PRESS
READ THE CITY PULSE COVER STORY PROFILE
"Harlin's Rapture is arresting"
–– BBC Music
"Rapture is a no less adventurous journey that leads from a series of beguiling, unconventional tunes to a final exhilarating sweep of events."
–– Gramophone Magazine
Harlin's "aesthetics capture a sense of tradition and innovation."
–– New York Times
"Finally, amid the murmurs and pulsations, the wonderment and the vertigo, a three-syllable love theme marked the moment humans looked back and saw their own home, the tiny blue Earth, rising above the horizon of the Moon. An inner voice seemed to whisper, “There it is. There it is.” Massive pillars of melody in the brass underpinned what may be history’s most dramatic epiphany — the shocking image of Earthrise.
At that moment, tears welled up in my eyes. I found myself thinking, not about space travel, but about the end of Thornton Wilder’s play “Our Town,” when the dead Emily rises from the cemetery to watch her own 12th birthday party and futilely urges the living people to appreciate what they have."
–– City Pulse, Lawrence Cosentino
"...imaginative, intense, dazzling and, dare I say absolutely beautiful."
–– I CARE IF YOU LISTEN
"Most affecting on purely musical terms are the works without specific references: the unsettling imagination of Keith Fitch’s as Earth dreams, with three of the harp’s strings detuned by a quarter-step, Patrick Harlin’s Time Lapse..."
–– Gramophone Magazine
"In an evening devoted to Mozart and two of his latter-day successors, the biggest thrill of the night came from a young man who sat in the sixth row. “Shadow Dancer” was a fire alarm, all right — a whacking, seven-minute wake-up call from LSO’s first-ever composer-in-residence, Patrick Harlin. After a rock-style, drumstick-clacking intro, the music bounded into symphonic dance territory, but Harlin was chasing grander game. Parrying and pivoting, skating and stopping short, over-reaching and plummeting, he sucked the audience into not just listening, but rooting for the music to find unity."
–– Lansing City Pulse
"Rapture demonstrated both imagination and skill, qualities that are self-recommending. One can only hope for more performances and a bright future for the talented young composer."
–– Calgary Herald
"Harlin utilizes a dazzling, diverse set of orchestral colors, which made for a vivid, "high-definition" experience...I was left wanting more of Harlin's music -- about 20 minutes or so, actually...here's hoping that a more long-form symphonic piece will appear in a future season."
–– Daniel J. Kushner,
CITY Newspaper, Rochester
"Harlin’s work [#tbt] is truly a throwback to the days of Gershwin as it pulls from his style while maintaining a more contemporary edge. It is poignant, like looking at snapshots of Gershwin’s musical moments without obvious quotations. The ending of the piece is especially breathtaking, fading away into the stratosphere as it takes the listener out of a dream and back into the present."
–– Sybaritic Singer
Katie Heilman (on #tbt)
"At its conclusion, Rapture surveys the brink of sanity and, with a big ending, magically lifts us above the conflict. Harlin set out to create music about being overwhelmed and overcome by emotion, and he succeeds with Rapture."
––Jann Nyffeler
Democrat and Chronicle
"The highlight of the album is Patrick Harlin’s Rapture...Rapture is reminiscent of the styles of several other American composers, including William Susman, Danny Elfman, and Howard Hanson – yet Harlin’s compositional voice is unique and compelling...Cheers to Harlin for writing a piece that is not only rapturous but a rip snortin’ good time!"
––CD Review, American Rapture
Olivia Kieffer, EarRelevant
"Harlin’s music is the show-stopper..."The Art of Flight” is a floating, free falling effusion of joy and loss, with a transparent, modern sensibility..."
–– City Pulse, Lawrence Cosentino