Fatrin Krajka - "The Space In Between" album review
Fatrin Krajka - The Space In Between album review
Krajka focuses on approachability in his simple and tonal music, relying on harmonic cliches to evoke a melancholic emotional response.
Albanian-American composer and pianist, Fatrin Krajka, is known for his film scores and continued approach to classically inspired minimalism. His latest album release, The Space In Between, intimately connects individual perspectives with a sense of communal emotion. The Space In Between is a full-length album for piano and strings divided up into 4-5 minute long tracks. Within his exploration of the short-form piece, Krajka solidly focuses on approachability in his simple and tonal music, relying on harmonic cliches to evoke a melancholic emotional response from the listener. There is a negligible difference in his approach to scoring for film and this album of more traditional classical music. While I would have appreciated some experimentation and variation within Krajka's minimal-pop form, one must commend him for being articulate within his personal style and crafting a musical journey which can be experienced by almost everyone.
With the rare exception, most noticeably "Vitae", a quite literal lively piece whose opening is reminiscent of a prelude from Bach's Well Tempered Clavier, the whole of The Space In Between exists in an incredibly lugubrious space, almost suspended in time. Krajka's exquisite scoring for piano and strings, combined with his own stellar technique at the keyboard, transforms The Space In Between from a simplistic array of harmony examples into impassioned songs without words. His masterful grasp on composing for piano is what initially grabs and holds the listener's attention, whether or not they realize it. When every musical line is modest and understandable, it is even more imperative they be beautiful and expertly organized.
"Universus" is by far the musically densest on the album and the first time Krajka fully utilizes his string players. It is quite literally amassing everyone together. One also has to note the virtuosic cello playing on this track. While Krajka provides only brief linear notes outlining the album, his titles, often provided in Latin, clearly indicate his musical intentions. In face the following track, "Khronos", also depicts its namesake, with a piano clock ticking undeath an eerie pad of string harmonics.
Ironically, the titular track on the album is also the shortest. "The Space In Between" forces the listener to take in Krajka's music one chord at a time, completely absolved from melody. Somewhat begrudgingly, we go along with Krajka's concept, becoming progressively convinced along the way. While beautiful, his experiment does tire fairly quickly, so the abbreviated length is quite appreciated.
The Space In Between closes with two final tracks. The first, "Anima for String Quartet" is a second, longer version of a previous track on the album. Here it is beautifully performed for Krajka by the players, who I wish were appropriately credited on the album information. Their sensitive playing perfectly supports Krajka's musical aesthetic. While the album as a whole is convincing, this version of "Anima for String Quartet" is really the only work which would successfully function as a stand-alone piece. "Ascension" closes off the album, leaving the listener in an emotionally manipulated state, reminiscing over the resultant, artificially-induced mourning more than Krajka's music.
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