1. Frankenstein Meets the Jazzman
2. The Raven Vanishes
3. Mad Love
4. The Fly
Well, here is a strange one indeed. Four Monsters is a four-movement suite with each titled movement making an oblique reference to classic horror films. Hence there is Frankenstein Meets the Jazzman (shouldn't that be Frankenstein's Monster Meets the Jazzman) in which the 'mechanical' but funky rhythm and the use of the 'Hendrix' 7th#9 chord does indeed conjure up the awkward movements of Frankenstein's monster.
Next comes The Raven Vanishes, a very slow, moody and eerie piece (marked quite aptly, funereal) which features some attractive discordant sounds with the melody played throughout over a constant and insistent base line.
Mad Love is, in essence, a bizarre-sounding waltz hinting vaguely at the Koshkin classic Usher Waltz. Mad Love (also known as The Hands of Orlac) was a 1935 horror film which starred the actor Peter Lorre whose face, if I'm not mistaken, has been included in the front cover art-work by the talented artist Corina Sierk, one of d'OZ's finest illustrators.
Finally there is The Fly, a rapid-paced piece in which the dissonances created in the base line actually do sound 'fly-like'.
I personally am keen on 'programme' music and this fits the bill very well indeed. Not sure if this would be a suitable candidate for the formal recital platform but as an item for the Intermediate player in the student concert, etc. I can see this having quite an impact.
Steve Marsh
