Musicians know only too well that spaces – whether created by humans or by nature – have a sound all of their own. For his new album, the violinist and multi-instrumentalist Simon Goff uses extraordinary architectural environments as a meaningful backdrop. The recordings were made partly in Berlin, in a church and a water tower, but also in a ‘Sound Mirror’ on the British coast, where, between the world wars and before the invention of radar, a large concrete structure was used to detect the engine noises of enemy aircraft at an early stage. Goff aims to turn these spaces themselves into instruments through his music.
You don’t need to know all this to appreciate Interior Realms Vol. 1. For at the now almost mainstream intersection of violin, piano and electronics, Goff avoids all the obvious pitfalls in which neoclassical music is still floundering, waiting for redemption. Rather, the eight compositions are captivating gems of chamber-musical excellence, presented with humility yet power. Without cloying murmurs, without overdramatised drama; instead, full of depth and intricate twists and turns that only an alert mind, standing tall, dares to navigate courageously. Music that plants flowers in the cracks of the concrete’s dead weight
