American Society of University Composers (Record No. 4)

various artists compilation - American Society of University Composers (Record No. 4)

LP released in 1980

Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra

composer: Leslie Bassett

performers:

Fernando Laires and Nelita True - piano
Midland Symphony Orchestra, Don Jaeger - conductor

This recording is from a live performance.

The three movement CONCERTO FOR TWO PIANOS AND ORCHESTRA (1976) was created for a commission sponsored by the Midland Center for the Performing Arts. The composer provides the following notes: "The Concerto begins with agitated, highly assertive overlays of six two-note sonorities, followed by forceful ascending 'arpeggiations' that prepare the entrance of the soloists. Much of the musical language and material for the entire work is based upon brief sonorities and lines heard early in the first movement. The slow and gentle second movement progresses from sseveral lyrical phrases toward more quiet and introspective music until interrupted by a forceful and climactic passage. An unmetered aria follows, proceeding to a gentle cadence. The third movement opens with quiet but animated rustlings and overlays of numerous hushed runs and scurryings. Pianos gradually take over this texture, bringing it to a rapid and energetic climax juxtaposing the pianos with various sections of the orchestra. A quiet section leads to a third unmetered quasicadenza and a final crescendo passage ends in a forceful reassertion of the initial sound of the piece."

November Voices, A Ceremony for Voice, Narrator and Ensemble (1975)

composer: Sidney Hodkinson

performers:

Eastman Musica Nova Ensemble, Sidney Hodkinson - conductor and Rayburn Wright - assisting conductor
Stanley Cornett - tenor
Dana McKay Kriehbiel - soprano
Steven Kujara - narrator

recording engineer: Patrick Pasco

The static reluctance of November Voices, with its separated antiphonal small ensembles, attempts to convey the persistence, euphony and yearning expressed by the poems of Minnesotan, Alvin Greenberg. The texts, chosen from a collection entitled "The Preservation of the Self in Everyday Life," are divided between a spoken narrator and a soprano. All of the material in the composition is derived from a Gregorian chant fragment first heard in an off-stage trombone, and later intoned by the tenor soloist. (Richard Brooks)Omaggio II for four-hand piano and tape

composer: Lawrence Moss

performers:

Sheryl Seltzer and Joel Sachs - piano

recording engineer: Curt Wittig

OMAGGIO II, for four-hand piano and tape is the second of a series which pay tribute to favorite composers. The first one (without tape) incorporates material from Mozart's Sonata in B-flat for four-hand piano, a work often played together with friends by Professor Moss. Omaggio II makes rather free use of the first page or so of Schoenberg's Third Quartet as a kind of "presence," more and more clearly preceived as the tape plays on. All the tape sounds are synthesized and the "prepared" piano pitches are those of the Quartet's first two measures. (Richard Brooks)


Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. Leslie Bassett - Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra {19:11}

Side 2

1. Sidney Hodkinson - November Voices {12:42}

2. Lawrence Moss - Omaggio II {9:10}

(1)