Beauty in the Beast | Wendy Carlos | The end of a long period of Tragic Unavailability

Beauty in the Beast | Wendy Carlos | An amazing work

classical music:

Beauty in the Beast

	Beauty in the Beast Wendy Carlos East Side Digital, 2003 average customer review:based on 11 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

From the roar of Tibetan horns and the clangor of metal percussion that opens Beauty in the Beast, Wendy Carlos in 1986 signaled a new direction for her music. Beauty in the Beast is Carlos's magnum opus, an album that should have established the synthesizer's role in the new global music landscape. More than that, it should have established Carlos as a composer and not just a Switched-on Bach jukebox. But not too many people were listening. Rereleased now after 14 years, Beauty in the Beast has lost none of its power. Carlos is both profound and poignant, dissonant and disarming on Beauty, as she fuses a global orchestra from her synthesizers. "Poem for Bali" is the centerpiece of the album, an episodic, 17-minute excursion as Carlos orchestrates the sounds and rhythms of a digital gamelan orchestra. In addition to replicating the metallophones, gongs, and flutes of the traditional gamelan, she creates her own hybrid sound designs, giving this work a surreal and sometimes harrowing tone, like a dream bent through funhouse mirrors. But then there are pieces such as "A Woman's Song," based on a Balkan melody. The title track merges nightmare landscapes and a crazed carnival calliope with a haunting theme that sounds like a lament for the end of the world. Beauty in the Beast is an essential recording of both modern composition and synthesis--Carlos should plug into this circuit again. --John Diliberto

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The end of a long period of Tragic Unavailability

I have proudly owned a copy of the first release of this CD all these years. It is the best example I know of an utterly brilliant recording being tragically unavailable. As other reviewers note, the tuning does sound strange at first, but then one realizes how quickly one not only adjusts to it, but starts to hear it as natural and normal.

Do yourself a favor and get this CD now. It is indispensable.

An amazing work

If you are unfamiliar with alternate tonal scales or non-western music, be prepared for a shock. When I first heard the CD in the 80's, I hated it. I listened again, and again, and began to retune and understand. Now it is one of my favorite albums, definite in the top ten. If you have an ear to hear, give it a listen.

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Weird, but it works

You've never heard anything quite like Beauty in the Beast, and it *does* take some getting used to. But once you have, it's a must-have record.

There are a variety of musical styles on BitB, ranging from african-sounding percussion to martian jazz. The title cut is just plain haunting.

The supplementary files include an essay on tuning, with audio files as examples. I found these to be very informative, particularly regarding the alpha and beta scales used in the title cut.

It's weird, but it works.

A revelation upon its release.

As a student studying classical voice this recording was a revelation when I purchased it on cassette 22 years ago. I've just now discovered its been reissued on CD (I'm listening to my old cassette as I write this). Upon hearing "Beauty In The Beast" I understood that there was a world of electronic possibilities outside western acoustic tonalities and structures that didn't need to be mutually exclusive of them. Truly thoughtful, well composed, learned music from an equally thoughtful learned composer. Music of the highest order.

http://www.myspace.com/m_d_optofonik

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Brain Damage

Instinctively attracted to classical music I have been unable to listen to this work without becoming physically ill. Constant shifts in tonality make this an interesting case study from a pathological standpoint but don't expect to enjoy it. This is music that has lost the center. There is no harmonic whole, there can be no cycle of fifths, scientifically justifiable yet all is arbitrary. This is the opposite of loop based music and the ultimate 'special effects' driven experiment. If you want non tempered classical music I recommend Harry Partch or Moon Dog or one of the more staid composers of modern music. Get this CD by all means. You won't be dissapointed.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

Tracks
Incantation | Beauty in the Beast | Poem for Bali | Just Imaginings | That's Just It | Yusae-Aisae | C'Est Afrique | A Woman's Song - Wendy Carlos, Carlos, Wendy

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