Coleridge-Taylor: Chamber Music

On this CD:

1. Fantasiestücke for String Quartet, Op.5
Composed by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

2. Negro Melodies (24) for piano, Op. 59/1
Composed by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

3. Nonet in F minor, Op.2
Composed by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Tracks:

Amy Beach: Romance
Percy Grainger: Molly on the Shore
Dvorak: Songs My Mother Sang
Sibelius: Musette
Marion Eugenie Bauer: Up the Ocklawaha
Chopin: "Minute" Waltz
Carl Venth: Aria
Selim Palmgren: May Night
Coleridge-Taylor: Deep River
Dvorak: Humoreske
H.P. Danks: Silver Threads Among the Gold
Herman Bellstedt, Jr.: Caprice on Dixie
Henry Holden Huss: Romance
Harry Mathena Gilbert: Marionettes (Scherzo)
Cecil Burleigh: Four Rocky Mountain Sketches
Cecil Burleigh: Four Rocky Mountain Sketches
Cecil Burleigh: Four Rocky Mountain Sketches
Cecil Burleigh: Four Rocky Mountain Sketches
Massenet: Twilight
Max Liebling: Fantasia on Sousa Themes
J. Rosamund Johnson: Nobody Knows the Trouble I See

Album Description

"Everything about this release by violinist Rachel Barton Pine is exceptional." --ClassicsToday [10/10] (on Scottish Fantasies)

"Recordings don't get any better than this." -- ClassicsToday [10/10] (on Brahms & Joachim Violin Concertos)

Chicago native Rachel Barton Pine was a child prodigy who began performing in public at age seven. Today she is one of America's most acclaimed violinists, as well as the best selling artist on Cedille Records. Maud Powell (1867-1920) was the premier female American violinist of her era, and she made numerous classic recordings between 1904 and 1919 that are still sought after by collectors. This CD is a tribute from one eminent American violinist to another, honoring Maud Powell for the tremendous positive influence she had on later American artists. All of the selections are works recorded originally by Powell, now able to be heard in contemporary sound. Many of the selections are seldom or never recorded elsewhere, and all are extremely accessible.

Witness: Dance Like the Wind - Music of Today's Black Composers
Average customer rating:

Historically significant choral works, wonderfully performed

Witness: Dance Like the Wind - Music of Today's Black Composers

Manufacturer: Clarion
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quintets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
Gospel | Christian & Gospel | Styles | Music
General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Psalms | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Classical | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0001FVEQS
Release Date: 2004-02-10

Tracks:

Mother To Son
We Shall Walk Through The Valley
Lamentations: Black Folk Song Suite
Lamentations: Black Folk Song Suite
An Old Black Woman, Homeless And Insdistinct
Dance Like Wind
Dance Like Wind
Dance Like Wind
Tambourines To Glory
My Soul Hath Found Refuge In Thee (Psalm 91)
Nocturne
Piece For String Orchestra
Piece For String Orchestra
Images, Shadows And Dreams: Five Vignettes
Images, Shadows And Dreams: Five Vignettes
Images, Shadows And Dreams: Five Vignettes
Images, Shadows And Dreams: Five Vignettes
Images, Shadows And Dreams: Five Vignettes

Album Description

Thought-provoking and moving music by eight modern composers spans the range of expression from solo cello to chorus, from jazz ensemble to woodwind quintet.

Customer Reviews:

Historically significant choral works, wonderfully performed.......2004-05-31

For over 10 years, The VocalEssence Ensemble Singers and Chorus (conducted by Philip Brunelle) has presented an enduring series of concerts showcasing the talents of trailblazing African American composers. Now this wealth of music is available outside the concert hall through a series of recordings called WITNESS.

DANCE LIKE THE WIND presents works by eight African American composers from various generations, though they all emerged after the neo-classical period of non-discrimination. You'll hear loyalty to classic idioms like the spirituals and blues, but also elements of more recent genres like R&B, gospel and rap. Enclosed are excellent liner notes and biographical information.

The other three CDs are available as single titles, or in the boxed set entitled THE WITNESS COLLECTION which includes:

WHAT A MIGHTY GOD: Spirituals and Gospels for Chorus
GOT THE SAINT LOUIS BLUES: Classical Music in the Jazz Age
SKYWARD MY PEOPLE ROSE: Music of William Grant Still
DANCE LIKE THE WIND

Tracks:

Allegro (7:57)
Adagio (5:47)
Rondeau allegretto (3:02) Violin Concerto in A Major, Op. 5, No. 2 (23:43) - CHEVALIER DE SAINT-GEORGES
Allegro moderato (10:23)
Largo (8:36)
Rondeau (4:35)Violin Concerto in F-sharp Minor (21:34) - JOSEPH WHITE
Allegro (11:40)
Adagio ma non troppo (4:51)
Allegro moderato (4:58)
Romance in G Major for Violin and Orchestra (12:33) - SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLORTOTAL TIME (75:17)

Album Description

Cedille Records wants the world to know about two of Mozart's less-familiar contemporaries, Chevalier J.J.O. de Meude-Monpas and Chevalier de Saint-Georges, as well as later composers Joseph White and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. All were men of mixed African and European descent who made important contributions to European music in the 1700s and 1800s. Celebrities in their day, they've been all but forgotten in our era. Relatively little is known of the early background of French composer Meude-Monpas, but we do know that he was born in Paris and was a musketeer in the service of French king Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette -- when he wasn't composing and writing books on music. Also active in Paris was Guadeloupe-born Saint-Georges, son of an aristocratic French plantation owner and an African slave. The dashing Saint-Georges (who graces the disc's cover) was a champion swordsman and extraordinary athlete, as well as a violin virtuoso. Cuba's Joseph White was born to a French businessman and an Afro-Cuban mother. A concert sensation in Europe and Latin America, White's violin playing was admired by the finest musicians of his day, including the great opera composer Gioacchino Rossini, who wrote, "The warmth of your execution, the feeling, the elegance, the brilliance of the school to which you belong, show the qualities in you as an artist of which the French school may be proud." England's Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, the son of a physician from Sierra Leone and an Englishwoman, was esteemed in the US, especially among cultured African-Americans. His circle of American admirers included Booker T. Washington. The Coleridge-Taylor Society, a Black choral group, was founded in his honor in 1901. He visited the US several times and was a White House guest of President Theodore Roosevelt.

Customer Reviews:

Correction.......2007-06-17

Quite true, this is an excellent collection of perfectly fine works, offered beautifully by an enormously gifted technician and real musician. No reservations on that point. In very recent times, however, we have determined that Meude-Monpas had no African ancestry. I was responsible for that error about twenty years ago, being misled by everything except for the composer's biography. I wondered at that time why a minority citizen would have been a royalist.

the hidden musical treasure.......2006-02-21

for those of us who are not familiar with classical music, this is a must have cd. This music is exquisite. For all music fans, this cd is a musical legacy.

Black AND White!.......2005-08-21

This is a fabulous find. It's so good to have new works performed instead of the usual fare. The White concerto I really like and the Coleridge-Taylor is a real find. Full marks to Rachel Barton and the record company for this release. More please!

Goes beyond mere novelty.......2005-01-05

The four works contained on this CD are truly wonderful pieces that deserve to be better known and more frequently played. These are not mere novelty items meant to appeal to only a segment of society but wholly fascinating works, each distinctive and representative of their period and style. Though it may be true that none of the music remotely suggests their creators ethnicity, that should hardly prove to be surprising as all of the composers were either born and/or raised in Europe; the sole exception being Joseph White (b. Matanzas, Cuba) who left for Paris in early adulthood and even if none of these works prove revolutionary in either idea or content, what they lack in innovation they more than make up for with grace, elegance, fiery bravura, sheer melodiousness and the kind of exemplary craftsmanship normally associated with the great masters. Only the Chevalier de Saint-Georges is well represented in the catalogue and though that in itself is wonderful, the other composers merit further exploration and whether it be Cedille or Naxos or Hyperion who takes up the torch, the music loving public will be the ones who will, ultimately, benefit. Rachel Barton's playing is wonderful. She may not produce the most full-bodied tone (essential in the White concerto) but her elegant approach and spot on intonation more than make up for any other shortcomings. The Encore Chamber Orchestra provided firm and spot on support and Mr. Hege proved a thoughtful and gifted conductor well versed in myriad styles. The sound and production are first rate, as are the insert notes. Cannot, I repeat, cannot be recommend enough.

Awesome Violinst.......2001-08-01

I REALLY ADMIRE THE YOUNG AMERICAN VIOLINST RACHEL BARTON. I ACTUALLY WENT TO HER CONCERT AND MET HER AND SHE RECOMMENDED THIS RECORDING TO ME. IF YOU DO LIKE TO HERE VIOLIN THIS CD IS GREAT FOR YOU. THE MUSIC IS ALSO REALLY LIGHT AND RELAXING TO LISTEN TO. I ALWAYS SEEM TO FALL ASLEEP WHILE LISTENING TO IT. IT IS ALSO GREAT BECAUSE IT IS WRITTEN BY BLACK COMPOSERS SO IT IS REALLY DIFFERENT. TRY IT!

Average customer rating:

Excellence and elegance in Chamber Music

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Chamber Music

Manufacturer: Afka
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

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

Coleridge-Taylor: Scenes from Op30; Romance of the Prairie Lilies Op39

ASIN: B00000HXM6
Release Date: 1999-02-09

Customer Reviews:

Excellence and elegance in Chamber Music.......2006-10-02

This recording contains some of Coleridge-Taylor's earliest compositions, and they happen to be among his very best. For those who remain unconvinced of his genius after the early bloom of Hiawatha, these works show the direction he may have taken had he not been so keenly an Englishman of his time and thrown so much creative energy into the composition of the dramatic oratorios that were insanely popular in the UK during that era. (Every English composer of C-T's generation fell prey to this.)

The chamber idiom seemed to fit C-T extremely well. Here we have concentrated expression and clean forms, shorn of phony Africanisms or Indianisms. They are all delightfully conceived and often seriously poetic. The Piano Trio movements are his chamber settings of 5 excerpts from his earlier piano work 24 Negro melodies, Spirituals by another name. These really speak deeply, and I'm sure if other groups knew of them they would be played all the time. The earliest work is the Nonet, and it is terrific. The influence of his teacher Stanford can be clearly heard, as can that of Dvorak, yet the piece still speaks with a new voice. It never disappoints from the first measure. The string quartet is a collection of character pieces, and none the worse for it. They are of uniformly high conception.

The Coleridge Ensemble plays pretty well, though I think they could be heard to better advantage with a clearer sound setting. The recording has the sound of a large, resonant but empty room. Don't let that deter you though. This music is a special experience.

C-T had a number of compositional highpoints beyond Hiawatha. We'll have to hear more of his work like Meg Blane, A Tale of Japan or The Atonement to ascertain his voice completely. Maybe we'll even find the String Quartet in D Minor, which it is said he may have destroyed. After hearing this recording, I really, really hope not.

Average customer rating:

Let Us Break Bread Together
Maurice Ravel , Michel Colombier , Anonymous , Johann Sebastian Bach , Claude Debussy , Gabriel Faure , Charles Gounod , Howard Hanson , Jules Massenet , Lloyd G. McNeill , Felix Mendelssohn , Daniel Paget , Coleridge Taylor Perkinson , Bernard Rogers , Camille Saint-Saens , Spiritual Traditional , Harold Jones , and Colette Valentine
Manufacturer: Leonarda Productions
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Preludes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

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

Classical | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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Coleridge-Taylor: Perkinson - A Celebration

ASIN: B000004AEX
Release Date: 1997-11-25

Tracks:

Amazing Grace (spiritual, arr. by Richard Donald Smith)
Piece en Forme de Habanera (Ravel)
La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin [The Girl with the Flaxen Hair] (Debussy)
Voliere [Aviary] from Carnival of the Animals - (St. Saens)
Arioso (J. S. Bach)
Soliloquy (Bernard Rogers)
Emmanuel (Michel Colombier)
Falling Snow (Lloyd G. McNeill)
Ave Maria (Bach/Gounod)
Wisteria: A Rag (Daniel Paget)
Serenade (Howard Hanson)
Meditation from Theis (Massenet)
Three Miniatures: I (Perkinson)
Three Miniatures: II (Perkinson)
Three Miniatures: III (Perkinson)
Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 14: Andante (Mendelssohn)
Pavane (Faure, arr. by Terry Herald)
Let Us Break Bread Together (spiritual, arr. by Richard Donald Smith)

Album Description

After studying flute while attending DuSable High School in Chicago, Harold Jones won a scholarship to Sherwood Music School and became a member of the Chicago Civic Orchestra. He went to New York in 1955 and was awarded a scholarship to Juilliard, where he received the "Outstanding Woodwind Player" award. He continued his studies with the renowned Marcel Moyse, and in 1966 made his New York recital debut at Town Hall, later appearing at CAMI Hall, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, and Jordan Hall in Boston.

He has been soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Bach Aria Orchestra, New York Sinfonietta, American Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonia, National Orchestral Association, Municipal Concerts Orchestra, and Symphony of the New World. He has appeared frequently with Today's Artists in New York, San Francisco, and at the Yachats Music Festival in Oregon. In addition to his solo performances, he has collaborated with the prize winning Audubon Quartet, Fresk Quartet, internationally renowned pianist Leon Bates, and guitarist Peter Segal.

Pianist Colette Valentine, a prizewinner in the Gina Bachauer and the University of Maryland International Piano Competitions, has performed in solo and chamber concerts throughout much of the USA, as well as in Japan, Hong Kong, and Macau. Recent appearances include performances at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. Ms. Valentine also teaches and serves as staff accompanist for numerous competitions.

Recording engineers: Terry Keenan and Stephanie Rogers. Mastering: Marnie Hall. Recorded at the Mannes College of Music in New York City. DDD. Graphic design: Marnie Hall. Cover photo: Keyai Lee. This recording is made possible with public funds from The New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. © Leonarda Productions, Inc. 1993. All rights reserved.

Coleridge-Taylor: Perkinson - A Celebration
Average customer rating:

creativity!

Coleridge-Taylor: Perkinson - A Celebration

Manufacturer: Cedille
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Senku - Piano Music by Composers of African Descent

Let Us Break Bread Together

William Grant Still: Afro-American Symphony; In Memoriam; Africa (Symphonic Poem)

Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall

Taking The Long Way

ASIN: B000BUEGG8
Release Date: 2005-11-29

Album Description

This CD celebrates the life of innovative American composer Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932-2004), whose accomplishments spanned the worlds of jazz, dance, pop, film, television, and classical music.

World premiere recordings of Perkinson's orchestral, chamber, and solo instrumental works showcase his distinctive blend of Baroque counterpoint; energetic, streamlined American Romanticism; elements of blues, spirituals, and black folk music; and a rhythmic ingenuity all his own.

Performances by the Chicago Sinfonietta and conductor Paul Freeman, Chicago's New Black Repertory Ensemble Quartet, and distinguished soloists.

Customer Reviews:

creativity!.......2007-01-13

I enjoy classical, chamber, vocal, and jazz on a high-end system. I found myself listening to this disk over and over again, and appreciating new nuances of creative writing each time. The music combines elements of jazz and chamber ensemble playing (think Haydn or Mozart), and while there are lots of melodic theme treatments, as in good chamber music, it is the creative use of rhythm and changes in rhythmic patterns that makes these works outstanding. Some pieces are reminiscent of Scott Joplin, while others presage John Adams, and all are uniquely satisfying. They are also well-performed, and the sound quality is superb.

Senku - Piano Music by Composers of African Descent

Average customer rating:

An impressive collection, stunningly performed
Colorful, Creative, Brilliant!!!

Senku - Piano Music by Composers of African Descent

Manufacturer: MSR Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music

Classical | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Coleridge-Taylor: Perkinson - A Celebration
Soulscapes: Piano Music by African American Women
William Grant Still: Afro-American Symphony; In Memoriam; Africa (Symphonic Poem)

ASIN: B0000WZY5O
Release Date: 2003-10-21

Tracks:

Ukom
Lulu
Egwu Amala
No.1
No.2
No.3
Scherzo
Deep River
Troubled Water
Variations on an Egyptian Folksong
Prelude: Night
His Song
Honey: Humoresque
Barcarolle: Morning
Dance: Juba
Earthbeats, Op.22

Album Description

William H. Chapman Nyaho, a Ghanaian American, was schooled in Ghana, and later received degrees from St. Peter's College, Oxford University, Eastman School of Music and the University of Texas at Austin. He also studied at the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève. Following a four-year residency as a North Carolina Visiting Artist, Chapman Nyaho taught at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He was the recipient of the 1998 University of Southwestern Louisiana Distinguished Professor Award and the 1998 Acadiana Arts Council Distinguished Artist Award, and held the Heymann Endowed Professorship.

Chapman Nyaho's performing experience includes recitals in Africa, Europe, North America and the Caribbean. He has performed as soloist with orchestras across the southern United States. Among his engagements, which include performing chamber music, Nyaho performs regularly as duo pianist with the Nyaho/Garcia Duo which has released a compact disc titled "Aaron Copland: Music For Two Pianos". Chapman Nyaho has been featured on radio and television broadcasts in Ghana, Switzerland, and National Public Radio in the USA. He developed and hosted The Bach Show for the classical radio station KRVS in Louisiana.

Chapman Nyaho is presently an independent scholar, teacher and concert pianist residing in the Pacific Northwest of the USA. He is a regular guest clinician at colleges and universities, giving lecture-recitals and holding workshops advocating music by composers of the African Diaspora. He also serves as adjudicator for national and international piano competitions.

Customer Reviews:

An impressive collection, stunningly performed.......2004-04-07

Since others have addressed Nyaho's stunning performances, I'd like to address the collection itself. These are not merely works by composers who happen to be of African descent; they are inspired and informed by ethnic influences. Joshua Uzoigwe's (Nigeria) "Talking Drums" juxtaposes the rhythmic and melodic characteristics found in African master drumming on the Ukom, Iyalu and small slit-drums, and are based on the Ukom scale and harmonic system. Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson's (USA) "Scherzo" is inspired by Chopin, blues and jazz. Gamal Abdel-Rahim's (Egypt) "Variations on an Egyptian Folksong" is compelling and intricate.

But don't get me wrong...these are not intellectual exercises in nationalism. Each piece stands on its own musically, and the variety here makes this a compelling and wonderful CD from start to finish.

Colorful, Creative, Brilliant!!!.......2003-12-03

Every now and then a recording comes along that is as important as it is unique.

This is such a recording.

I approached this CD with a desire to explore a back road of art music, in the hopes that I might find a hidden gem of inspiration, or even a piece to perform myself (I am also a pianist). What I found instead was a superhighway of talent and creativity that has somehow remained overlooked by the "mainstream" art music world.

Pianist Nyaho Chapman presents us with an astonishing variety of compositions, ranging from the more conservative "In The Bottoms Suite" of Robert Nathaniel Dett or Margaret Bond's Troubled Water, to the more abstract "Talking Drums" of Joshua Uzoigwe or Earthbeats of Gyimah Labi. Mr. Chapman's performance of Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson's Scherzo surely proves him as one of the more brilliant pianists on the circuit. The piece is as relentless as it is physically demanding. And, like the other works on this disk, it is recorded with clarity and precision.

Tracks:

At The Dawn Of Day (Loko Ku Ti Ga)
The Stones Are Very Hard (Maribye Ma Nohoha Ngopfu)
Take Nabandji (Thata Nabandji)
They Will Not Lend Me A Child (A Ba Bolecki Nwanai)
Song Of Conquest (Ringendje)
Warrior's Song
Oloba
The Bamboula (African Dance)
The Angels Changed My Name
Deep River
Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel?
Don't Be Weary, Traveller
Going Up
I'm Troubled In Mind
I Was Down A-Yonder (Dum-A-Lum)
Let Us Cheer The Weary Traveller
Many Thousand Gone
My Lord Delivered Daniel
Oh, He Raise A Poor Lazarus
Pilgrim's Song
Run, Mary, Run
Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
Steal Away
Wade In The Water

Album Description

The transcription of melodies contained in this volume is the most complete expression of Mr. Coleridge-Taylor's native bent and power. Using some of the native songs of Africa and the West Indies with songs that came into being in America during slavery, he has preserved their distinctive traits and individuality, at the same time giving them an art form fully imbued with their essential spirit.