Every Matter Under Heaven - An Oratorio by Lee Johnson

...elegant, stylish, stirring and thoughtful ...:
Well I don't get many of these CDs popping through the door, but I'm an old man now, and these things are only to be expected. For Lee Johnson is a classical composer, performer and conductor whow has conducted and recorded orchestras such as the Russian National Orchestra, The London Symphony Orchestra and among many others. He has composed six symphonies, numerous chamber works, four musicals, two operas, concerti, choral and vocal works, works for ballet theater, feature and experimental film, and hundreds of works for multimedia and interactive technologies. And now he has reached a stage in his career where he sends CDs to me. That can't be good. Unlike the CD. Now I'm no expert but I know one thing about music, and that is that it should it touch the soul in some way, and this CD certainly does that. According to Mr Johnson he "used pivotal as well as benign moments from 20th Century American life to examine and experience the recipe for good living found in the ancient Hebrew book of Ecclesiastes and to illustrate the ancient book`s unapologetic manner of explaining virtually "a time for every thing". The chosen subject matter helps us recognize that a successful life is usually demonstrated best by one`s ability to balance the commonplace." Right. Now I do know that the oratorio is, despite musical similarities to opera, is strictly a concert piece which usually deals strictly with sacred subjects, which made it appropriate for performance in the church, especially during its peak in 17th century Italy. Although fans of Handels "Messiah" may think differently. But it might explain why this 21st century oratorio hits all the spiritual notes you could possibly want in an elegant, stylish, stirring and thoughtful manner.