NYC-based guitarist/composer Charlie Rauh showcases his healing abilities through his soft tones with his latest album, Theoria. The album poignantly and innovatively intersects music and medicine. This 13-track album, composed as a song cycle during Rauh’s artist residency at Louisiana State University’s School of Veterinary Medicine, transcends conventional boundaries, seamlessly blending solo guitar compositions with evocative choir arrangements.
The album opens with “Theoria Part 1,” where soft and slow-fingered guitar strumming creates a delicate, contemplative atmosphere. The notes seem to ripple like gentle waves, inviting listeners into the sonic landscape. The song unfolds with an unhurried elegance, buffering against the complexities of medical narratives and flowing smoothly to its conclusion.
“Theoria Part 2” introduces a fascinating dimension with the inclusion of opera music by members of the LSU A Capella Choir to make the storytelling even more resonant. Sonorous and soulful soprano vocals take center stage. Their thick and luscious timbre voice sing mournfully and melancholically. The layered vocals unify and back up the feminine with a balance to form an acapella experience that is both haunting and beautiful.
Throughout Theoria in various tracks till the last track, the sonorous vocal solos bring a duality to therapeutic music, showcasing vocals can also be an instrument, as an instrument can be vocal.
With variations in the subtlety and nuances of acoustic guitar, Theoria by Charlie Rauh comes full circle. Listen to the album bring the doctor and patient to the same side of the coin.
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Review By: Naomi Joan