Fear Death By Water

by Dave LynchAustere Austrian composer/bandleader/flügelhornist Franz Koglmann long ago staked out a decidedly Eurocentric stance vis à vis jazz and creative music, melding elements of American cool jazz with European art music, and preferring moods of "melancholy decadence" to fiery expressionism. There have been plenty of homages to American jazz icons in his past work, though, as well as plenty of swinging, engaging music, so it's a bit simplistic to view Koglmann merely as a European elitist catering to the tastes of the highbrow art gallery set. Listeners in the States might take a moment to consider whether Koglmann's art represents inclusivity of the highest order, bringing together elements of "America's classical music" (that is, of the sort practiced by an American with the last name Ellington) and the art music of Europe (yes, read "Old Europe"). And Americans might also consider how well-suited Koglmann's Fear Death By Water is to their own place in the world circa 2003, the year this modern opera was recorded during its world premiere at Museumsquartier in Vienna. The libretto by Christian Baier is based on The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot's epic poem whose social context is the years following World War I. There are six characters in Fear Death By Water, representing social forces and witnesses to cycles of despair that continually repeat throughout human history. But the theme of this work does not concern itself with bearing witness to war, learning from past mistakes, and preventing war's recurrence, but rather an insidious forgetfulness and memory repression that doom humankind to the continuous repetition of horrors that consequently stretch both backward and forward through time.... Read More...