Joshua Nichols - "Metropolis" piano sonata

 Joshua Nichols - "Metropolis" piano sonata

Overall, Metropolis did no more than simply exist for twenty minutes, and offered little incentive to listen to the remainder of the album.

"Metropolis" piano sonata is the titular work of Joshua Nichols' recently released album of piano music. Distributed by Summit Records, Metropolis collects all of Nichols' major works for solo piano, here presented by three different performers. The sonata takes shape in three movements -  "Metropolis", "Meadow", and "Suburb" - all programmatic titles with corresponding musical moods. Played here by pianist Fanya Lin, who presents a highly nuanced performance and does not shy away from Metropolis' high technical demands.


The opening movement, "Metropolis", juxtaposes thunderous, high-rise chords with ghastly single notes, before sprinting into a steady eighth note motor. "Meadow", while the slow, middle movement, challenges the performer with rhythmic dissonances and an unbelievably slow melody. Despite the thin, barren scoring, Lin does a fantastic job holding together the integrity of the rhythm and melodic lines. The final movement, "Suburb", is anchored by an incessant staccato bassline, requiring Lin to always be slightly on edge. The themes presented in this movement are a poor attempt at musical comedy, sounding annoying rather than funny.

 Nichols proves that he is yet again another contemporary composer who misconstrues "unabashed tonality" with being boring. Overall, Metropolis did no more than simply exist for twenty minutes, and offered little incentive to listen to the remainder of the album.


listen to the YouTube recording by Fanya Lin here

purchase the entire album from Summit Records here

© 2023 Brutal New Music Reviews

originally written and published 9 July 2023

please send any and all questions/comments/complaints/suggestions to:

brutalnewmusicreviews@gmail.com

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