Gerber: Chamber Music

On this CD:

1. Sarabande for cello & piano
Composed by Rene Gerber

2. Sonata for violin & piano
Composed by Rene Gerber
Performed by Friedemann Sarnau

3. Concerto for 12 wind instruments & piano
Composed by Rene Gerber
Performed by Gui Michel Caillat

4. Sonata for solo harp
Composed by Rene Gerber

5. French Suite for chamber orchestra No. 3
Composed by Rene Gerber

Tracks:

Symphony No 1.: I. Lento - Allegretto - Poco adagio
Symphony No 1.: II. Allegro furioso - Moderato - Allegro furioso - Moderato
Symphony No 1.: III. Sostenuto
Dirge and Awakening For Orchestra: Dirge and Awakening For Orchestra: Largo - Allegretto
Viola Concerto: I. Maestoso
Viola Concerto: II. Variations (Largo assai)
Viola Concerto: III. Allegro molto
Triple Overture Fo Violin, Cello, Piano And Orchestra: Triple Overture Fo Violin, Cello, Piano And Orchestra: Maestoso - Largo - Moderato

Customer Reviews:

Symphony no.1.......2001-03-17

It is such a pleasure to get to know another Classical music CD by Steven R. Gerber. His symphony #1 is played by the Russian Philharmonic. This is an excellent choice since the symphony seems to start just where Tchaikovsky's Pathetique leaves off. You are hanging over the precipice of the greatest plunge into sorrow a really Russian orchestra can bring about. The range of the orchestra expands and becomes more and more gripping. The build up of tension and feeling is tremendous. Later on the composer uses some of the suspended motion minimalism of Arvo Paart or Gorecki to freeze time and look again at things closely. Solo passages for woodwind or string instruments create beautiful details that enhance this impression. The second movement is a reaction against the first. It jumps away with the jaggedness of a Stravinsky dancer. But then the central portion of the movement and the conclusion are almost completely stationary, as if to say that the huge sorrowful build up of the first movement cannot just be shaken off by will-power or a wild change of mood. A sort of emotional story line like this helps me explain the biggest success of the symphony, how it really culminates in the finale. Something of the wild dance thrusts of the second movement comes back here, but now not in the rogue, solo clarinet, but differently, in the massed strings and brass that had carried the huge grief of the opening. The big gesture of the second movement is slowed down, and the opening one of the first movement is speeded up as the two combine. They combine to create an amazing event that seems to me an extended spasm in the orchestra, or better, a prolonged shudder. The symphony ends calmly with a deep germinating, Wagner-type feeling in the bass that opens out to a spacious atmosphere a little like Sibelius. It is not the calm of resolution, certainly not the calm of exhaustion, but maybe the tingly stillness that comes from having survived something. I think that the great orchestra spasm that propels the last movement is something like the shudder of survival. This symphony is new and original and contemporary, not confined by old-fashioned harmony, but at the same time it seems fully fitting and connected with the great orchestral music of a hundred years ago or more. The musicians are wonderful, and I believe it when the booklet says the conductor is someone Shostakovich felt he could trust.

Through a glass, darkly........2001-03-02

On the evidence of this typically entreprising Chandos release Steven R.Gerber (Washington DC, 1948 ) is one of the most interesting new voices in symphonic music to have come my way in quite a while. In the beginning I was a bit skeptical, as the name was completely unknown, and some of the little info I could find were not exactly promising (I'm sorry, but to have been a Milton Babbitt student is not a plus, in my view). But then my penchant for musical adventures took over, confiding in Chandos' usually high artistic/technical standard and..with a little help from Chandos' art director: I know it's silly, but I found their artwork for this release highly enticing. Indeed, lately Chandos covers are uniformly marvelous. Some people may find them over-the-top, even gaudy, but I think they represent a nicely updated approach to the "colorful" 50's-60's tradition (think about RCA's Living Stereo covers) and they are a good counterbalance to the dry, cooler-than-thou look of, say, Nonesuch (beautiful at first, but you're not likely to look at them twice). One has to buy cd's for the music, of course, but a nice cover helps, doesn't it? Trying to describe somebody's music is always very hard, especially about a new composer, so I apologize in advance if I'll resort to resort to comparisons with other composers' styles. I don't want to diminish Gerber's individuality as a composer,though. Actually the more I listen to this cd the more I find this composer has a voice of his own. First of all this is not music for those who think that "dark" and "serious" are bad words: the overall impression is of music made of heavy, utterly dramatic gestures. Resorting to a chromatic parallel, I would say it's music colored in black, silver and metal blue. Other reviewers have rightly underlined the Russian connection in Gerber's music, but if Shostakovich's shadow (minus the bitter irony) surely hovers, there are an integrated eclecticism and a bold rhetoric manner which are entirely American. Not that refinement is lacking : despite the big gestures the orchestration is finely multi-layered, un-bulky. It's music that gave me a strong "cinematic" feeling. As Gerber himself points out in the booklet, he aims to write abstractly, and he succeeds, but my personal response to the music was one made of broad, dark vistas, of something dramatic going on. I used the word "cinematic" intentionally. In the 3-movement Symphony (the best piece, in my opinion) there are passages recalling Bernard Herrmann's most brooding moments and others where John Barry's "flowing" string writing is in the background. There are also moments, like the beginning of the last movement, where I found a nice touch of Minimalist rarefaction. Despite the general tragic tone, I found it finally uplifting, like life's troubled achievements. Dirge and Awakening is more a grandly styled overture than a symphonic poem, featuring a central crescendo-cum-march that wouldn't be out of place in a Miklos Rozsa score. Similar in approach and even more satisfying is the Triple Overture, where I found particularly interesting the way Gerber treats the three solo instruments (piano, violin and cello) in order to form an unified voice, almost a composite instrument interacting with the full orchestra. This piece's forward momentum shows off well Gerber's preference for majestically implacable ostinato rythms, usually carried

by the strings with a pounding percussion base. I enjoyed the Viola Concerto less, not because the music isn't good, but because L.A.Tomter's viola tone isn't really suited to my taste. His prowess is not in question, but his actual sound often seems grating. The performances are otherwise excellent: everybody involved seems to be really in touch the the music, and the unknown (to me) Russian orchestra really comes out well. I only find astonishing that this music does not get more performances by major American orchestras: I acknowledge that its mood is somewhat monolithic and the overall effect is not that of harmless, feel-good music, but I'm not so sure that all the public wants to hear is easy-listening classical, preferably with pointless ethnic influences, pseudo-mystical pretensions and with wacky names for each movement (Richard Danielpour comes to my mind). The Russian-made recordings are fully up to Chandos' usual high standards.

Big Gestures and a Dark Sound.......2000-10-02

Steven Gerber's music will remind listeners of three or four distinct influences while nevertheless being a creature on its own with a recognizable profile. It belongs, first of all, the the contemporary return to a more or less tonal orientation; it inherits a concern with dense polyphonic structures from Hindemith, Bartok, and even Schoenberg; and it keeps a tap-root in the spiritual anxiety of Shostakovich. A number of reviewers have remarked on what they call the Russian spirit of this music, played on the present recorded program by a Russian orchestra under a Russian conductor. Yet even while Gerber wanders in the same angst-ridden dimensions as, say, Shostakovich, or Schnittke, or Tishchenko (in his gloomy moods), the music has an American rather than a Russian sound. The Symphony is a good example of this. Imagine a post-modern development of William Schuman's most abyssal scores (the Eighth Symphony, say, or the middle section of In Praise of Shahn); leaven Schuman's chromaticism just a bit, and you'll have some idea of Gerber's musical vocabulary. Yet there are also moments where Reich's minimalism seems to hover in the background. Gerber composes using note-sequences made up from names, his own and those of musician-friends. The listener is not aware of the procedures as such, however, but of autonomous movements that develop basic material ingeniously and with an awareness of orchestral resources. The Symphony ends with a chorale (but not a triumphant one) in the brass, colored especially by tuba and trombones. The Viola Concerto is slightly less dark than the Symphony. The Dirge and Awakening moves from darkness, not quite into the light, but into a premonition of the dawn. The Triple Overture is a concerto in one movement for violin, viola, and piano, with orchestra, taking its form as a set of variations, but also corresponding to the outlines of a sonata. Gerber is a serious composer with his own voice. Anyone with an interest in current American works for orchestra should investigate his music.

passion.......2000-09-04

Seldom does a work engage you from the minute it begins until it is finished. This work is intense. It is passionate. It is compelling. It engages your mind. In its intensity, there is passion not of love but of life. And there will be times as you listen you will wonder if others have used these notes to build their own compositions as several passages will have the familiarity of John Barry in his film compositions. The storms will build - the wind will blow and then the softness of dawn or the beauty of a sunset will be felt. It is a piece that will become a cherished favorite.

Music from Six Continents 1998 Series: The Orpheus Oracle

Average customer rating:

Music from Six Continents 1998 Series: The Orpheus Oracle

Manufacturer: Vienna Modern Masters
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | International | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Tracks:

Orpheus Left His Heart - Suzanne Handel
Orpheus Trade
Remembering Oropheus
Hyacinth from Apollo - C. Braxton Ballew, , Stuart Gerber, Brady Harrison, ,
Requiem for Survivors "And Sudenly It's Evening..." - Stacy Simpson

Average customer rating:

good if you like this sort of thing...
brilliant!
What a surprise!

Gerber: Cello Concerto; Violin Concerto

Manufacturer: Koch Int'l Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Gerber: Symphony No1; Viola Concerto
Clifford: Symphony 1940; Bainton: Symphony in Dm No2
Richard Arnell: Symphony No. 3; The New Age - Overture
Ferguson: Concerto for Piano and String Orchestra; Gerhard: Concerto for Piano and Strings
Camargo Guarnieri: Piano Concertos Nos. 1, 2 and 3

ASIN: B00004WJM9
Release Date: 2000-09-26

Tracks:

Vn Con: I. Moderato, Con Moto - Kurt Nikkanen
Vn Con: II. Lento Non Troppo - Cadenza - - Kurt Nikkanen
Vn Con: III. Molto Allegro - Kurt Nikkanen
Vc Con: I. Moderato - Carter Brey
Vc Con: II. Maestoso-Presto-Maestoso-Presto - Carter Brey
Vc Con: III. Passacaglia: Andante Con Moto - Carter Brey
Ser: I. Andante-Allegro-Andante - Nat CO/Piotr Gajewski
Ser: II. Intro; Theme And Vars - Nat CO/Piotr Gajewski

Customer Reviews:

good if you like this sort of thing..........2005-09-03

These concertos are both run of the mill neo romantic concertos, with not much new to say. They are however good examples of neo-Romantic music if you like this style. They are not however inspired and contrary to the other reviewer's opinion, are certainly not better than Barber's essays in the genre, which remain two of the greatest string concertos of the last century. Both concertos lack basic inspiration, unlike the Barber concertos, which glitter with brilliance and lyricism.

This is not awful music, its just not exceptional. The pieces are well played and the soloists are both clearly comitted; the recordings are first class. If you can get it cheap in the used and new, and like neo-romantic music, go for it.

brilliant!.......2000-10-17

This CD is masterful in its performance. A must have for any serious classical music buff.

What a surprise!.......2000-09-26

What a surprise! This is really moving music, poignant and beautifully sad at moments. If you like the Barber violin concerto, the Gerber violin concerto has put just a little more vinegar into the mix making it, I think, even a bit better. You also hear suggestions of other famous violin concertos, Brahms, Sibelius, Shostakovich, but no quotes and not in ironic "quotation marks" either, but really just as something you and the composer share as you listen to this new violin concerto. The soloist is terrific, playing what must be difficult passages with great flair and personality. The orchestra is perfectly good, though at one moment I wished it had more "Philadelphia smoothness." An unexpected treasure! I thought Classical Music was supposed to be going into decline, at least in the non-opera departments. It is wonderful to have a new violin concerto that is as emotionally involving as some of the great famous ones of the past.

Average customer rating:

Favorite soprano disc ever!
Favorite soprano disc ever!

Motets

Manufacturer: Dorian Recordings
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000061ID
Release Date: 1998-06-23

Tracks:

Vos Cheles Op.3 No.5: 'Motetto Per Ogni Festa Della Madonna': Aria 'Vos Cheles'
Vos Cheles Op.3 No.5: 'Motetto Per Ogni Festa Della Madonna': Recitative 'En Hodierna'
Vos Cheles Op.3 No.5: 'Motetto Per Ogni Festa Della Madonna': Aria 'Fides Sonora'
Vos Cheles Op.3 No.5: 'Motetto Per Ogni Festa Della Madonna': Recitative 'In Tanta Igitur'
Vos Cheles Op.3 No.5: 'Motetto Per Ogni Festa Della Madonna': Aria 'Eia Melos'
Mittite Dulces Op.3 No.2: 'Motetto Per Il Signore': Aria 'Mittite Dulcis'
Mittite Dulces Op.3 No.2: 'Motetto Per Il Signore': Recitative 'Ut Sit Iesus'
Mittite Dulces Op.3 No.2: 'Motetto Per Il Signore': Aria 'Arde Meum Cor'
Mittite Dulces Op.3 No.2: 'Motetto Per Il Signore': Recitative 'O Divini Amori'
Mittite Dulces Op.3 No.2: 'Motetto Per Il Signore': Aria 'Veni Iesu'
Angelice Mentes Op.3 No.3: 'Motetto Per Ogni Santo': Aria 'Angelice Mentes'
Angelice Mentes Op.3 No.3: 'Motetto Per Ogni Santo': Recitative 'Ardent Fervore'
Angelice Mentes Op.3 No.3: 'Motetto Per Ogni Santo': Aria 'Belle Stelle'
Angelice Mentes Op.3 No.3: 'Motetto Per Ogni Santo': Recitative 'O Fortunata Sidera'
Angelice Mentes Op.3 No.3: 'Motetto Per Ogni Santo': Aria 'Plaudite Omnes'
Ite Molles Op.3 No.4: 'Motetto Per Il Signore': Aria 'Ite Molles'
Ite Molles Op.3 No.4: 'Motetto Per Il Signore': Recitative 'Ardet Amore'
Ite Molles Op.3 No.4: 'Motetto Per Il Signore': Aria 'Placidi Zefiri'
Ite Molles Op.3 No.4: 'Motetto Per Il Signore': Recitative 'Iam Respiro'
Ite Molles Op.3 No.4: 'Motetto Per Il Signore': Aria 'O Quam Dulce'
Clare Stelle Op.3 No.1: 'Motetto Per La Madonna': Aria 'Clare Stelle'
Clare Stelle Op.3 No.1: 'Motetto Per La Madonna': Recitative 'En Maria'
Clare Stelle Op.3 No.1: 'Motetto Per La Madonna': Aria 'Surge, Veni, Vola'
Clare Stelle Op.3 No.1: 'Motetto Per La Madonna': Aria 'Salva Nos'
Ad Coelum Op.3 No.6: 'Motetto Per Ogni Santo': Aria 'Ad Coelum'
Ad Coelum Op.3 No.6: 'Motetto Per Ogni Santo': Aria 'Vos Dilecte
Ad Coelum Op.3 No.6: 'Motetto Per Ogni Santo': Aria 'Resonate'
Ad Coelum Op.3 No.6: 'Motetto Per Ogni Santo': Aria 'Cara Mors'

Customer Reviews:

Favorite soprano disc ever!.......2000-01-14

One listen to this recording left me wondering why on earth Bonporti is virtually unknown. It is Baroque religious music (these motets were published in 1702), but rather unlike any other such music I have heard. Bonporti's writing has neither the austerity of the Germans, the pomp of the French, nor the usual bravura showiness of his fellow Italians. Rather than having the feel of a penitent, reverant worshiper, Ellen Hargis gives the impression of a charming young woman in love for the first time, full of longing, tenderness, joy, enthusiasm, and willingness to feel emotion. She is excellently supported by the Ensemble Ouabache (two violins, 'cello, theorbo, and organ) who shine like stars while she soars in front of them. Truly a desert island disc; the first aria, "Vos cheles", once caused a house guest of mine to come from the next room literally with tears in her eyes.

Favorite soprano disc ever!.......2000-01-14

Average customer rating:

Regeneration

Manufacturer: Ottava
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000053W7G
Release Date: 2000-11-21

Tracks:

Symphony #3: Spirals Of Light
Symphony #3: Meditation
Symphony #3: Slick Tricks
Symphony #3: Cycles Of Seven
Vision & Prayer: Who Are You?
Vision & Prayer: I Must Lie As Still As Stone
Vision & Prayer: When The Wren Bone Writhes Down
Vision & Prayer: In The Spin Of The Sun
Vision & Prayer: There Crouched Bare In His Blazing Breast
Vision & Prayer: In The Name Of The Lost
Vision & Prayer: He Who Lives Now
Vision & Prayer: Forever Falling Night
Vision & Prayer: I Turn The Corner Of Prayer And Burn

Trio Artemis Plays Piazzolla, Gerber, Martin

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Trio Artemis Plays Piazzolla, Gerber, Martin

Manufacturer: Gall Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000DG07C
Release Date: 2003-10-28

Average customer rating:

Gerber: Chamber Music

Manufacturer: Gall Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000004A3H
Release Date: 1996-09-01

Average customer rating:

Paul Falentin, Trompette

Manufacturer: Gall Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Choruses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000009IDY
Release Date: 1993-07-21

Songs Of Solitudes; American Works For Solo Violin

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Songs Of Solitudes; American Works For Solo Violin

Manufacturer: Composers Recordings
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000005TXL
Release Date: 1996-02-20

Tracks:

Inscriptions: I. Possessed By The Devil
Inscriptions: II. Rondino Mostly Tongue-In-Cheek
Inscriptions: III. Upsurge
Synchronisms No.9
Four Songs Of Solitude: I
Four Songs Of Solitude: II
Four Songs Of Solitude: III
Four Songs Of Solitude: IV
Fantasy
Riconoscenza per Goffredo Petrassi
Sonata For Violin Solo: I. Fantasia
Sonata For Violin Solo: II. Capriccio
Sonata For Violin Solo: III. Rondo
Three Songs Without Words: I. Her Dream
Three Songs Without Words: II. After Long Silence
Three Songs Without Words: III. His Confidence

Purcell: Come Ye Sons of Art; Britten: A Ceremony of Carols

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Purcell: Come Ye Sons of Art; Britten: A Ceremony of Carols

Manufacturer: Video Artists Int'l
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Odes | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Music Review:

Music Review

music review

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