Classical music. An imagination explored. A transcendental experience. An alchemy of paradoxical forces of colliding instruments joining together in one harmony to create emotions, feelings, and images through the use of sound. Manuel Rosenthal composed many pieces of music, including for the opera, and was also a conductor during his 98 years, both his birth and death occurring in Paris, France. The piece of his I want to mention is Magic Manhattan. Perhaps I’m biased for liking this because I also call NYC home, but I’m obsessed with its intensities. I could play this to any soundtrack of any person navigating any of the NYC streets. Like the blocks, this score seems to weave in and out of spontaneous scenarios. It passes from one neighborhood into another, from one conversation with strangers to the next. An unexpected experience woven together by the city. I can see this as a score for any experimental film from the era in which it was written, in 1948. It has soft moments and moments where the drum rumbles and bells ring, whistles (?) are blown, a xylophone gives way to descended steps, and there is even a passing American marching band tune. As it speeds up to its highest peaks and then descends again and continues in this way, up and down, for us to experience, it is as if we are still experiencing Manhattan as it is today. This piece is timeless. An onion peels away, like NYC is always being rediscovered, to be the Magic Manhattan that it is and always will be.
-Jen Fisher