Alvin Curran - Maritime Rites

Composed in 1985, Maritime Rites was conceived as a series of radio works for NPR. Collected here as a two-CD set, they form a captivating cycle, one of Curran's strongest achievements. Two main ideas gave the work its shape. The first consisted of documenting and salvaging the sonic particularities of the U.S. Eastern Seaboard. As technology was deeply transforming the nature and features of maritime activities, Curran went on a pilgrimage from New Brunswick (Canada) to Chesapeake Bay (U.S.A.), recording foghorns, buoys, wildlife, and wind and water, and interviewing seamen and lighthouse keepers along the way. Read More