Night Prayers

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
One of the five most acclaimed New Music chamber ensembles in the world, Kronos Quartet has recorded music from every period, from Machaut to Wagner to Hendrix to Dun. Their Night Prayers collection--which features mainly Eastern European composers--peaks with Sofia Gubaidulina's bristling Quartet No. 4. Expert at traditional instrumentation and composition, Gubaidulina scripts the piece's early parts with vaguely balalaika-like tones that morph into mid- range, stretched notes. The quartet's underlying structure becomes a skittering display of plucked, repetitive notes against which the strings variously slash, sweep, and chatter. Gubaidulina's summation of late-century chamber work is more than striking. --Andrew Bartlett

Tracks:

Kongerei - Traditional
Lacrymosa
Mugam Sayagi
Quartet No. 4 - Sofia Gubaidulina
A Cool Wind Is Blowing
K'vakarat
Night Prayers - Giya Kancheli

Amazon.com essential recording

One of the five most acclaimed New Music chamber ensembles in the world, Kronos Quartet has recorded music from every period, from Machaut to Wagner to Hendrix to Dun. Their Night Prayers collection--which features mainly Eastern European composers--peaks with Sofia Gubaidulina's bristling Quartet No. 4. Expert at traditional instrumentation and composition, Gubaidulina scripts the piece's early parts with vaguely balalaika-like tones that morph into mid- range, stretched notes. The quartet's underlying structure becomes a skittering display of plucked, repetitive notes against which the strings variously slash, sweep, and chatter. Gubaidulina's summation of late-century chamber work is more than striking. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews:

not as short as the other "singles".......2007-05-17

the music on this album evokes images like the cover presents;dark,ambient,questioning,and definately surreal.well worth the purchase!

Mysticism, Hauntingly and Atmospherically Intoned by Kronos.......2005-09-17

The Kronos Quartet will doubtlessly maintain a unique place in music history as the most innovative, risk-taking, humanistic fine group of musicians ever known. Not only is their ability to perform standard works excellent, but they have always stretched that virtuosity to explore rarely heard and even commissioned works by composers including some not known to the Western world at least.

NIGHT PRAYERS is as fine an example of their artistic strategy as any of the many recordings they have made. Though the works on this recording are truly meant to be performance art (the lighting and placement of the quartet and soloists on stage is a prime importance), this brilliant CD at least captures for posterity the beauty of the works they have performed.

The driving force of these varied works is to present music that is spiritual in a way many of us have never experienced. The works are primarily from the depths of Russia and Siberia and Eastern European countries influenced by the nomadic oriental sounds of a world practically unknown to us. Opening the recital is 'Kongerei', a traditional work from Tuva in Mongolia and is fascinatingly intoned by throat singers capable of producing multiple pitches (allowing themselves to harmonize with themselves!) simultaneously with the cello providing the ground bass.

This strangely haunting work is followed by Uzbekistani Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky's setting of the 'Lacyrmosa'. The soloist, aptly, is Dawn Upshaw whose quiet clearly focused voice is surrounded in beauty by the minimalist quartet writing. 'Mugam Sayagi' by Azerbaijani Franghiz Ali-Zadeh is based on 16th century secret language of Islam and is primarily a solo cello work with minor filigree work from the violin. The stunning Quartet No. 4 by the brilliant Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina and combines pre-recorded music (bouncing rubber balls) and live music it a manner that never approaches parody. It is simply stunning writing.

'A Cool Wind Is Blowing' by Tigran Tahmizyan is Armenian in style and in derivation and utilizes the Armenian wooden oboe (duduk) as played by Djivan Gasparian to reveal the poetry. The 'K'vakarat' by Osvaldo Golijov who, though born in Argentina, is from Russian Jewish parents and thus his composition for Cantor (Mikail Alexandrovich) and quartet fits well into this collection of music form the Steppes. The final work is the most mystical and beautiful for this listener. 'Night Prayer' by Georgian Giya Kancheli is not only a wondrous work for string quartet, it also adds voices at the end, voices of children singing 'Lord, hear my voice, Lord'. The use of silences is breathtaking.

This is simply one of those unusual recordings that deserves a wide audience. It is food for the mind, the soul, and the spirit. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, September 05

An uneven but intriguing collection with Gubaidulina's 4th.......2005-06-07

NIGHT PRAYERS is a collection of pieces performed by Kronos Quartet whose binding theme is Central Asia. With the exception of Osvaldo Golijov, hailing from Argentina but of Russian-Jewish heritage, all the composers represented here were born in the former Soviet republics east of the Black Sea.

The disc opens with "Kongerei", a traditional song from Tuva sung by the Throat Singers of Tuva with the simplest of accompaniment by Kronos. The song is a lament for the Tuvans who, because of the arbitrary nature of international borders, are stuck in China unable to see the whole breadth of their ancestral homeland. While it is entertaining, the inclusion of this song smacks of world-music crossover gimmickry.

"Lacrymosa" by Uzbekistani composer Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky is a frenetic piece for string quartet and soprano, based on a portion of the "Dies Irae" sequence of the Requiem Mass. Dawn Upshaw performs the vocal part. The texture of the work is reminiscent of the oeuvre of Arvo Part, but more astringent. I was quite impressed by the piece and look forward to hearing more of the work of Yanov-Yanovsky.

The Azerbaijani composer Franghiz Ali-Zadeh contributes "Mugam Sayagi", inspired by the Azerbaijani tradition of disguising songs of love from a man to a woman as a hymn to their god. The work is elegantly structured, a long drone from the cello representing a morning call to prayer before the rest of the quartet responds in passionate dance-like music and cadenzas, and finally a return to solo cello as an evocation of the evening call to prayer. This is a compelling work, probably the most pleasant surprise on the disc, though a bit overlong.

Sofia Gubaidulina's "String Quartet No. 4" is, I believe, the most important of the pieces here. This Russian-Tartar composer is one of the greatest artists (and saints) of our time, and her music is Christian with a sincerity and orthodoxy unmatched in contemporary repetoire by anyone but Messiaen. While much of Gubaidulina's work is immediately rewarding, such as her masterpiece JOHANNES-PASSION or her sympony "Stimmen Verstummen", her string quartets are difficult. This quartet, written in 1993, begins with a recording played of rubber balls bouncing on strings, then the use of lights of various colours (which listeners of this CD miss out on), and then finally the string quartet begins to play. The use of a recording which the performers have to answer may have been inspired by Nono's piece "La lontananza...", which Gubaidulina helped realise three years before. However, Nono's work is a dispassionate exploration of various timbres, while Gubaidulina's is rapture and ecstasy.

The Armenian musical tradition is represented here by Tigran Tahmizyan's piece "A Cool Wind is Blowing" for string quartet and duduk, a type of flute, here performed by Djivan Gasparian. The song is based on a folk song, a remnant of the Armenian culture that flourished before Muslim and Soviet domination, but the string quartet plays--almost at right angles to the flute part--a series of throughly modern sounds. It is quite short, under four minutes, and there is not much to say about it.

Osvaldo Golijov's "K'vakarat" was commissioned for the dedication of the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. It is centred around a Hebrew prayer sung during the High Holidays, and movingly sung here by the cantor Mikhail Alexandrovich. The cantor stands in worship of God, but the string quartet's role is meant to provide resistance. "Starting with Jakov who fought with God's angel," writes Golijov, "I have always admired the rebels." The piece stands in strong contrast with Gubaidulina's, for hers is a work of praise while Golijov's is a piece of doubt.

The disc closes with Giya Kancheli's "Night Prayers", at 23 minutes the longest piece here. For most of its length it is for unaccompanied string quartet, but in the last couple of minutes a recording is use of a male choir and boy soprano singing "Domine, exaudi vocem meam, Domine." The only other work I have heard by this Georgia composer is "Styx", which I find quite pleasant, but this piece neither touches the heart nor dazzles with technical innovation, and represents the worst parts of the "holy minimalism" genre.

I am a passionate admirer of the music of Sofia Gubaidulina, and think that this disc is worth buying just to obtain a recording of her fourth string quartet. Beyond that, however, this is a fine opportunity to learn about Central Asian composers who have embraced Western music but have brought along something unique from their own national traditions.

a deep, reverent journey through central asia.......2001-04-11

This collection from the Kronos Quartet presents works from Tuva in Western Siberia, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, and Russia, and includes Jewish, Islamic and both Catholic and Orthodox Christian themes.

The Throat Singers of Tuva create a ritual opening to the sacred with their opening "Kongerei." You'll have to turn up the volume to hear the lovely but faint soprano voice of Dawn Upshaw singing "Lacrymosa," from the Catholic mass. "Mugum Sayagi," by Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, an Azeri woman composer, begins softly, and then breaks out in virtuosic cadenzas, expressing "the ecstatic longing of a man for a woman expressed as the love of God," an example of the secret Azeri musical tradition of the 16th century used to evade Islamic strictures. Sofia Gubaidulina, the Russian/Tartar woman composer, contributes her masterful "Quartet No. 4" to the album, the most complex, modern piece here, and absolutely wonderful, though a little out of place with the other more folk-influenced works. "A Cool Wind Is Blowing," by the Armenian composer Tigran Tahmizyan, is my personal favorite -- only 4 minutes long, based on an ancient folk tune, it is haunting and memorable. "K'VARAKAT" features the lovely vocals of a Jewish cantor, and was commissioned for the dedication of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC. Finally, the title piece, Kancheli's "Night Prayers," is a mournful and beautiful work that evokes "sadness, compassion and hope" in the words of the Georgian composer.

There is much silence and space here, evoking the desert, the mountains, and the steppe. The album is powerfully effective if you surrender to its dark, somber mood. NIGHT PRAYERS is tremendously relevant nowadays, addressing the common human condition across cultures and faiths. It could not be more ideal to accompany reflection and meditation on compassion, tolerance, and PEACE.

Average customer rating:

A worthwhile investment
Excelent compilation!
Amazingly Now Retrospective
How Could You Not Listen?
Good for help to know up-to-date contemporaly music

25 Years: Retrospective
Suzanne Elder , Paul Hillier , David Krakauer , John Adams , Franguiz Ali-Zadeh , Ken Benshoof , George Crumb , Morton Feldman , Philip Glass , Osvaldo Golijov , Henryk Gorecki , Sofiya Gubaydulina , Arvo Part , P. Q. Phan , Astor Piazzolla , Steve Reich , Terry Riley , Alfred Schnittke , Peter Sculthorpe , Kevin Volans , Aki Takahashi , Ellen L. Hargis , Neal Rogers , and Kronos Quartet
Manufacturer: Nonesuch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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The John Adams Earbox: A 10-CD Retrospective
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Alban Berg: Lyric Suite

ASIN: B00000DD9B
Release Date: 1998-10-27

Tracks:

John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994): Judah to Ocean
John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994): Toot Nipple
John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994): Dogjam
John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994): Pavane: She's So Fine
John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994): Rag the Bone
John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994): Habanera
John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994): Stubble Crochet
John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994): Hammer & Chisel
John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994): Alligator Escalator
John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994): Standchen: The Little Serenade
John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994): Judah to Ocean (Reprise)
John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994): Fratres
John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994): Psalom
John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994): Summa
John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994): Missa Syllabica: Kyrie
John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994): Gloria
John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994): Credo
John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994): Sanctus
John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994): Agnus Dei
John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994): Ite, missa est

Tracks:

Traveling Music: 1. Gentle, easy
Traveling Music: 2. Moderate
Traveling Music: 3. Driving
Song of Twenty Shadows
Five Tango Sensations: Asleep
Five Tango Sensations: Loving
Five Tango Sensations: Anxiety
Five Tango Sensations: Despertar
Five Tango Sensations: Fear
Five Tango Sensations: Four, for Tango

Tracks:

Piano And String Quartet (1985) - Various Artists

Tracks:

Quartet # 4 (Buczak, 1989): I
Quartet # 4 (Buczak, 1989): II
Quartet # 4 (Buczak, 1989): III
Mishima Quartet, Quartet #3 (1985): 1957 - Award Montage
Mishima Quartet, Quartet #3 (1985): November 25 - Ichigaya
Mishima Quartet, Quartet #3 (1985): 1934 - Grandmother and Kimitake
Mishima Quartet, Quartet #3 (1985): 192 - Body Building
Mishima Quartet, Quartet #3 (1985): Blood Oath
Mishima Quartet, Quartet #3 (1985): Mishima/Closing
Company, Quartet #2 (1983): I
Company, Quartet #2 (1983): II
Company, Quartet #2 (1983): III
Company, Quartet #2 (1983): IV
Quartet #5 (1991): I
Quartet #5 (1991): II
Quartet #5 (1991): III
Quartet #5 (1991): IV
Quartet #5 (1991): V

Tracks:

The Dreams & Prayers of Isaac the Blind: Prelude: Calmo, sospeso
The Dreams & Prayers of Isaac the Blind: I. Agitato - Con fucco - Maestoso - Senza misura, oscilante
The Dreams & Prayers of Isaac the Blind: II. Teneramente - Ruvido - Presto
The Dreams & Prayers of Isaac the Blind: III. Calmo, sospeso - Allego pesante
The Dreams & Prayers of Isaac the Blind: Postlude: Lento, liberamente
Quartet #4 (1993)
Mugam Sayagi (1993)

Tracks:

Quasi una fantasia (Quartet #2), Op.64 (1990-91): I. Largo (Sostenuto - Mesto)
Quasi una fantasia (Quartet #2), Op.64 (1990-91): II. DecisoEnergico (Marcatissimo sempre)
Quasi una fantasia (Quartet #2), Op.64 (1990-91): III. Arioso: Adagio cantabile
Quasi una fantasia (Quartet #2), Op.64 (1990-91): IV. Allegro (Sempre con grande passione e molto marcato)
Already It is Dusk (Quartet #1), Op.62 (1988)

Tracks:

Different Trains: America Before The War
Different Trains: Europe During The War
Different Trains: America After The War
Black Angels: I. Departure - 1. Thenody I: Night Of The Electric Insects - 2. Sounds Of Bones And Flutes - 3. Lost Bells - 4. Devil-Music - 5. Danse Macabre
Black Angels: II. Absence - 6. Pavana Lachrymae - 7. Threnody II: Black Angels! - 8. Sarabanda de la Muerte Oscura - 9. Losts Bells (Echo)
Black Angels: III. Return - 10. God Music - 11. Ancient Voices - 12. Ancient Voices (Echo) - 13. Thenody III: Night Of The Electric Insects

Tracks:

Cadenza on the Night Plain (1984): Introduction
Cadenza on the Night Plain (1984): Cadenza: Violin I
Cadenza on the Night Plain (1984): Where Was Wisdom When We Went West?
Cadenza on the Night Plain (1984): Cadenza: Viola
Cadenza on the Night Plain (1984): March of the Old Timers Reefer Division
Cadenza on the Night Plain (1984): Cadenza: Violin II
Cadenza on the Night Plain (1984): Tuning to Rolling Thunder
Cadenza on the Night Plain (1984): The Night Cry of Black Buffalo Woman
Cadenza on the Night Plain (1984): Cadenza: Cello
Cadenza on the Night Plain (1984): Gathering of the Spiral Clan
Cadenza on the Night Plain (1984): Captain Jack Has the Last Word
Cadenza on the Night Plain (1984): G Song
Salome Dances for Peace (1985-86) - III. The Gift: Echoes of Primordial Tim
Salome Dances for Peace (1985-86) - III. The Gift: Mongolian Winds
V. Good Medicine: Good Medicine Dance

Tracks:

Quartet No. 2 (1981): I. Moderato
Quartet No. 2 (1981): II. Agitato
Quartet No. 2 (1981): III. Mesto
Quartet No. 2 (1981): IV. Moderato
Quartet No. 4 (1989): I. Lento
Quartet No. 4 (1989): II. Allegro
Quartet No. 4 (1989): III. Lento
Quartet No. 4 (1989): IV. Vivace
Quartet No. 4 (1989): V. Lento
Collected Songs Where Every Verse Is Filled With Grief (1984-85)

Tracks:

Jabiru Dreaming, Quartet #11 (1990): I. Deciso
Jabiru Dreaming, Quartet #11 (1990): II. Amoroso
Quartet #8 (1969): I. Con dolore
Quartet #8 (1969): II. Risoluto; calmo
Quartet #8 (1969): III. Con dolore
Quartet #8 (1969): IV. Con precisione
Quartet #8 (1969): V. Con dolore
From Ubirr (1994)
Tragedy at the Opera (1995)
White Man Sleeps Quartet #1: First Dance
White Man Sleeps Quartet #1: Second Dance
White Man Sleeps Quartet #1: Third Dance
White Man Sleeps Quartet #1: Fourth Dance
White Man Sleeps Quartet #1: Fifth Dance

Amazon.com

Seems like only yesterday the Kronos Quartet stepped up their career as musical mavericks with a coveted, wide-open contract with Nonesuch Records. Now it's Nonesuch's turn to give Kronos the big-package nod, gathering key works recorded by the group--from younger composers and time-tested veterans alike--into this 10-CD box set. As one might expect, the set is stuffed with contrasts, from the first CD, with its 11-part, upstepping John Adams suite and then the far more solemn Missa Syllabica from Arvo Pärt. Nearly 20 of these pieces here were composed expressly for Kronos, pitched and sculpted for their easily-racked mixture of straightforward string quartet roles and intelligently restructured approaches to the even the simplest gestures. Perhaps most key here is George Crumb's Black Angels, in large part due to Crumb's role in inspiring David Harrington to form Kronos 25 years ago. Crumb's music spirals and chases through the air, engaging high pitches and fast pacings as if they were ends in themselves. Gone from this set are most of the short snippets that have filled some of Kronos's other fine single CD recordings. In abundance instead are some of the legendary works: Morton Feldman's long, endlessly patient Piano and String Quartet (with Aki Takahashi), Steve Reich's unnerving Different Trains, and Henryk Górecki's String Quartets Nos. 1 and 2. There are also some of the astounding Eastern European works from Night Prayers as well, including the stunning Quartet No. 4 from Sofia Gubaidulina. And of course there are the Kronos biggie pieces: Philip Glass's works fill one CD, and so do Terry Riley's. What's more, Riley's Cadenza on the Night Plain and "G Song" are presented here in entirely fresh, new recordings. What the listener gets is a huge block of music, full of shifting colors and textures but perfectly apt in giving a wide-angle vantage on what Kronos has done for contemporary music. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews:

A worthwhile investment.......2003-10-06

It would be an understatement to say that this is a fabulous box set. All 10 CDs are packed with some fabulous music that beautifull highlights the first 25 years of the Kronos Quartet, and the booklet included provides a great history of the group as well as nice blurbs on the composers and their pieces.

Equally nice about the box set is the inclusion of multiple new recordings, thus making this a worthwhile investment for fans. The Peter Sculthorpe Quartets are a particularly nice addition, as are the added Piazzolla, Part, and Riley compositions.

Along with this, the "classic" Kronos recordings are all here: "Black Angels" "Different Trains" "Salome Dances for Peace" (well, exceprts), and Feldman's Piano and String Quartet. Of particular note, I think is the inclusion of Gubaidulina's Quartet No 4, a fabulous recording that is otherwise hidden in Kronos' recording "Night Prayers."

Yes, this is quite an investment, but I firmly believe that it's worth it - longtime fans and newcomers alike have a lot to gain from this collection.

Excelent compilation!.......2001-09-09

I like more classic period, like Hayden, but Cronos does it very well, technicaly excelent. The ten sets are wonderful recordings and the selection is unique. It deserves the investment, If you buy it, youre going to have more than ten hours of joy.

Amazingly Now Retrospective.......2001-06-26

Since their youthful start in the NW back in the 70's, Kronos has collaborated with, commissioned, or just played such a breadth of musicians it almost seems that breadth - and especially non western world culture - is their mission. But, while this conservatively and esthetically designed 25-yr-retrospective box (with its increasingly sophisticated photo-portraits) belies the pulsation of social angst and conscience that underlies the bulk of the inclusions, the latter concern, its vitality and relevance - and not some stylish chasing after cultural breadth - is what overtakes the listener/reader, rather soon. I say reader, since the booklet is very helpful, especially to the relative novice, and well balanced in its coverage of composers, historical contexts, performers, individual texts, etc.

There are probably more non contemporaries performed by the Quartet over the years than this selection would indicate. That undercuts their ties with the sense of revolution in music throughout the ages, but it leaves more time for the present: and that is where one expects the group wishes to be, is most contributory and challenged, and is best and most fairly judged. Highly recommended, both for those who know Kronos's work well and wish a handsome tribute on their shelf, and for those who do not but are open and ready to be affected, whether impacted esthetically, reminded socio-morally, or whatever combination of both befits.

How Could You Not Listen?.......1998-12-19

My opinion pales when compared to this CD. Indeed the group's ingeniousness, its knowing and its balls are in full display here, hopefully to put to rest any lingering contention that there is little more to Kronos than form. To any person who accepts the merits of 20th-century music, this CD presents the genius of our culture and teaches that daring and ingenuity do not have to be sacrificed on the road to technical brilliance. My only regret is that the CD does not include Kronos's interpretation of Bartok. But, so what? Górecki's here, as are Part and Benshoof. Listen to this CD -- soar and struggle with it.

Good for help to know up-to-date contemporaly music.......1998-11-28

The Kronos Quartet has released many albums. There let us see what the quartet has tried new titles and arrenges in each period. But this is the best set for understand the quartet as summary of thier works. The CDs are distributed by each composers and we can see thier identities easily.Unfortunately this dose not include all but be enough to see what the quartet has been.I hope that every classical music fans(not only contemporaly music fans) listen this CDs.

Average customer rating:

beautiful music / barren landscape
silently beautifull

Kancheli: Caris Mere

Manufacturer: Ecm Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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Kancheli: Abii ne viderem
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ASIN: B0000262XZ
Release Date: 2000-04-18

Tracks:

Night Prayers for soprano saxophone and string orchestra
Caris Mere for soprano and viola
Night Prayers for soprano saxophone and string orchestra

Customer Reviews:

beautiful music / barren landscape.......2002-09-06

kancheli, a native of georgia (the former soviet union country georgia, not the southern united state), achieved his musical maturity in the height of cold war era politics. as his music, both older and newer, creeps westward and becomes more widely known, i think that it gives very valuable cultural insight to us as listeners as to a part of the world which we only received a very limited scope of information about for quite some time.

kancheli's work is stark and desolate, yet sometimes dense; beautiful and placid, yet sometimes jagged - all of Caris Mere is a contradition in the shape of linear and harmonic writing, combining intense complexity with tranquil simplicity. this recording is quite a listening to behold - beautiful, pure, raw, unadulterated, and very unique.

silently beautifull.......2001-01-20

For those of you who don't know the composer: although he composes in his own, unique style, he is somewhat comparable to Arvo Pärt, in his use of minimalistic instrumentation, and his use of silence as an important aspect of music. All three pieces on this album proove Kancheli to be one of todays more intruiging comosers, as well as his ability to create beauty, something often forgotten in modern classical music. The third piece features Jan Garabarek, playing the soprano saxophone. He delivers a quality job - as usual - and helps in making this album all the more worthwile

Average customer rating:

Haydn: The Seasons

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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Handel: Solomon; Love in Bath
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 7; Mass in C
Prokofiev: Peter & the Wolf
La Boheme

ASIN: B0002XV2ZW
Release Date: 2005-02-15

Tracks:

Overture
Recitative: Oh See Where Cruel Winter Flies
Chorus: Come, Gentle Spring!
Recitative: From Aries Rolls At Last The Bounteous Sun
Air: Now Fairly Runs The Farmer's Boy
Recitative: The Countryman Has His Work Achieved
Trio And Chorus: Be Now GRacious, Smiling Heaven!
Recitative: Now Heard Are All Our Prayers
Trio And Chorus: Oh HOw Lovely Gleams The Outlook
Chorus And Trio: Ageless! Powerful! Bounteous God!
Recitative: IN Dove-Grey Mantle Drawing Near
Air: The LIvely Swain Is Gath'ring Now His Happy Flocks
Recitative: The Rosy Morn Breaks Forth
Trio And Chorus: He's Mounting Up, The Sun
Recitative: Now All Are Astir
Recitative: The Midday Sun Is Burning Now
Cavatina: Opress'd Succumbs All Nature Now
Recitative: Oh Welcome Now, You Shadier Grove
Air: So Reviving To The Senses
Recitative: Oh See! Now Rising In The Sultry Air
Chorus: Hark! The Tempest Drawing Night!
Trio And Chorus: The Gloomy Clouds Now Part Aside

Tracks:

Overture
Recitative: All That Through Her Blossom Fair Spring
Trio And Chorus: So Nature Gives Reward To Zeal
Recitative: Now See! To Hazel Bushes There The Youngsters
Duet: You Beauties Of The Town
Recitative: Now See, On New-Stripp'd Harvest Field
Air: There Look Across The Open Fields
Recitative: Here Beaters, Closing In , Put Up The Hares
Chorus: Hark! The Clamorous Noise That Through The Wood
Recitative: On All The Vines Are Glist'ning
Chorus: Cheer Now! The Wine Is Here
Introduction
Recitative: Now Sinks The Pale Declining Year
Cavatina: Light And Life Are Both Enfeebled
Recitative: Allfetter'd Lies The Open Lake
Air: Here Stands The Wand'rer Now
Recitative: At His Approach Rings In His Ear
Song And Chorus: Purring, Whirring, Purring
Recitative: The Flax Has Now Been Spun
Song And Chorus: A Maid Who Kept Her Honour Fair
Recitative: From Barren East Now Thrust Far Keener Icy Blasts
Air: Before Thee Here, Deluded Man
Recitative: Remains, Alone, And is Our Guide
Trio And Double Chorus: Then Breaks The Glorious Day At Last

Average customer rating:

Simply delicious

Summertime
Felicity Lott
Manufacturer: Asv Living Era
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

British Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B00006GO6B
Release Date: 2002-10-22

Tracks:

Summertime
Sure On The Shining Night
The Shepherd's Song
Clair De Lune
Now Sleeps The Crimson Petal
Who Is Sylvia?
Where The Bee Sucks
L'ile Inconnue
Auf Dem Wasser Zu Singen
Soir
Der Nussbaum
Meine Liebe Ist Grun
Ah Moon Of My Delight
Notre Amour
Villanelle
The Monk And His Cat
Go Not, Happy Day
To Daffodils
Orpheus With His Lute
The Trellis
Love's Philosophy
A Brown Bird Singing
The Lark In The Clear Air
Sleep
The Tale Of An Oyster
My House
The Little Road To Bethlehem
Vespers
The Lord Bless You & Keep You

Customer Reviews:

Simply delicious.......2007-03-23

Subime singing of the highest order - a wonderful collection of songs from two of the world's finest musicians.

Retour De Voyage (Return From A Journey)

Average customer rating:

Simpleton Music

Retour De Voyage (Return From A Journey)

Manufacturer: Naive
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00008PW5A
Release Date: 2003-09-23

Tracks:

Lento, Quasi Recitavito
Procession Nocturne
Chant Katzapsky
Chant Grec
29. XII. 1925
8. XI. 1925
Danse Sayyide
Mamacha
Danse d'Arabie
1.V. 1927
Retour de Voyage
23.X. 1926
26.X. 1926
7. XII. 1925
Te Laudamus

Customer Reviews:

Simpleton Music.......2003-10-05

George Gurdjieff (1877-1949) was a Russian-born 'seer and mystic who promised that his guidance, known as "the Work," would bring his students a new enlightenment, a greater level of consciousness, a deeper sense of what it means to be in the world.' He apparently had intense personal charisma and attracted to himsself a circle of people who were deeply influenced by his cryptic teachings. He may, indeed, have be considered one of the first of the New Age teachers with which our anti-scientific age is now crowded. He also reportedly collected Middle and Far Eastern folk music and often, after a meal presiding over his disciples, he would plunk out melodies on a small harmonium and one of his disciples, a trained musician named Thomas de Hartmann (1885-1956), took down the melodies and then harmonized them so they could played at the piano. This CD represents the 11th of a 12 CD project in which all of Gurdjieff's music is being recorded by French pianist Alain Kremski, a present-day follower of Gurdjieff's teachings.

I had heard of his music years ago but had never heard any of it. When I ran across this CD I was eager to hear what it was like. On the disc are 15 pieces, totaling 62 minutes. Most are slow, most have a tame middle-eastern-sounding melisma with a few cautious melodic curlicues. De Hartmann's harmonizations are squarely diatonic and his piano arrangements feature mostly monotonous oompah left hand accompaniments. Occasionally there are martial sounding chordal rhythms in the left hand--a kind of Janissary music?--but usually the oompah returns in short order. Once in a while an odd meter will emerge, e.g. 5/8.

The melodic material is euphonious but undistinguished. The harmonies are undistinguished. The accompaniments are rudimentary. The overall effect, especially if one is listening closely, is stultifying. It is possible that the music is intended as 'trance music,' and in my case that certainly worked. I found myself falling asleep repeatedly on both occasions that I listened to it all the way through. One has the sense that simplicity is the goal here, rather like the intent of much of Satie's music; what is missing, though, is Satie's self-aware irony, not to speak of his harmonic creativity. This music is clearly intended to be serious, and thus it becomes pretentious.

In Kremski's defense, I will say that his playing is excellent and the recorded sound is rich and full.