Invocations

Bono's first classical album. An extended exploration of songs without words — three movements built on a stanza from an inscribed personal prayer, plus a string-quartet work, The Missing.

Invocations is an extended exploration of songs without words — confident, tuneful and dramatic but not confined to simple song forms. There is a yearning emotional heart in each of the three movements of the large-scale piece Invocations, from which the album draws its title. In the composer's words, each movement is based on "a stanza from an inscribed personal prayer." Released fall 2012 as Bono's first public recording in seven years and his first-ever classical album, Invocations builds from string trio to chamber ensemble (string quartet, bass, harp, winds, percussion, and sampling). The record also includes The Missing for string quartet, written in 2010 for the European American Musical Alliance and premiered in Paris that year. Musical and emotional intensity build through the first two movements, driven along by the rondo structure of "Exhaust" and the vigorous, dream-like state of "Fish, Father, Phoenix." The work finds acceptance, repose and even transcendence in "Sunday Stills the Willow," a luminous instrumental hymn.

Tracks

1. 01Invocation No. 1 "Exhaust"
2. 02Invocation No. 2 "Fish, Father, Phoenix"16:10
3. 03Invocation No. 3 "Sunday Stills The Willow"6:30
4. 04"The Missing" for String Quartet6:28
5. 05Invocation No. 2 "Fish, Father, Phoenix" Instrumental15:09

Credits

Christopher Bono — Composer

Videos

Press

“'Fish, Father, Phoenix' employs taped fragments… and nature recordings over an ensemble of winds, strings, and percussion, mixed in a montage that raises questions about the meaning of life.”

AllMusic

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