The Music Of Chen Yi

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Regarded as one of China's most important composers, Chen Yi is a brilliant figure, stretching musical boundaries at each turn. She integrates traditional Chinese melodies, instruments, and dances into her compositional palette and, in doing so, creates aural energy that is hard to equal. Percussive thunder can rain down on percussively harmonic chimes, just as dark, low-note string segments can shadow minimal sound scapes. This collection brings together two full orchestra pieces, including Chen Yi's rousing Symphony No. 2. There is also, though, the phenomenally large-scale Chinese Myths Cantata, full of oceanic vocal power and grace provided by Chanticleer. This is a stellar snapshot of New Music's large-ensemble present, and, hopefully, its future. - -Andrew Bartlett

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

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Not what I expected

Oriental Landscapes
Evelyn Glennie , Lan Shui , and Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Manufacturer: Bis
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Shadow Behind the Iron Sun
The Music Of Chen Yi
Tales From the Cave
Touch the Sound - A Sound Journey With Evelyn Glennie
Spirit Murmur

ASIN: B00007E8QV
Release Date: 2002-11-26

Customer Reviews:

Not what I expected.......2007-01-09

I was looking for some great examples of Evelyn Glennie's playing to show to my daughter who is learning percussion. I picked the Chinese one because I have a background in Japanese culture and love taiko drums, but this turned out to be a little bit too Chinese for me. There was nothing in it that my Western daughter could relate to. I'll have to try another Evelyn Glennie CD.

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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

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

A Cappella | Folk | Styles | Music
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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.

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New Music from Bowling Green, Vol. IV

Manufacturer: Albany Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Alban Berg, Anton Webern, Shulamit Ran: Songs and Chamber Music
ECLIPSE

ASIN: B0009ETW0Q
Release Date: 2005-05-01

Tracks:

xylem
Voices
Joi, amor, Cortezia: Seven Dancees of Joy, Love and Courtliness
Chinese Folk Dance Suite
Inspiring Beethoven

Product Description

Xylem is a short, energetic piece that amplifies a microscopic world, creating perpetual motion punctuated by explosive bursts. It takes its name from the tissue made of long tubular open-ended cells that conducts water from the soil up to the various parts of plants. Orianna Webb currently teaches composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music where she is a founding director of the Young Composers Program. Shulamit Ran writes: Â“My having been commissioned by the National Flute Association for a flute concerto in celebration of that organizationÂ’s year 2000 convention was, for me, a much-relished opportunity to further explore the direction I found myself pursuing in earlier works.Â” The work was premiered on August 19, 2000, with Patricia Spencer, flutist, and Ransom Wilson, conductor. Samuel Adler writes: Â“Nostalgia plays a role in the creation of many works of art. This was certainly the case in my writing this particular orchestral work which was composed for the Texas Little Symphony and John Giordano in the summer of 1982. For a long time now, I have had a love affair with Texas and also with music of the rather distant past. The resulting work was one which I had wanted to do for many years, namely, a dance suite based on Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque themes. These dances are treated as recompositions rather than arrangements. While the actual tunes in most of them are from a bygone era, the compositional techniques employed are of the 20th century and result in a metamorphosis of the old material. In other words, it is as if a contemporary composer took a journey into the past, fell in love with seven dance forms, brought them back to our century and rewrote them for he felt they still give off the same charm, excitement and contemporaneousness which they did when they were originally conceived.Â” Chen Yi is currently the Cravens/Millsap/Missouri Distinguished Professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She received her bachelorÂ’s and masterÂ’s degrees in music composition from the Central Conservatory in Beijing, and a doctorate from Columbia University. Her composition teachers include Chou, Davidovsky, Wu and Goehr. She has served as composer-in-residence for the WomenÂ’s Philharmonic, the vocal ensemble Chanticleer and the Aptos Creative Arts Center (1993-1996) supported by Meet the Composer. Kevin PutsÂ’s Inspiring Beethoven was commissioned by the Phoenix Symphony, Hermann Michael, conductor, for their Beethoven Festival in January 2002. The work is a musical tale of Beethoven transcending the grim realities of his life and finding the inspiration to compose the joyous first movement of his Symphony No. 7. Puts has received degrees from the Eastman and Yale University Schools of Music, and currently serves as assistant professor of composition at the University of Texas at Austin.

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Atonal Contemporary meets Traditional Chinese

Chen Yi: Momentum
Chen Yi , Lin , Hou , Marshall , Shui , and Singapore So
Manufacturer: Bis
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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The Music Of Chen Yi
Oriental Landscapes

ASIN: B0000D9PK3
Release Date: 2003-09-30

Customer Reviews:

Atonal Contemporary meets Traditional Chinese.......2007-05-30

Chen Yi (b. 1953) is not as well-known as Tan Dun, but in my opinion she is a far better composer. Granted, her music is not for everyone; those who don't like dissonant contemporary music won't like it. Chen Yi's aesthetic is based on something of a yin/yang idea, bringing Western dissonances and contemporary rhythmic techniques to play with traditional pentatonic melodies and rhythms from her home country. She omits, at least on this CD, the Western pop and Hollywood cliches that Tan Dun includes, and so her music seems to me more athletically lean, more pure, and more ferocious. Both the Dunhuang Fantasy for organ and chamber winds and the Chinese Folk Dance Suite begin uncompromisingly, with aggressive dissonances and sharply disjunct lines, only later revealing the Chinese melodies on which they are nominally based. The final movement of the Folk Dance Suite is far more melodic from the first notes, and uses modes of middle Eastern origin in a very appealing fashion--perhaps this will be the most accessible track on the CD. Tu, the final piece on the CD and the most recent of these works, is a memorial to the New York firefighters who lost their lives in the destruction of the World Trade Center. The program notes describe it as ending with 'emphatic gestures, resolute and hopeful of the composer's faith in freedom." I must admit that I have trouble hearing it that way; the extended note in the low strings seems to me less hopeful and more full of promise for future calamity. Nevertheless, it's a very moving and emotional piece; superbly crafted and conceived.

China Exchange - Ying Zhang: The Woodman's Song / Ge Gan-Ru: Yi Feng, for solo cello / Kawai Shiu: Winter Tide / Hwang: Flight of Whispers / Yuanlin Chen: Flying Swan

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China Exchange - Ying Zhang: The Woodman's Song / Ge Gan-Ru: Yi Feng, for solo cello / Kawai Shiu: Winter Tide / Hwang: Flight of Whispers / Yuanlin Chen: Flying Swan

Manufacturer: Composers Recordings
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | International | Styles | Music

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Jazz Fusion | Jazz | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B00000I0UE
Release Date: 1999-02-09

Tracks:

The Woodman's Song
Yi Feng For Solo Cello
Winter Tide
Mosquito For Solo Piano
Flight Of Whispers
Chinese Music
Flying Swan
Edge
Absolute Solo!
Sad Melody At Yanshi City

Shanghai Triad: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

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Shanghai Triad Soundtrack
Captivating scenes
Lunar Powered
Takes Some Getting Used To...
great film - fantastic music

Shanghai Triad: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Manufacturer: Mercator
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

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Raise The Red Lantern: Original Soundtrack Album
The Emperor and the Assassin

ASIN: B000003S45
Release Date: 1995-12-19

Tracks:

Beddy-Bye, Beddy Bye Over Grand-Ma's Bridge
Main Theme
Go Away
Introduction
Bright Moon
Bijou Cries
Lilac Menuet
Murder On A Rainy Night
The Express Train
The Garden
A Tree Under The Bright Moon
Shui Sheng Climbs The Stairs
False Pretenses
The Umbrella
Game (Mah Jong)
Russian Hills
Shuisheng & Bijou
Escape From Shangai
The Eyes Of Shui Sheng
Bright Moon (Instrumental)
Conversation At Night
Main Theme
Beddy-Bye, Beddy-Bye Over Grand-Ma's Bridge

Customer Reviews:

Shanghai Triad Soundtrack.......2004-12-21

A most beautiful grouping of songs to accompany such a pretty movie. Bright Moon is simply a stunning and happy song. Gong Li sings very well. Try this Cd to take you to a new time and place.

Captivating scenes.......2001-07-13

Shangai Triad is a captivating film from the very beginning. The camera work is one of the elements worth paying attention to. The atmosphere in the cabaret scenes are great, I did enjoy the performance of the singer. Her voice and acting -in my opinion- are superb! The songs convey a mixture of seduction and melancholy which make the soundtrack CD an attractive item to get. Congratulations for the director!

Lunar Powered.......2001-06-30

I'm only familiar w/ the soundtrack from the movie video so far but plan to get the CD. The soundtrack, especially the melodic, casual and deliberate "Bright Moon," combined with the camera-work and choreography really did it for me. I got used to the higher pitch that the singer used almost immediately. This would make a great CD for the highway.

Takes Some Getting Used To..........2000-10-02

Okay, so I loved this soundtrack, and particularly loved Gong Li's stunning performance of "Bright Moon", which is, naturally, in Chinese. Despite the fact that I loved it (maybe I have weird taste) many, many of my friends refused to listen to this, especially after hearing "Bright Moon"-- it was just too "Chinese" for them, and the sounds are too... high-pitched for many English speaking people, I guess. I think it is beautiful. You may not. It is a matter of personal taste, of course. I don't understand any dialect of Chinese, so it is not as though this music appeals to me because I understand the lyrics. No, the sound is beautiful to me.

The opening of this soundtrack is a lovely lullaby-ish song, followed by another vocal track which is simply not of the same caliber (nor is it traditional) of "Bright Moon". "Bright Moon" has significance in the film as well, being the song that Gong Li's character's "boss" hates. To spite him, she sings it one evening in his club. Consequences are not pretty.

Overall I was a bit disappointed in the film itself, but the soundtrack is, if idiosyncratic, still a lovely sound experience.

great film - fantastic music.......2000-02-22

This is a fantastic sound track of a great movie

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Three Terrific American Cello Concerti, Superbly Played

The American Cello: Concertos for Cello

Manufacturer: Albany Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 60; Guitar Concerto; Khrimian Hairig

ASIN: B0001XAQ8M
Release Date: 2004-04-27

Tracks:

Samuel Barber: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (Op. 22): Allegro moderato
Andante sostenuto
Molto allegro ed appassionato
Chen Yi: Eleanor's Gift (Concerto for Cello and Orchestra)--World premiere recording
Behzad Ranjbaran: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra: Allegro
Adagio cantabile
Allegro vivace

Album Description

Two of the three concertos on this recording were composed on commission from New Heritage Music, a publicly supported non-profit organization which promotes the creation of works inspired by persons, events and ideas central to history. Chen Yi and Behzad Ranjbaran feel a particular connection to individuals striving for self-realization, as they were each born in countries where they suffered the lack of the freedoms that Americans hold dear. Both on this basis and artistically, they proved to be ideal choices to create musical works celebrating the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations (Chen) and the life and thought of Thomas Jefferson (Ranjbaran). According to New Heritage criteria, neither work is intended to be narrative or programmatic; rather, they reflect the artists' creative responses to an event or idea that has personal significance. By contrast, Barber's Cello Concerto was not commissioned with any patriotic or historical intention; yet it can hardly fail to have reflected the intensity and angst of the world situation - the last months of World War II and the first few months of the peace - amidst which it was written, the more so because the composer was wearing the uniform of an American soldier at the time. The three works on this program are thus linked by the struggle for human rights and freedom, experienced through singular, individual life experience of the loss of those rights or through participation, in uniform, in worldwide armed conflict on behalf of those rights. Chen Yi, born in China, experienced first hand the lack of those rights. She is one of several talented Chinese composers to have moved to the United States after having been caught up in the terrors of the Cultural Revolution, with its express intent of suppressing China's intellectual life. She came to the United States in 1986, and studied with Alexander Goehr and earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Columbia University in 1993. In 1998, she became Lorena Searcey Cravens/Millsap/Missouri Distinguished Professor in Composition at the Conservatory of the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Behzad Ranjbaran began his musical studies early when he entered the Tehran Music Conservatory at the age of nine. Following his graduation, he came to the United States as a young violinist to continue his studies at Indiana University, with composition as a secondary major. He went to Juilliard for a doctorate in composition. His teachers were David Diamond, Vincent Persichetti and Joseph Schwantner. He has remained on the Juilliard faculty ever since.

Customer Reviews:

Three Terrific American Cello Concerti, Superbly Played.......2004-05-07

Paul Tobias is one of our best cellists, JoAnn Falletta one of our best conductors, and the Virginia Symphony, on the basis of this CD as well as a recent one featuring music of John Powell, lead me to believe that it is a near-the-top American orchestra. Add to that the three disparate but equally fine cello concerti by Samuel Barber, Chen Yi and Behzad Ranjbaran, and you have the makings of a terrific disc. And that's what it is, for sure. I was entranced from start to finish.

The Barber Cello Concerto is probably the least played of his 'Big Three' concerti, the others being the Piano Concerto made so familiar by John Browning's championing it all over the world, and the Violin Concerto which is fairly frequently performed. I've never heard the Cello Concerto in concert, but for many years I've owned the recording made by a favorite cellist of mine, Zara Nelsova, with an orchestra conducted by the composer himself. But it's an old recording and its age is showing. There are recordings featuring cellists Ralph Kirshbaum, Wendy Warner and the ubiquitous Yo-Yo Ma (with David Zinman accompanying) but I don't know any of them. Tobias, though, certainly makes a wonderful case for this arch-romantic concerto, nurturing the long lyrical lines, particularly in the delicious Andante sostenuto second movement, and putting forth the dramatic moments in both outer movements with passion and technical skill in equal measure. I've listened to this performance half a dozen times now and it has not palled.

Chen Yi (b. 1953) is a composer well-known to me from her tenure as professor of composition at our local conservatory. She certainly has caught the attention of others, too, having won the coveted Charles Ives Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters for the period 2001-2004. This three-year award carries with it an annual stipend of $75,000 with the stipulation that the winner devote him/herself to composition only during the time period of the award. Her cello concerto, subtitled 'Eleanor's Gift' was inspired by Eleanor Roosevelt's efforts, at the time of the founding of the United Nations, to gain passage of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This piece celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of that document's acceptance by the signatories to the UN charter. Chen Yi has a special feeling for this effort since she was a victim during the notorious 'Cultural Revolution' in her native China. The concerto was written for Paul Tobias who premièred it in 1999. The most 'modern' of the three concerti here, it starts with the cello playing an anguished passage high up in its range, sobbing quietly at first and becoming more wide-ranging and passionate as it continues. There are two main themes, described thus by Chen Yi: 'a series of wide expressive leaps, moving angularly up and down in alternation, and a very restrained motive that suggests patient and gradual striving.' These are very easy to pick out when they recur even when they are combined and transformed. Throughout its fifteen minute length the music struggles and perseveres until ultimately a brighter atmosphere wins out, suggesting an optimistic resolution to the struggle, a fitting sonic depiction of the efforts towards human rights. This is a strong and dramatic work and I would hope that it is taken up by other cellists and conductors.

The third concerto here is that of Iranian native, Behzad Ranjbaran, long resident in the US and a member of the Juilliard faculty. In its original form there was a narration that used texts from the writings of Thomas Jefferson. In this recording an alternate version for cello and orchestra alone is presented. It certainly stands on its own very well. In three movements, with several alternations of slow and fast passages, this is a Romantic concerto that at times reminds me of Bloch's 'Schelomo,' probably because, like the Bloch, it includes melismatic thematic material that sounds Middle Eastern. The 16-minute first movement is bold and heroic in effect. It contains virtuosic writing for the cello with use of double stops, trills, arpeggios and extended passages for cello alone. The six-minute second movement is melancholy and haunting (and indeed a version for cello and piano is published separately with the title 'Elegy'); its melodic materials are lusciously romantic. I'm a goner for this kind of writing for cello and orchestra and have to admit that I have listened to it separately probably half a dozen times because it is so memorably melodic. Tobias's cello sings like a mezzo-soprano with undending breath control. Glorious! The third movement, Allegro vivace, is a six-minute romp that reminds us of the heroics of the first movement but moves on to unbridled celebration and features an infectious dotted-rhythm tune that will stick in your mind long after the piece is over. This is one terrific concerto, folks!

This issue is a triumph from throughout its 72 minute length. I recommend it highly. My only problem with it is that I keep playing it over and over again and this keeps me from listening to several other new CDs that have had to remain in their shrink-wrap.

Tracks:

Katherine Hoover: Medieval Suite I: Virelai
Katherine Hoover: Medieval Suite II: The Black Knight
Katherine Hoover: Medieval Suite III: The Drunken Friar
Katherine Hoover: Medieval Suite IV: On the Betrothal of Princess Isabelle of France, Aged Six Years
Katherine Hoover: Medieval Suite V: Demon's Dance
John Corigliano: The Pied Piper Fantasy I: Sunrise and The Piper's Song
John Corigliano: The Pied Piper Fantasy II: The Rats
John Corigliano: The Pied Piper Fantasy III: Battle with the Rats
John Corigliano: The Pied Piper Fantasy IV: War Cadenza
John Corigliano: The Pied Piper Fantasy V: The Piper's Victory
John Corigliano: The Pied Piper Fantasy VI: The Burghers' Chorale
John Corigliano: The Pied Piper Fantasy VII: The Children's March
Chen Yi: The Golden Flute for flute and orchestra I
Chen Yi: The Golden Flute for flute and orchestra II
Chen Yi: The Golden Flute for flute and orchestra III: Allegro

Average customer rating:

A good chance to recieve a Gramophone Award...

Women Write Music

Manufacturer: Atma Classique
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00000J7XN
Release Date: 1999-06-08

Tracks:

Nocturne
Ge Xu (Antiphony)
Intro
Music To St Cecilia
Bata
Prld II
All In Good Time
Petite Ste
Suffolk Ste

Customer Reviews:

A good chance to recieve a Gramophone Award..........1999-06-11

Just a brief run-through of the disc reveals some very interesting things. I liked the idyllic quality of the Maconchy, which is very unlike her string quartets, I must say! And the Chen Yi piece has a haunting beauty to it as well. The Tania Leon has some interesting percussion additions in it that makes for a very colorful piece, and of course the Tailleferre is marvelous. She's a contemporary craftsman that doesn't usually wander too far from home, but her works always sound a bit "on the edge." I know several other of her compositions and enjoy them quite a lot. She's probably the most "establishment" of the composers, I would judge. It's interesting that the Carwithen piece isn't anything like some of her other works. I take it she is indeed a very versatile composer. The Barbara Kolb is one I'd like to spend more time with, because it seemed very fresh to me and even whimsical in places. Glad to see these ladies don't lose their sense of humor, even when writing "serious" music. In my opinion Sir George has produced a distinguished collection of works by a much-neglected corner of the field, and I'm really glad to see that happening. Especially for that reason, but by its own merits also I hope the disc does well. In terms of sheer content and presentability, I would say it stands a good chance of being recognized by some of the more notable judges -- the Gramophone Awards, such as. In as much as the performances are concerned, I can't say that I've ever heard of the FPO, but their playing on the disc was suberb, and I found the sound quality to be balanced and satisfying.

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