The Other Thing

These thoughts came to mind as I listened to “The A-Bomb-A-Nation”:

From the first track there emerged the theme which was to dominate throughout and which transcends the limits of any specific creed or dogma.
It embodied a basic principle of humanitarian inevitability, that is, the flowering of an extended degree from a kernel followed by a process of
organic growth of composition. The first section could very well be marked “allegro con brio” (lively, with vigor), and springs out of the rhythmic idea that dominates the rest of the CD. Out of this motive flowers the first
theme, the repitition, at different levels of the scale and with altered intervals, of the germinating rhythm. The strength of the succession springs from the singleminded persistance of the underlying idea being pursued. The bridge to the elusive related key of E-flat major is surprisingly fashioned out of this basic motive- thus achieving a much more compact bridge than the
leisurely transition of , say, Mozart’s G-minor Symphony, and building as the tracks progress through the CD. The final exposition is rounded off with a dramatic, if not preemptory development, with a short coda reaffirming the
original schematic. The momentum seems to have been deliberately slackened so as to allow for this building to evolve cylindrically against the upsurge of the recapitulation. This music will not be played in elevators until after the revolution. - Simeon Coxe (Silver Apples)