enigma

Mystery Unsolved announces itself with the confident swagger of a detective who already knows the answer but is enjoying the process of getting there. A piano line establishes the melodic theme with playful intensity whilst strings build the dramatic tension underneath, and then the theremin arrives – that most inherently mysterious of instruments – adding an eerie, wavering line that gives the whole piece its particular character. The piece manages to be both genuinely atmospheric and slightly tongue-in-cheek, which is a difficult balance to achieve. It takes its investigative brief seriously enough to be actually useful for dramatic content whilst maintaining enough wit to work for comedic mystery contexts too.