Brady, Tim / Three Cities In The Life Of Dr. Norman Bethune
Album: Three Cities In The Life Of Dr. Norman Bethune   Collection:General
Artist:Brady, Tim   Added:Aug 2006
Label:Ambiances Magnetique  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2006-08-27 Pull Date: 2006-10-29 Charts: Classical/Experimental
Week Ending: Oct 29 Sep 3
Airplays: 1 1

Recent Airplay
1. Oct 27, 2006: Memory Select: guest Myra Melford
The Evacuation Of Malaga, Pamphlet, Feb. 7, 1937 (N. Bethune) - Madrid (1936-193
2. Aug 29, 2006: Radio Of Imagination
The Evacuation Of Malaga, Pamphlet, Feb. 7, 1937 (N. Bethune) - Madrid (1936-193

Album Review
Ragnar of Ravensfjord
Reviewed 2006-10-02
New composer/chamber opera with male baritone, guitar, percussion & sax. All based around the life of the Canadian doctor and humanitarian active in the 20’s & 30’s.
Interesting, compelling and often cinematic.
((((1)))) Great perussion, off-kilter piano & string elements.
((2)) Nice instrumentation but the vocals are really overdramatic.
((3)) Mostly mellow strings and solem, slow story telling vocals.
(((4))) Lots of random percussion & strings and often operatic vocals.
(((5))) Not too different from the last track but with some interesting vocal/narration bits.
((6)) Very minimal not a lot going on here.
((7)) Solem & builds in different direction but doesn’t stand out well enough.
((((8)))) Character narration “en español” all overlapped and argumentative. Later gets kinda jazzy & more narrative in English. Excellent.
(((9))) Somewhat bombastic & loud, big on histronic, operatic vocals.
((((10)))) Cinematic, semi-jazzy piano & strings interlude
(((11))) Minimal & occasionally filled with random experimental bits. Some nice ambient & string manipulating sounds in the mix.
((12)) More narrative operatic/off-broadway feeling. Almost entirely vocal –led.
((13)) More histronic, story-telling stuff. Nothing innovative or terribly interesting.
((14)) Mellancholic and extremely literal translation “I’ve have al-read-y submitted reports from February and Mar-ch”. Huh?
((15)) Etheral string, minimal vocals which don’t seem to move anywhere.

Track Listing
1. Prelude: Three Cities - Montréal (1935-1936) Part 1   8. The Evacuation Of Malaga, Pamphlet, Feb. 7, 1937 (N. Bethune) - Madrid (1936-193
2. Poem, An Immigrant (Dorothy Livesay, Montreal) - Montréal (1935-1936) Part 2   9. Poem, I Come From Cuatro Caminos, Jan. 1937 (N. Bethune) - Madrid (1936-1937) Pa
3. Incantation 1, Letter, Nov. 6, 1935 (N. Bethune) - Montréal (1935-1936) Part 3   10. Prelude - Chin Ch'a Chi (1938-1939) Part 1
4. Poem, Depression Suite (Dorothy Livesay, Montreal) - Montréal (1935-1936) Part 4   11. Poem, Untitled (Lu Xun, China) - Chin Ch'a Chi (1938-1939) Part 2
5. Letter, Oct. 8, 1935 (N. Bethune) - Montréal (1935-1936) Part 5   12. Incantation 2, Letter, Aug. 15, 1939 (N. Bethune) - Chin Ch'a Chi (1938-1939) Pa
6. Prelude: El Segador (Songs From The Spanish Civil War) - Madrid (1936-1937) Part   13. Poem, Autumn 1939, (Dorothy Livesay, Montreal) - Chin Ch'a Chi (1938-1939) Part
7. Poem, The Defense Of Madrid, The Defense Of Catalonia, (Rafael Alberti, Madrid)   14. Reprise, Letters, Aug. 15, 1939 And July 1, 1939 (N. Bethune) - Chin Ch'a Chi (1
  15. Final Letter, Nov. 11, 1939 (N. Bethune) - Chin Ch'a Chi (1938-1939) Part 6