Higgins, Patrick / Bachanalia
Album: Bachanalia   Collection:Classical
Artist:Higgins, Patrick   Added:Dec 2015
Label:Telegraph Harp  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2020-02-26 Pull Date: 2020-07-22 Charts: Classical/Experimental
Week Ending: Mar 8 Mar 1
Airplays: 1 1

Recent Airplay
1. Nov 13, 2021: Music Casserole
Aria Da Capo - Goldberg Variations Bwv 988
3. Feb 27, 2020: Galactic Travel Radio
Chaconne - Violin Partita No.2 Bwv 1004
2. Mar 04, 2020: Emergency Crew for Stace
Chaconne - Violin Partita No.2 Bwv 1004

Album Review
Larry Koran
Reviewed 2019-04-14
These highly original arrangements of JS Bach for classical guitar prove the endless possibilities contained within the master’s pen. Bachanalia emerges from virtuosic classical guitar playing, stereo electronic processing, and the recording spaces themselves. It uses the special acoustics of St. Cecilia’s Church in Brooklyn and Future-Past Studios, housed in a historic Lutheran church. Described by The New Yorker as one of the “prime movers of the local avant-garde,” Higgins is a New York-based composer/performer of experimental music. He has scored music for TV, museum exhibitions, and films both short-form and feature-length. For Bachanalia, Higgins and co-engineer Ben Greenberg worked with a collection of vintage microphones to capture a spatialized natural room reverb. This provided a palate to warp, manipulate, and re-process the sound in counterpoint to Bach’s compositions, weaving together live performance and studio composition. Tracks 2, 3 and 8 are particularly enjoyable Bach melodies and Higgins/Greenberg treatments. Track 4 is a slowed rendition, overlaid with a moderately heavy buzz; Track 6 includes an overlaid quiet background buzz, while a mild buzz resonates in Tract 7. Both the experimentation and emotional intensity are high in the final three tracks.

Track Listing
1. Aria - Goldberg Variations Bwv 988   5. Chorale - Cantata 147 Bwv 147
2. Prelude - Violin Partita No.3 Bwv 1006   6. Minuet 1 And 2 - Cello Suite No.1 Bwv 1007
3. Bouree - Lute Suite No.1 Bwv 996   7. Chaconne - Violin Partita No.2 Bwv 1004
4. Gavotte - Cello Suite No.6 Bwv 1012   8. Aria Da Capo - Goldberg Variations Bwv 988