Seth Boustead Presents COSMICOMICS Album Review – Harmonically Harnessing the Spirit of Calvino

The second track, At Day Break embodies its title. Like the sun slowly peeking out of the horizon, the song’s melody begins with a bass clarinet and cello in unison– slow, soft and melodic.  The sound of the two instruments starts strongly and slowly diminishes. A pause, and it begins again, yet its fading lullaby lasts longer this time. As it becomes a hum in the background, the piano chimes in. One by one, the other instruments join in. The emotion rises in the song, but never intensely. Tranquility arises from the vibrations of all the instruments.   But at the same time, a soft melancholy emerges. To this writer, it is precisely the feeling of experiencing a magnificent sunrise, while at the same time beginning to long for the vanishing night. The hum remains constant. The instruments begin with a quicker beat, adding intensity to the song that was not present before. A pizzicato (plucking of the strings) occurs and changes the tune. The intensity runs higher and higher-- until, it suddenly comes to an end. There is silence momentarily. The song’s energy has pulled us along, until its abrupt end.  More silence-- minus a slight hum. Seconds tick by, and anticipation hangs in the air until the instruments return. A familiar melody comes back, but now with its melancholic undertones taking center stage.

Seth Boustead Channels Spirit of Famed Short Story Collection

In this way, composer Seth Boustead channels the stories by Calvino to create a musical experience overflowing with emotion in his new album, Cosmicomics,  inspired by Italo Calvino’s short stories. More specifically, Boustead has taken eight of the stories from Calvino’s collection and created a musical interpretation. Performed by the Unheard-of// Ensemble, Cosmicomics, its eight tracks, like Calvino’s namesake short stories, all deal with different laws of quantum mechanics and cosmology.  The music, throughout takes on an ethereal quality that reminds of the mysteries of the cosmos.

A diverse range of instruments guides our journey with precision. We hear rapid-fire, dynamic harmonies that rapidly come into play as if witnessing the big bang. These supernovae of complex compositions fade out, leading to moments of quiet introspection. Like the characters in Calvino’s stories, the album takes the listener on a cosmic journey encompassing the universe’s entire history.

If you enjoy sublime classical music capable of invoking a vivid musical picture, and especially if you want a nice companion piece of music while you read Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino, or if you want a relaxing album to unwind to,--you, like this reviewer, will find a whimsical experience in listening to Boustead’s Cosmicomics.

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Music by Seth Boustead

Performed by Unheard-of//Ensemble

Cosmicomics is available for streaming on Amazon, Spotify, Apple Music, and Youtube.

Photos Courtesy of Seth Boustead.