Falling out of time

"This extended meditation on loss and grief, is conveyed on a musical fabric that adds jazz, blues and elements of central Asian music to Golijov's usual stylistic amalgam ... Inspired by a novel of a father seeking connection with a dead child, Golijov's work has a multitude of stylistic elements and instruments but not enough emotional heft".

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"Falling Out of Time, a recording of a 'tone poem in voices' composed by Osvaldo Golijov and based on the 2014 novel of the same name by the Israeli author David Grossman, is as ambitious as anything the [Silkroad] collective has ever attempted. Golijov's score turns the book's theme of parents grieving for dead children into an epic lament, which draws on the music of Central Asia, avant-garde jazz, contemporary classical tropes and soulful blues wailing. The musicians include Iran's Kayhan Kalhor on kamancheh and Wu Man on the Chinese pipa, augmented by trumpet, strings and some subtle synths with vocals from Venezuela's Biella da Costa, the Dutch soprano Nora Fischer and Chinese singer Wu Tong. The results are sombre, intense, at times harrowing - and always profoundly moving. Golijov won the Grammy for best contemporary classic composition in 2007 and it would be no surprise if he were to win again for this extraordinary recording".

"Their latest venture (The Silkroad Ensemble) is a new work by Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov, 'Falling out of time', based on the 2014 book of the same title by Israeli writer David Grossman ... In collaboration with Grossman and the ensemble, Golijov has created an affecting and adventurous new work which he describes as an 'epic lament' ... draws on styles as diverse as the ballads of Central Asia and the early Delta Blues ... The score's often dense textures and a heavily produced soung at times feels overwhelming. Passages where the texture is stripped down and solo instruments have more breathing space are the most rewarding".