The Music of Bernard Rands

On this CD:

1. Madrigali, for chamber orchestra
Composed by Bernard Rands
Performed by Cleveland Chamber Symphony
Conducted by Edwin London

2. Metalepsis II, for mezzo-soprano, chorus & orchestra
Composed by Bernard Rands
Performed by Cleveland Chamber Symphony
Conducted by Edwin London

3. Triple Concerto for cello, piano, percussion & chamber ensemble
Composed by Bernard Rands
Performed by Cleveland Chamber Symphony with Core Ensemble
Conducted by Edwin London

Tracks:

Quem Terra Pontus Sidera
Ave Maria (Gregorian Chant)
Alma Redemptoris Mater
The Angel Cried Out
Angelicas Milicias
Wherewithal Shall A Young Man...
Love Is A Beautiful Dream
This Heart That Flutters Near My Heart
Wild Grass
Labbra Vermiglie E Belle
Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair
Dulaman
Shenandoah
Spanish Carol
Love Is Letting Go
Blues In The Night
Wade In The Wate
We Shall Walk Through The Valley In Peace
Christmas Time Is Here

Amazon.com

With this disc, Chanticleer, the internationally renowned, all-male 12-voice chamber choir, celebrates its 25th anniversary. Presenting songs from earlier albums plus one not previously recorded, the selection displays the group's remarkable stylistic and linguistic versatility, as well as all the qualities that have made it famous: the impeccable precision and intonation; the pristine tonal purity; the deep, inner expressiveness; the infinitely variable range of colors, textures, dynamics and moods; and the incredible vocal control that allows voices to stand out as well as to blend into a seamless, sonorous whole. Not for nothing has the group been called "an orchestra of voices" with its ability to sound like a big band in chordal passages and to imitate bass pizzicati as well as patter-songs and gospel shouts. The sopranos take off into stratospheric heights with florid coloratura; it is hard to believe that these are male voices. The program ranges from Gregorian chant and liturgical music of the 16th and 17th century, through traditional and jazz-influenced folk songs and spirituals (some in deplorably bad arrangements), to works by contemporary composers. Chanticleer's mostly vibrato-less vocal style still reflects its roots in its original Renaissance repertoire, but the way the singers use their voices in the popular, jazzy songs makes one aware of the evolving kinship between the two traditions. Though primarily an a capella ensemble, Chanticleer is occasionally joined by various instrumental groups, from period instrument orchestras to a jazz trio, and Dawn Upshaw adds her radiant, smiling, unmistakably "real" soprano to a delightful, high-spirited performance of a Spanish Carol. This disc is a fine, varied sampling of Chanticleer's discography and should inspire listeners to search out all the complete albums. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

My idea of heaven.......2007-02-17

If you liked Norman Luboff's Song's of the Sea's "Shenandoah", the price of this CD is worth it alone. That's why I ordered the CD. I heard Chanticleer's version and immediately ordered it. The rest is just the icing on the cake.

Then there is the one Kiri Tekanawa (sp?) offering, which is the only female voice on the recording.

Wonderful, but not quite the best of I had hoped.......2006-07-18

Some great material truly shines on this album, but I wsih that the group had been a little less populist in their choice of repertoire. There is a little too many arrangements and folk-like material, with the exception of the wonderful "Dulaman", and I would like to have heard some more varied repertoire. That said this is an excellent starting point for this amazing group.

A treasury.......2005-11-06

As you can tell from the samples, the music here is amazing and covers a wide territory. It is less obvious that much of this is available on other CDs. I am confident, for example, that "We Shall Walk Through the Valley In Peace" is the same track that you will find on their phenomenal and highly recommended gospel collection, _Where the Sun Shall Never Go Down_, and I see a number of familiar-looking titles from other CDs. My advice is: if you're looking for a broad sample of the group's repertoire, then you can't go wrong here -- but if you've already got several Chanticleer albums, then you'll want to check your existing collection for potential duplications before buying this 'treasury.'

Chanticleer: A Portrait.......2005-10-26

This is a marvelous singing group of all males with a little addition of Dawn Upshaw on a couple of pieces. They are thourally amazing at what they can sing with Male Voices usually unaccompanied. Obviously they have good strong Contra-Tenors that can manage the high notes without any problems. I would recommend this album to anyone who enjoys vocal music, unaccompanied and like Male Voices

Average customer rating:

Transcendent Vocalism
Beautifully delivered as always, but not my material.
Lives up to their reputation
One of the best I've picked up in ages
Fantastic recording of contemporary choral works

Colors of Love
Steven Stucky , John Tavener , Bernard Rands , Long Zhou , Chen Yi , Augusta Read Thomas , Steven Sametz , Marianne Kach , and Chanticleer
Manufacturer: Teldec
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

A Cappella | Folk | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Our American Journey
Tavener: Lamentations & Praises
Lost in the Stars
Chanticleer: Magnificat (A Capella Works by Josquin, Palestrina, Titov, Victoria, and Others)
Wondrous Love: A World Folk Song Collection

ASIN: B00000IWR3
Release Date: 1999-05-18

Tracks:

Cradle Songs: Rouxinol do pico preto (Brazil)
Cradle Songs: Lilajze, Jezuniu (Poland)
Cradle Songs: Buy Baby Ribbon (Tobago)
Village Wedding
Canti d'Amor: 'Winds of May, that dance on the sea'
Canti d'Amor: 'O cool is the valley'
Canti d'Amor: 'This heart that flutters near my heart'
Canti d'Amor: 'Silently she's combing her long hair'
Canti d'Amor: 'Gentle lady, do not sing sad songs'
Canti d'Amor: 'Sleep now, O you unquiet heart'
Canti d'Amor: 'All day I hear the noise of waters'
Words of the Sun
Tang Poems: Written on a Rainy Night
Tang Poems: Wild Grass
The Rub of Love
in time of
Love Songs: 'Look out upon the stars, my love'
Love Songs: 'Love is a beautiful dream'
Love Songs: 'Alas, the love of women!'
Love Songs: 'For stony limits cannot hold love out'
Love Songs: 'All mankind love a lover'

Amazon.com

This compilation of modern-day madrigals, the latest in a fascinating series of discs from the San Francisco-based all-male vocal group Chanticleer, won the Grammy for Best Small Ensemble Performance of 1999. The selections range over a variety of styles and aesthetics, from the haunting, hypnotic sounds of Steven Stucky's Cradle Songs to the archaic, ethereal beauty and Eastern inflections of John Tavener's "Village Wedding." There are the soft (and somewhat affected) asperities of Bernard Rands' Canti d'Amor as well as the gentle, almost English pastoralism of Zhou Long's "Words of the Sun" (beautiful!) and the colorfully exotic Orientalism of Chen Yi's Tang Poems. Other examples of the wide range here are the self-conscious busywork of Augusta Read Thomas's Love Songs to the darkly lush, 12-part weave of Steven Sametz's "In Time Of," with its radiant climax and pulsating chordal sonorites like the tolling of bells. All of this Chanticleer sings with striking freshness and commitment, virtuosic to a fare-thee-well, always sensitive to the emotional cues of the texts. The recording, made at Skywalker Ranch in January of 1999, is vivid and warm, and so is much of the music. Truly a winning disc. --Ted Libbey

Customer Reviews:

Transcendent Vocalism.......2005-01-31

This compilation is essential listening, especially (but not exclusively) for those already introduced to the marvels of Chanticleer. It features a wide variety of contemporary madrigals all dedicated to the theme of love. Gorgeous polyphony, entrancing dissonance; the music is very difficult, but Chanticleer's vocalism is exemplary, as always. The whole feel of the album takes some getting used to for the uninitiated. After a few listenings, though, one can fully perceive its unique and sublime beauty.

Highlights abound. The first three tracks, all lullabies by Steven Stucky, are brilliantly executed, but it is track four, Village Wedding by John Taverner, that first knocked my socks off. It seems to represent the absolutely ideal match between composer and performer, between written and sung text. It consists of a wonderful poem by Greek poet Angelos Sikelianos, with a recurring excerpt from the Eastern Orthodox wedding ceremony interspersed throughout. Taverner is himself a member of the Eastern Orthodox church, and the song is as much a spiritual experience as a musical one.

Another fantastic piece is Words of the Sun, by Chinese composer Zhou Long. It is probably the most accessible song on the CD, with numerous lovely subtleties and nuances that can be fully appreciated after multiple exposures.

Lastly, I'd like to express my sincere conviction that In Time Of (by Steven Sametz, set to a poem by E.E. Cummings) is the single most gorgeous piece of music I have ever had the great fortune to hear. The sonority is perfectly balanced, each arching phrase better than the one before. Please, for the sake of pure unadulterated beauty, purchase this CD. You will not regret it.

Beautifully delivered as always, but not my material........2002-07-30

I came to this album as a fan of Chanticleer more than of contemporary art music, though I like to think I do have a certain ear for the stuff. I haven't been educated in it, but I've sung some in my time in choruses, and I learned to appreciate those pieces the way that I learned to appreciate the more classical stuff as a child--by feeling it and hearing it come out of my own body, the ways that it worked, what was exciting, ect. That said, there is a point where I don't get it, and I reached that point all over this album. I thought I'd pass it on because it is hard for most of us to pick this kind of music off the shelf--there will be pieces that skewer us and some that make us fidget. For my part, I am grateful to have the album for the sake of three (long) songs. The Tavner Wedding song itself is probably worth it. But the album will never be put on leisurely.

Lives up to their reputation.......2001-03-07

Just recently had the opportunity to hear Chanticleer in concert...this CD certainly gives a cross section of their range...especially liked the "Tang Poems" and "Words of the Sun", which they performed live...very esoteric mix of musical styles...well worth the purchase for Chanticleer lovers!

One of the best I've picked up in ages.......2000-11-25

First of all let me state that the 4 stars isn't for the performance...which is truly outstanding...it is for a few pieces that are a tad sub-par. I also want to mention that its not that the pieces are modern either, I happen to be extremely sympathetic to modern music.

I usually don't like to do reviews this way, but I'm going to make a few comments piece by piece:

1) CRADLE SONGS - The first two of this trio of lullabies are great...the ones from Brazil & Poland are hauntingly beautiful...I'm not so crazy about the one from Tobago. A fairly strong piece, its certainly interesting.

2) VILLAGE WEDDING - This is one of the best three pieces on the album, and probably the best. Hearing John Tavener's work next to his contemporaries is an easy indicator of why he is considered one of this century's greatest and certainly one of the greatest living composers. Simultaneously it is joyous, austere, reverent & spiritual. Simply beautiful & amazing.

3) CANTI D'AMOUR - This is an up & down work. I'm not sure what the composer had in mind, but I find the first part to be amusing. It reminds me of barbershop quartet. It has more somber moments too that are quite moving. Overall though, its okay.

4) WORDS OF THE SUN - After the Tavener piece, this is my favorite one. I would like to hear some of Zhou Long's other works. It is a very subtle piece. Very Chinese too, yet simultaneously western. This is one of my favorite pieces by eastern composers of western music. Lyrically, it is amazing. Its borrowed from a 20th century Chinese poem that is gorgeous in English, I'm sure its even more so in Chinese. Musically, it is very stirring.

5) TANG POEMS - This piece too is written by a Chinese composer (Chen Yi) and it is distinctly Chinese. I am intrigued at some of the techniques used by the composer. I am really pleased with the piece, although I'm sure some find it a little "too eastern." It is extremely pretty if one is accustomed to eastern melodies. The 2nd part is a bit sharper and probably less accessible than the first part.

6) THE RUB OF LOVE - One of the duller pieces on the album.

7) IN TIME OF - Sublime. The opening few bars are unearthly. Definately one of the three best pieces. They definately need to keep this one in their concert repetoire (along with the Tavener and the two pieces by Chinese composers.) This is one of those works you have to hear to believe.

8) LOVE SONGS - This is a quirky collection of tunes by Augusta Read Thomas. It runs the gamut of serious to extremely silly. There are some strong points here, but some of it is too silly to stand the test of time ("Alas, The Love of Women"). Eventhough it is extremely unconventional, the part entitled "For Stony Limits Cannot Hold Love Out" is powerful. It is piercing & strange, but it really works with the text.

There are times when I love everything on this CD, and times when some of it gets on my nerves. It is, however, never boring and the performances are superb. I highly congratulate Chanticleer for not sitting on their laurels. This is adventursome stuff and it works 90% of the time, which is more than I can say for 99% of the ensembles out there.

I highly recommend this disc for "Village Wedding," "Words of the Sun," "In Time of," and "Tang Poems."

Pick it up, be adventuresome. Enjoy.

Fantastic recording of contemporary choral works.......2000-09-21

Chanticleer is one of the USA's finest choral ensembles, and they have picked a marvelous and diverse program for this recording -- with something that would appeal to absolutely everybody. The inclusion of two "husband-wife" pairs in the choice of music also makes for a special connection to the theme of the disc. Of special note to this reviewer are the "delicious" sonorities of Bernard Rands's "Canti d'Amor" and Augusta Read Thomas's "Love Songs" -- Chanticleer is a group who is able to pull off this difficult music beautifully. This recording was absolutely deserving of the Grammy that is received -- one of the finest discs of modern choral music in the past few years.

Average customer rating:

Eastman Wind Ensemble at 50

Manufacturer: Warner Brothers Pub.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Marches | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Russian Concert Band Music
Danzante
Fennell: Suites 1 & 2 / Folk Song Suite / Toccata Marziale

ASIN: B0002IQIGK
Release Date: 2006-03-22

Average customer rating:

Visions in Metaphor

Manufacturer: Albany Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00005NF2U
Release Date: 2001-07-31

Tracks:

Postmark [Fearful Symmetries]
Accompanied Recitative
Postcard from Home
Mirrorrim
Postcard from Kansas: Welcome to Interstate-70
Pensive Soliloquy
Continuum (Postscript '97)
Memo 6
Visions in Metaphor
Facades
Wings
e et Rondeau

Works by Copland, Sessions, Perle, Rands

Average customer rating:

An excellent collection of post-war American music

Works by Copland, Sessions, Perle, Rands

Manufacturer: New World Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Roger Sessions: Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 3
Roger Sessions: Symphonies 6, 7 & 9
Sessions: Divertimento / Idyll of Theocritus
Complete Works for Solo Piano
Persichetti: Night Dances Op114; Diamond: Symphony No5

ASIN: B0009IORY8
Release Date: 2005-05-10

Tracks:

Inscape (Aaron Copland 1967)
Symphony No. 8, Adagio e mesto (Roger Sessions 1968)
Symphony No. 8, Allegro con brio (Roger Sessions 1968)
Transcendental Modulations (George Perle 1993)
...where the murmurs die...(Bernard Rands 1995)

Product Description

This anthology of orchestral works was conceived as a tribute to the late Francis Goelet, who was Americas greatest musical philanthropist, especially in the commissioning of new works. His generous support led to the commissioning of these pieces, all of which, except for the Copland, are making their first appearance on CD. Aaron Coplands last major orchestral work, Inscape (1967), completes a line of development that began essentially with the Piano Variations (1930) and continued intermittently over the composers creative lifespan. These are the chromatic works, the lean or even severe antidotes to his more popular style. Over the course of this development one finds Copland taking an increasing interest in the techniques associated with the twelve-tone method. Roger Sessionss Symphony No. 8 (1968) is in two compact movements that are joined together without a pause between them. The tragic tone of the first movement, solemn and dirge-like, gives way to virile exuberance in the faster tempo of the second movement. Throughout, the idiom is richly chromatic; musical space is articulated at its limits by tuba and contrabassoon below and piccolo and glockenspiel above. The music surges forward despite a complex network of counterpoint. George Perles Transcendental Modulations (1993) presents a succession of character images, contrasting in mood and including even a trace of jazz in the bass pizzicatos toward the end. Musical ideas (such as the bubbling-up of clarinets at the opening) reappear at different pitch levels (such as down a sixth in bassoons at bar twenty-four) to effect changes in tonality (as well as timbre). Twelve distinct tempos are carefully linked by common pulses. The unusual title of Bernard Randss "...where the murmurs die..." (1993), is a fragment from an early poem of Samuel Beckett, a writer to whom the composer has more than once turned for inspiration. An Italianate lyricism and clarity pervade this delicately scored work showing, perhaps, the influence of Randss early studies with Luigi Dallapiccola and Luciano Berio. Contributing to the distinctive coloration is the elaborate use of different types of mutes in the brass instruments. Correspondingly, the strings are often instructed to place their bows close to the bridge, creating the glassy timbral effect known as sul ponticello. Of related interest: 80368 Aaron CoplandConnotations 80359 George PerlePiano Works 80342 George PerleWind Quintets 80392 Bernard RandsCanti dellEclisse 80296 Roger SessionsWhen Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomd 80345 Roger SessionsSymphonies Nos. 4 and 5 80368 Roger SessionsBlack Maskers Suite 80443 Roger SessionsPiano Concerto 80546 Roger SessionsPiano Sonatas Nos. 2 and 3

Customer Reviews:

An excellent collection of post-war American music.......2005-12-23

This disc, subtitled "The Vision of Francis Goelet", pays tribute to a man whose influence on post-war American art music is often underrated. Goelet, though no composer himself, contributed mightily to the music scene by commissioning well over a hundred works, often by emerging composers, and helping to fund many recordings, particularly on the New World Records label, which he was a major financial supporter of.

Paying homage to this figure, the American Symphony Orchestra under Leon Botstein perform four Goelet-supported commissions. These fit neatly into two pairs: extrovert, dramatic 1960s works by the Grand Old Men of American music, Aaron Copland and Roger Sessions, contrasting with more intimate 1990s works by the lower-profile George Perle and Bernard Rands.

Inscape was Copland's last orchestral work, and it comes from a period in the composer's life where he was growing increasingly interested in Schoenbergian serialism. Though the work is stylistically very different from Copland's more populist work, the composer's personality shines clearly through in every bar. Inscape begins with a twelve-tone cluster that fades into intimate wind writing, which alternates with more vigorous passages for the full orchestra. At the end, the opening cluster chord returns, rounding the work off effectively.

Sessions' Eighth Symphony was, prior to this recording, the only one of his symphonies as yet unrecorded on CD. Brief and concise (the whole work consists of two movements lasting just under a quarter of an hour) it is cut from the same cloth as its two predecessors (once available on a fine Argo disc). The opening movement is a slow lament that grows out of a long, highly chromatic melody in the strings. It is succeeded by a vigorously rhythmic second movement whose coda returns to the melody that opened the work. This is a fine and highly expressive piece, with the composer's gifts for atonal counterpoint and neoclassical rhythmic sharpness constantly evident.

The second half of the disc begins with George Perle's Transcendental Modulations. This twenty-five-minute work can be loosely regarded as a study in continuous variations, as the same material constantly returns in differently transformed states throughout the work. For the most part the work is delicately scored and meditative in nature, though occasionally it becomes more aggressive. I am not particularly familiar with Perle's oeuvre in general, but this work struck me as stylistically influenced by Schoenberg, Berg and particularly late Stravinsky.

The biggest surprise to me on this disc was Bernard Rands' "...when the murmers die...", inspired by an early Beckett poem. This delightful piece develops a brief folk-like melody through waves of slowly increasing and decreasing tension, illuminated by some superb wind writing and delightfully shimmering orchestration (definitely shades of Rands' teacher Luigi Dallapiccola here).

This disc is an almost automatic recommendation, given that only the Copland has ever appeared on CD before. In particular, the Sessions and Rands works strike me as major pieces that would appeal to anyone other than diehard tonalists or extreme modernists. Performances seem more than up to scratch, though I find Dennis Russell Davies' reading of contemporary Sessions symphonies to have a tightness and tension which Botstein does not entirely match in this recording.

Average customer rating:

Sound Encounters

Manufacturer: G.M. Recordings
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000005VY8
Release Date: 1994-04-14

Tracks:

What the Monster Saw
LON/dons: I. Sound and Logic +
LON/dons: II. Sugar
LON/dons: III. Ludwig's Bait
London Ser
The Dream Of The Infinite Rooms

Average customer rating:

Love Songs for Chorus

Manufacturer: Arsis Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0001DMUFE
Release Date: 2004-02-24

Average customer rating:

Harvard Composers [Hybrid SACD]

Manufacturer: Bis
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000D9PK7
Release Date: 2003-09-30

Average customer rating:

A fine collection of recent compositions for Wind Ensemble
Add this to your collection!

New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble

Manufacturer: Albany Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Percussion | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music

Marches | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000K2N6
Release Date: 1999-08-24

Tracks:

Ceremonial For Symphonic Wind Band
Olympic Dances: Prelude
Olympic Dances: Epithalamion
Olympic Dances: Variations
Olympic Dances: Finale
Concerto For Four Solo Percussion & Wind Ensemble: Recitavo Quasi Senza Misura, Largo e Rubato
Concerto For Four Solo Percussion & Wind Ensemble: Allegro con brio
Concerto For Four Solo Percussion & Wind Ensemble: Cadenza e Variazioni
Les Couleurs Fauves: Persisting Bells
Les Couleurs Fauves: Ritual Dance Masks (Part I)
Les Couleurs Fauves: Ritual Dance Masks (Part II)

Customer Reviews:

A fine collection of recent compositions for Wind Ensemble.......2007-03-11

Bernard Rands' 12 and ½ minute "Ceremonial" (1992) is a mysterious and dramatic ritual. It starts with an alternation of imposing brass chords and hazy harmonic clusters over a drum tattoo (certain passage of Varèse's Amériques comes to mind), from which a sinuous and wistful melody soon emerges (1:43), played by the bassoon in its upper register, and whose contour recalls the theme from Ravel's Bolero. The Bolero inspiration is very much in evidence, as the motto returns, each time more complex in orchestration and with a progressive crescendo, regularly interrupted by the strange harmonies, until its climactic and abrupt conclusion.

John Harbison's four "Olympic Dances" (1997) are written in the vein of Stravinsky's Symphony of Wind Instruments, with whiffs of Tippett's Ritual Dances from his Opera "Midsummer Marriage". It is mostly pastoral in character. This is not one of its composer's most original and memorable compositions.

In his Concerto for Four Solo Percussion & Wind Ensemble (1995), William Kraft doesn't go just for sheer unleashed power, as you might expect from such a piece. Despite occasional outbursts, the composition is mostly subdued and goes for color rather than violence. With its crystalline glockenspiel and vibraphone over hushed tremolos in the winds, the first movement is mysterious and beautiful as a dream of Chinese bells and gongs. The second movement an A-B-A' form, starting with a perky dialog of flute and bassoon soon joined by brass, reminiscent of the "Giuoco delle coppie" movement in Bartok's Concerto for orchestra. At 1:09 enters a half-military, half-Jazz-like rhythmic drumming, and two minutes later a more vehement version of the beginning music over percussion closes the movement.

The third movement is original in its construction, starting with a powerful and menacing cadenza for solo timpani, followed by a series of 12 variations arranged in couples, with percussion statement and orchestral comment. In its moments of unleashed power, the movement is close to some of Husa's compositions (the percussion movements of his "Music for Prague 1968" and "Apotheosis of this Earth", for instance), but here again, Kraft's music is oftentimes texturally quite sparse and deals more with color than violence.

"Couleurs Fauves" (1995) is one of Husa's most recent works for Wind Ensemble (a fine collection of almost half of his output in the genre can be found on a 2CD set from Mark Custom Records - see my review). It starts in a manner strikingly close to Kraft's Concerto, with a sinuous and sensuous melody played by oboe over drops of glockenspiel (the movement is titled "persisting bells"). In a simple formal construction often favored by Husa, that material is soon elaborated and rises to a triumphant, almost Britten-like climax, then recedes back to the introductory melody, now played by piccolo. The second movement "Ritual Dance Masks" is more violent and dramatic, much in the mood of the same second movement of "Apotheosis of this Earth" which I referred to here above, depicting the destruction of planet earth. The movement's second part (here conveniently sub-tracked) returns to the mood of the first movement, with another sinuous melody now on clarinet over drum tattoo, soon joined by piccolo flute playing quarter-tone slides. Another awe-inspiring and brassy build-up of tension and this time the movement ends at its climactic point. Husa's formal procedures may be simple and perhaps even simplistic, but they contribute to his music's great dramatic impact.

Add this to your collection!.......2000-02-01

A must for any wind ensemble collection. Battisti's interpretation of these challenging pieces captures every subtle nuance, every emotion. The Husa is indeed breathtaking, one of the finest recordings of any Husa composition. This is a great collection of contemporary wind literature.