Ritual - Feature Review

By Robert Schulslaper

Essential to Jonathan Beard’s career as a film, TV, and video game composer/orchestrator is the art of supporting stories with music, encouraging and shaping an audience’s responses to all manner of comedies, heroic fantasies, and documentaries. That well-honed dramatic instinct and sense of timing also infuses his non-media-related works, in this instance the electroacoustic suite for six performers Ritual. While not programmatically specific, the five provocatively titled movements—Quest, Ritual, Midwinter, Thanatosis, and Battalion—tantalize the imagination into devising scenarios appropriate to each phase of the musical journey. “Quest,” perhaps appropriately, is the most episodic in nature, beginning with a blend of pulsating electronics and muffled bass drum that conveys a sense of oceanic depth. Coupled with tremulous cello fragments, the extended introduction, colored by various synthetic timbres and organ pads, leads to a fully formed, vaguely Celtic melody for cello (expertly played by the composer), that through the oddities of association, brought to mind the cello-centric opening credits of the P. D. James Adam Dalgliesh mystery series on PBS. Be that as it may, once the solo has sung, electronic textures take over, the tempo speeds up incrementally, and the movement deceptively ends precipitously around the six-minute mark. After a suspenseful silence the music resumes, now with a greater intensity driven by sharp electronic “whip cracks” and percussion, plus increasingly prominent organ pads that at times sound like a wordless chorus. These mingled forces then depart, leaving only a reminiscence of the initial electronics behind. 

The second track, Ritual, projects a peaceful aura, the sum of its simplicity of means, reverberant atmosphere, and soothing timbres. A cyclically repeating organ “kernel” extends throughout the movement, with only one slight surprise at unpredictable intervals, a shift in pitch that implies a change of harmony at the end of the phrase. However, as the piece evolves in its unhurried way, other instruments, cello and recorder, at first mimic, then weave closely related counterpoints around the theme. The electronics are at first an almost subliminal presence, with the muffled drum from the first movement even more subdued than before. But as the music unfolds a gradual increase in complexity and dynamics suggests a progression from meditation to exaltation. 

Midwinter moves to a swaying, syncopated beat overlaid with soft-edged vibraphone patterns that segue into a more fully developed melody for bass recorder, and later, a piano outlining and elaborating the tune in single notes. The appealing mix of murmuring vibraphone, resonant recorder, and piano is but one example among many of Beard’s love affair with timbre (see our conversation above). The melodic content, too, is very attractive, and knowing how comfortable Beard is with different genres and styles—another essential for a film composer—I feel that with his talent for devising tune-snippets with earworm or hook potential, it’s easy to imagine Midwinter transformed into a mesmerizing song vehicle for someone like Sade—composer, take note! On the “electro” side, shimmers and “whooshes” effectively evoke the midwinter wind, simultaneously adding imaginative overtones to the “historically anchored” acoustic instruments (Beard’s term). 

Thanatosis, or “playing dead,” is a state adopted by some animals and insects in response to an imminent threat, and humans too, when caught up in terrifying circumstances, have escaped further harm by similar deception. I don’t know why Beard chose it as the title of his fourth movement, but I do know that he’s succeeded in generating considerable discomfort by giving the introduction over to what sounds like the panic-stricken breathing of an exhausted young woman. There’s more here than shocking theatrics, however, with the subtly disturbing cello motif contributing to the pervasive anxiety. 

“Battalion … pushes the elements of aggressive tension to a precipice, and provides catharsis as well.” (Beard) How is this accomplished? An hypnotically repeated ostinato, augmented with electronics, builds from quiet beginnings to an almost overwhelming intensity over the course of the track until it melts away, leaving the “cathartic” cello to end the suite. 

Repetition, whether the cornerstone of any particular movement, or more subtly present, plays a key role in Ritual. It’s not only an effective unifying device but a musical analogue of the “contemplative devotional practice” that inspired the composer. However, it should be emphasized that there’s far more to the music than its predilection for repetition: Beard’s creative integration of a sumptuous variety of electronic textures with genuinely involving melody and compelling musical figures, along with his fine ear for orchestration and love of timbre in all its manifestations, are the pillars on which the entire construction rests. 

The CD faithfully reproduces both electronic and acoustic instruments, with the latter especially warmly recorded. While no booklet is included, Beard explains his inspiration, method, and hopes for the suite on the inside cover. In addition to composing the music, he produced, engineered, and mixed the recording. This is an impressive electroacoustic work, sure to appeal to a wide variety of listeners.