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COGNITIONS

Tena Novak

Post Rock/Math rock


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Tena Novak Cognitions album cover
4.00 | 1 ratings | 1 reviews | 0% 5 stars

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Studio Album, released in 2019

Songs / Tracks Listing


1. Elf Dance for Violin and Cello no. 7 (10:28)
2. Meditation for Flute and Clarinet (7:01)
3. Suite for Clarinet, Violin and Piano (10:15)
4. Meditation for Trumpet solo (6:31)
5. European Sopila (10:47)
6. Cognitions (11:16)

Total Time 56:18

Line-up / Musicians


- Tena Novak Vincek / violin, composition, album art, mix
- Lana Beraković / cello
- Andrea Dizdar/ flute
- Vedrana Dizdar / clarinet
- Dina Dorotić / piano
- Igor Dorotić / trumpet
- Ana Kovačić / alt saxophone
- Hrvoje Niksić / recording
- Hrvoje Pelicarić / effects, mix, mastering

Releases information

self-released, Bandcamp

Thanks to clarke2001 for the addition
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TENA NOVAK Cognitions ratings distribution


4.00
(1 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(0%)
0%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(100%)
100%
Good, but non-essential (0%)
0%
Collectors/fans only (0%)
0%
Poor. Only for completionists (0%)
0%

TENA NOVAK Cognitions reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by TCat
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
4 stars Tena Novak is a Post Rock band from Croatia formed in 2003. The members of the band bring together several different musical influences that end up giving their music that definite post rock style, but which also sees aspects of psychedelic and krautrock added in to make them unique. In September of 2019, the band released their 5th full length album "Cognitions".

The band line up consists of their name sake Tena Novak Vincek on violin. She also composes the music for the band. There is also Lana Berakovic (cello), Andrea Dizdar (flute), Vedrana Dizdar (clarinet), Dina Dorotic (piano), Igor Dorotic (trumpet), Ana Kovacic (alto saxophone), and Hrvoje Pelicaric (effects, mixing). This album consists of 6 epic tracks that have a combined run- time of 56 minutes. The album is self-released and available on Bandcamp.

The album starts off with "Elf Dance for Violin and Cello No. 7" (10:28). Right away you get the impression that the band has expanded beyond the boundaries of their earlier work in that the music is purely classical sounding, written for specific instruments. For example, this track is all performed on violin and cello. That's it. The classical sound seems to be rooted in the early impressionistic style, not really the standard classical style, per se, but more along the lines of the late Romantic and early 20th Century styles, with some excellent emotional passages, but with the non-standard harmonies and modes of Debussy, Ravel or Stravinsky. The composition is quite impressive and the musicianship matches perfectly. There are fast moving passages and slower, more pensive sections. There are great instances of counterpoint between the violin and cello, each playing some fantastic parts. The music is also quite dynamic and expressive.

"Meditation for Flute and Clarinet" (7:01) is exactly what the title says. Its a nice, simple and meditative piece with the two instruments playing in counterpoint and sometimes echoing each other in a variation of a "round" style. It remains slow and reflective through the entire piece. "Suite for Clarinet, Violin and Piano" (10:15) suggests a group of shorter songs brought together in a larger work for the 3 instruments. This is basically what you get too, with the varying shorter songs only separated by the tempo or meter changes. This track returns to the more dynamic style of the first track, and not as meandering or meditative like the 2nd track. Plus the tempo and meter shifts make things more interesting, that is because of the structure of a suite, each section varying from playful to pastoral and everywhere in between, yet each shorter segment well developed. Excellent track! "Meditation for Trumpet Solo" (6:31) is exactly what the title suggests, a reflective track played only by the trumpet. As with the previous meditation, this one is simple and pensive.

"European Sopila" (10:47) starts off with the alto saxophone playing solo, then the violin joins in with a counterpoint melody. Soon piano chords and notes are added in. After 2 minutes, the tempo of the piano becomes more frantic and the sax and violin build off of this. The three instruments continue to create another dynamic and every changing piece that varies from slow, melodic passages to faster, playful sections, though it is all continuous moving from one section to another seamlessly. All 3 instruments stay together even when the tempo slowly speeds up over time. It is obvious how the ensemble stays so well connected attributing to their musicianship and what were many hours of practice together.

The last track "Cognitionsis" (11:16) features simply the violin and piano. The piano starts off with a lovely, slow melody based around chords. After a minute, the piano and violin come in together with a faster tempo, and a somewhat dissonant sound. The piano chords played previously alluded to the more dissonant style of this piece. The track continues with changing tempos and dynamics with the instruments complimenting each other beautifully.

This album definitely veers away from the typical post rock style and definitely uses original classical styles featuring small ensembles and no percussion except for the piano. The music is excellently composed and the recording and sound is superb. The musicianship is also top notch giving evidence that these are classically trained musicians. Those that do not like classical music (for small ensembles) will probably find this boring, but it is actually amazing music with a lot of dynamics, at least for the tracks that are not the meditations, as they are more pensive and unchanging, while the other 4 tracks are quite dynamic. The only way this is post rock is in the fact that it is in opposition to any traditional rock, though it is progressive in a classical music sense. It does remain somewhere between the Romantic and the Impressionistic styles, with a good mixture of both traditional and dissonant music. It definitely was a pleasant surprise for me.

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