Negative Positive
Title: Not a gimmick...
Review: The music stands on its own, apart from how it is produced (by several musicians plucking, tapping, and bowing the strings and other parts of the piano), and apart from the loose "theme" of oceanic exploration. The piece is not strictly produced to evoke images of what each segment is titled, as explained clearly by Stephen Scott in the accompanying notes. You need not have any concern that the bowed piano is a "gimmick" to crank out the sounds! The music is quite "accessible," that is, fairly tuneful, with a repetitive nature found in much modern music such as Philip Glass. The segments are cohesive in the manner of a symphony, or as if Scott is telling a story, which he is (hey, I'm writing as a jazz and classical fan, not as a musicologist). All this translates to: highly recommended. Five stars. I'm not kidding!
Is the review positive or negative? 