Clive Mitten has long dreamed of exploring the symphonic aspect of his former group Twelfth Night’s output. During lockdown he sat down at a computer heaving with orchestral samples, and set to work on Suite Cryptique.
This two-hour, five-part instrumental opus sees Mitten reimagine, reorchestrate and rearrange music from the band’s first three vinyl albums: Live At The Target, Fact And Fiction and Live And Let Live. But when he stresses this is not a covers album, he’s not kidding. Some parts are recognisably retained, but Mitten also painstakingly re-versions some passages as entirely new sequences. His ‘post-minimal’ style is inspired by everyone from Wagner to Reich, and these grandly cinematic pieces are rich with pizzicato strings, sweeping violins and burbling modern woodwinds. His clever programming successfully disguises the fact that it’s not the work of a real,
100-piece orchestra.
It remains to be seen whether ardent Twelfth Night fans will find his skew sacrilegious or fascinating. As a piece unto itself, though, Suite Cryptique is
involved, involving and clearly a labour of love.