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Review:
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IThe Russian progrock formation Little Tragedies was
founded in 1994 by composer Gennady Ilyin, a graduate of
the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Between 1995 and 2000 Little
Tragedies was a trio that consisted of Gennady Ilyin on
keyboards, Yuri Skripkin on drums and Oleg Babynin on bass
(what a wonderful Russian names!), after a visit to Paris
keyboard wizard Gennady got inspired by the awesome Parissian
architecture and cultural heritage and started to work out
a tribute with Little Tragedies, recorded in 1996 and 1997
and now released on CD by the French progrock label Musea.
On Little Tragedies their wonderful website I read: “After
visiting Paris in April 1995, which impressed Gennady very
much, he started working on The Paris Symphony. The climax
of this almost 45-minute work is the three-part opus Napoleon
which, in a way, is the heel post of the 'symphony: it determines
the structure and intonation of the other parts: House Of
Invalids, Notre-Dame De Paris, Luxemburg Garden, Montmartre
and Triumphal Arch. The major themes of The Paris Symphony
are based on the tunes of and allusions to the Catholic
Easter worship service in the Notre-Dame Cathedral. The
Paris Symphony was played a few times in music schools and
concert halls of Kursk, the city were Little Tragedies was
born.”
- The album contains nine tracks (between 2 and 11 minutes,
total time around 56 minutes) delivering mainly bombastic
atmospheres, loaded with dazzling and spectacular synthesizer
flights and Emersonian Hammond organ runs, supported by
a tight and energetic rhythm-section. Only the short composition
Moonlight People contains a more mellow atmosphere (dreamy
with orchestral keyboards, in the end also culminating in
bombastic with sensational keyboards) but in general Little
Tragedies their music is a winner for the fans of ELP, Trace
and Gerard, I am blown away by the majestic church organ
in Notre Dame De Paris and Montmartre and the exciting duels
between Hammond organ and synthesizer in Romantic Waltz
and Relayer, virtuosic keyboard driven progrock!
www.progwalhalla.com
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