Apologetica

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Back in the mid-80's, Lentz was regarded as a younger West Coast equivalent of minimalist Philip Glass. Lentz definitely works the same musical territory (emphasizing vocal sounds, literary texts, repetitive patterns and the familiar motoric pulse of "traditional" minimalism), which has allowed undiscerning listeners to dismiss him as a second-rate Glass copycat. But this is unfair, because Lentz definitely has something to offer, as demonstrated brilliantly on this CD, which is arguably his finest piece of work to date. Using English translations of Mayan, Hopi and Navaho texts which foretell the disastrous coming of the white man, Lentz has put together a concert-length work of fourteen movements performed by I Cantori and The Archbishop's Ensemble, supplemented by the extensive use of a MIDI keyboard for additional orchestral and other sampled sounds. As befits such a somber theme, the music on this CD is largely slow and mournfully beautiful -- a kind of extended lamentation. An obvious point of comparison would be the slow movements in Glass's score for the film Koyaanisqatsi, itself a meditation on a Hopi prophecy concerning the destruction of the world. But Glass's music for the film also underscores Western society's agitated and frantic fulfillment of the prophecy, whereas the music of Lentz communicates dominant impressions of sorrow and loss, and has strong liturgical overtones. Lentz may still be operating in Glass's considerable shadow, but Apologetica can hold its own against anything in Glass's body of work.