The Plague and the Moonflower

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Richard Harvey is a celebrated composer, yet not knowingly celebrated as we would talk about Oscars and such. No, Richard Harvey is more the composer of celebrated scores such as Animal Farm for fans, or for his flute work on The Lion King, or for this. Namely his oratorio for Plague and the Moonflower, a 12 movement piece making the telling of trying to survive in a dark world of greed and pollution all the more moving when you actually hear Harvey's score surrounding it. Its no movie score, but of course a movie composer is still there to signal his touches in a piece as this (as John Williams did for his symphonies), and so the music moves forward with various themes, but more in an orchestral tapestry of ideas and meanings. And Richard Harvey is also celebrated because he succeeds in giving Plague and the Moonflower a meaning that stands firm with the play. It starts with 'Prologue', soft scoring, lovely piano and vocals, but soon one of the returning elements is heard meaning narration, from Sir Ben Kingsley to be exact. At one point not exactly what you want, but it does put you in the mood well and it makes a meaning and sensible explanation overall. However no narration stops the fun of 'Intrada', brass fanfares in the most classical baroque style imaginable, with the typical racing strings, but a wonderful almost heroic theme too which crops up the most in this album, soon to be followed by another festivity growing of a theme which will truly explode at the very end of the listen. However its wonderful playful variation of this track's theme is excellent. 'River Stories' brings back the narration but in between there is music that speaks too, choir, theme versions of track 2's theme, solo classical vocal which has The Sum of all Fears written all over it, solo trumpet at the end which brings us forward to 'Deserts of the Nile', another narrated piece.

Track 5 namely 'A Child's Carol' is however a very beautiful track, simply taking the vocal beauty of LOTR over in this one, yet the fact this piece was written in 1995 makes of course duplication rather silly. First some action based trumpets, Latin chants, guitar and most of all the theme of track 2 but vocally brought forward with choir later on, really giving it color. 'Demon Dance' could be another spectacular dark hasted piece, but apart from the first 2 minutes (with its driving classical line) its rather dissonant at the very end. So is track 7 with its atonal flutes, organ and trumpets after the narration. The wonderful guitar playing (variation on track 2's theme) makes 'Ancient Lands' happen rather heroically, while 'The Master Builders' brings again the choir and orchestra together, lovely once again. The 15 minute 'Plague and the Moonflower' has several minutes separated of narration, but in between soothing music makes for a wonderful experience still, like the pan flutes, like the choir with orchestra, solo violin or solo vocal all make the effect really happen. 'Chorale and Epilogue' bring back the ideas of track 2, meaning the fanfares, but here the choir really makes for 3 minutes the piece divvying. 'Finale / Rejouissance!' has the festivity theme of 2 back but now growing from solo guitar, to each time an added instrument, leading to the very end with a wonderful exuberant mix of choir and orchestra, meaning a real climax true to the feel of this entire oratorio. This entire play, presented in 68 minutes is a real piece of art, which especially has supreme moments, classical influences which still listen more like film music then pure classicism, but especially in wonderful tracks which make Richard Harvey ever so the man to celebrate. As said, the narration might not work wonderfully, but it makes sense, and the music never grows under the narration, and The Plague and the Moonflower is especially mesmerizing when moments are heightened emotionally to its growth by solo instrument or full force of the orchestra to its most beautiful limitations, then film music magic even works for oratorio's. Especially for people wanting a listening experience that says more then words alone, this piece does work wonders after various occasions.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Prologue (3.08)

2. Intrada (4.24) Excellent Track

3. River Stories (10.04)

4. Deserts Of The Nile (4.01)

5. A Child's Carol (5.07) Excellent Track

6. Demon Dance! (2.52)

7. Plague Lives! (4.07)

8. Ancient Lands (6.03)

9. The Master Builders (5.05) Excellent Track

10. Plague And The Moonflower (15.45) Excellent Track

11. Chorale And Epilogue (4.58) Excellent Track

12. Finale / Rejouissance! (3.48) Excellent Track

Total Length: 67.49

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