Search - Joseph Schwantner, Klaus Simon, Holst Sinfonietta :: Joseph Schwantner: Sparrows; Music of Amber; Distant Runes and Incanations; Two Poems; Soaring

Joseph Schwantner: Sparrows; Music of Amber; Distant Runes and Incanations; Two Poems; Soaring
Joseph Schwantner, Klaus Simon, Holst Sinfonietta
Joseph Schwantner: Sparrows; Music of Amber; Distant Runes and Incanations; Two Poems; Soaring
Genres: Pop, Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (7) - Disc #1

Joseph Schwantner is considered to be among the most successful and respected living composers in the United States. Although he has been principally influenced by George Crumb, Messiaen and Debussy, his music is at once i...  more »

     
?

Larger Image

CD Details


Synopsis

Album Description
Joseph Schwantner is considered to be among the most successful and respected living composers in the United States. Although he has been principally influenced by George Crumb, Messiaen and Debussy, his music is at once identifiable by its luminous, bewitching sounds, chords of equal intervals and unusual effects. The present selection of music for chamber ensemble features the world première recordings of Soaring, a highly virtuosic high-wire act for flute and piano and Two Poems of Aguedo Pizarro, a pair of contrasting songs written for soprano Lucy Shelton. Sparrows is an expression of fifteen haiku by the eighteenth-century Japanese poet Kobayashi Issa, while Music of Amber is an expressive work of high energy and virtuosity.
 

CD Reviews

He deserves his acclaim
Dennis Pitman | Denton, TX | 03/31/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm a composition student at the University of North Texas, and Mr. Schwantner recently gave a guest lecture to our composition department. I've heard a few of his pieces, but never owned a recording of any of his work. In my curiosity, I got this recording, and from the very beginning, I was amazed. This man does what I have never heard a composer do before, he combines aspects of several twentieth century techniques and older techniques into a seemless language. It's absolutely striking, to say the least, how he is able to transition from atonal dissonance to beautiful impressionistic harmony. One need listen only once to "Sparrows" to understand this.



I am now a permanant fan of Joseph Schwantner's, and I hope, in my future as a composer, I am able to meet him personally and tell him how much I appreciate his work."