is a solo recording performed by Zorn alone, experimenting with the dual organs in the church before his recital began. The listener may hear Zorn walking back and forth between the two instruments, adjusting components and talking to himself. While the piece is technically just a physical test of the capabilities of both performer and instrument, it never comes across as less than the second track. Getting into the mindset for his later performance, beginning to approach the subject matter tonally, Zorn introduces himself to the instruments and introduces us to hell, crossing the proverbial river physically and emotionally. The music takes a great deal from early 20th century modernist composers, particularly the Expressionist school (which makes sense considering the setting of the recital). Zorn seamlessly slides between sparse textures - just a handful of dissonant notes - stretching out infinitely long, creating a sense of emptiness and unease, and dense chord clusters that rise to ever more painful dynamic heights, testing the listener's ear and tolerance. The harsh tonalities and total disregard for convention bring to mind the dark, eerie works of Webern, Berg, Stravinsky, and Cage, but of course come marked with the indelible stamp of Zorn's singular creativity.

Part two of the album, A Pilgrimage Through Hell, stretches even longer than part one at nearly half an hour. For this piece, actually recorded during his solo recital, Zorn is joined by an assistant (the aforementioned Medeski) to manage the two organs simultaneously. One is forced to sympathize with the need for assistance, having heard his septuagenarian form pace back and forth constantly for the entire first track. Again Zorn channels the Teutonic modernists, this time taking the listener on a horrifying journey across the underworld. For unbearably long stretches, Zorn and Medeski drone on high-pitched dissonances that attack the ear, pound on low organ ostinati that one feels in their chest more than hears with their ear, and slide between both extremely loud and extremely quiet dynamic levels (remaining on one or the other for so long it becomes uncomfortable). This is dark music of powerful imagery much like Schoenberg's "Pierrot lunaire", art that succeeds in becoming so emotionally and mentally unpleasant that it creates an almost physical sensation. As bad as that sounds, this occurs as the direct intention of a master composer and performer, and for that reason I find it impressive, compelling, and powerful. It's a compelling representation of the abject horror beyond death, as well as the emptiness of the world of the dead.

In all, this album stands as a document of an impressive live improvisation by a man in his 70th year and is an academically fascinating bit of contemporary classical music. That being said, it's not a particularly listenable thing, and requires one's full attention and patience throughout its forty-six minute runtime. It's a great musical work, but it's a difficult listen that I likely wouldn't return to often.

Track Rating: Part One: Crossing the River Styx (7.5), Part Two: A Pilgrimage Through Hell (8).

Overall Rating: 7.75/10, or, 4 Stars (rounded up)