The Way
The Way
1981, original instruments, Composer, 17', recorded on Opus One #82
"Cope performed solo on a miniature orchestra or found and self-made instruments that
included wine glasses, gongs, pipes, human voice, harmonica and much more. After
cajoling his wine glasses into harmony with the room's atmosphere, Cope proceeded to
delicately invoke a wilderness of haunting sound imagery from his ethereal clan of
timbres. Both songs floated along subconscious tributaries, dispelling expectations
around every bend and developing cryptic patterns from the dream realm."
Philip Collins, Santa Cruz Sentinel, May 6, 1983
"The music of David Cope has continuously satisfied my taste buds and this massive
monument is no exception. The Way is a setting of small ensembles for a single
performer, representing personal ideals, with poetic texts for 'art' songs. The work is
highly structured with exact notation, though one might feel the presence of an
improvised manner."
Jack M. Shusterman, Composers Recording Society Newsletter,
Fall/Winter, 1983-4
"David Cope's books about new music are as concise, complete, and readable as any I
know. He has the wonderful gift of making comprehensible the wide variety of trends
that characterize music in the late 20th century. As a composer, Cope follows this
tradition by loading his pieces with more instruments, techniques, and ideas than one
generally hears in one composer's entire output. Surprisingly, it all holds together
somehow; perhaps some of the unity can be ascribed to the personal involvement of Cope
and family in the execution. In The Way, a work inspired by a canyon on the Navajo
reservation in Arizona, Cope sings and plays panpipes, glass harmonica, piano-harp,
tamtams, gongs, organ, and chimes plus more, 52 in all (a music box, I assume, plays
itself). The sound of all this suggests electronics and tape superimposition, but neither is
present: all the music is produced simultaneously by the composer/performer."
Fanfare, Sect.-Oct., 1983
"Adventurous ears will discover brilliant overtures from unfamiliar realms in this
recently released album of David Cope's work. The Way is a religious work that
merges Cope's compositional practices. The soundscape is wholly unconventional,
drawing upon a vast gamut of acoustical timbres: bowed, blown, struck and spoken. With
music that journeys into a cosmos of uncharted sonic terrains, Cope delves into the veiled
power and lore of the Navajo's 'tseghi' canyon in Arizona. The strong devotional
quality of the work transcends mere ritual and imparts a highly personal mysticism."
Philip Collins, Santa Cruz Sentinel, Jan. 6, 1984