TITLE: JESUS' BLOOD NEVER FAILED ME YET
COMPOSER: GAVIN BRYARS
LABEL: POINT MUSIC
THE BOTTOM LINE: The technique of hypnotic repetition yields a moving affirmation of the power of simple song.
Composers have long recognized the hypnotic impact of repeated melody: the grinding pathos of the Albinoni Adagio; the inexorable drive of Ravel's Bolero; the serene radiance of Gandhi's final aria in Glass's Satyagraha. None of these pieces, however, approach in length or cumulative impact a new work by British composer Gavin Bryars, Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet, which is at once an apotheosis of minimalist technique and a moving...
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