Lou Harrison: Suite for Violin

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
A new disc of music from American composer Lou Harrison is always an occasion for joy. Harrison, perhaps more than any other American composer, has made the freest use of this century's many conflicting styles and modalities--including those from the Pacific Rim nations. The resultant polystylism is both idiosyncratic and infectious. This disc contains some of Harrison's best melodic writing, mostly for piano and solo strings, with the standout being the winsome Suite for Violin and String Orchestra (1993). Maria Bachmann is the soloist on the suite, with James Sedares and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in superb form. The suite alone is worth the price of the disc and, without a doubt, these delicate, graceful works provide an excellent introduction to Harrison. --Paul Cook

Tracks:

La Koro Sutro: Kunsonoro kaj Gloro - The Chorus and Chamber Chorus of The University Of California at Berkeley
La Koro Sutro: Strofo 1 - The Chorus and Chamber Chorus of The University Of California at Berkeley
La Koro Sutro: Strofo 2 - The Chorus and Chamber Chorus of The University Of California at Berkeley
La Koro Sutro: Strofo 3 - The Chorus and Chamber Chorus of The University Of California at Berkeley
La Koro Sutro: Strofo 4 - The Chorus and Chamber Chorus of The University Of California at Berkeley
La Koro Sutro: Strofo 5 - The Chorus and Chamber Chorus of The University Of California at Berkeley
La Koro Sutro: Strofo 6 - The Chorus and Chamber Chorus of The University Of California at Berkeley
La Koro Sutro: Strofo 7/Mantro Kaj Kunsonoro - The Chorus and Chamber Chorus of The University Of California at Berkeley
Varied Trio: I. Gending - The Abel/Steinberg/Winant Trio
Varied Trio: II. Bowl Bells - The Abel/Steinberg/Winant Trio
Varied Trio: III. Elegy - The Abel/Steinberg/Winant Trio
Varied Trio: IV. Rondeau in Honor of Fragonard - The Abel/Steinberg/Winant Trio
Varied Trio: V. Dance - The Abel/Steinberg/Winant Trio
Suite for Violin and American Gamelan: First Movement - David Abel
Suite for Violin and American Gamelan: Estampie - David Abel
Suite for Violin and American Gamelan: Air - David Abel
Suite for Violin and American Gamelan: Jhala I - David Abel
Suite for Violin and American Gamelan: Jhala II - David Abel
Suite for Violin and American Gamelan: Jhala III - David Abel
Suite for Violin and American Gamelan: Chaconne - David Abel

Customer Reviews:

Gratitude...........2004-06-15

I didn't know Lou Harrison from chopped liver until this lovely late spring evening of 2004, when it was given to me to hear Lo Koro Sutro whilst watching a Hudson Valley sunset.

I have been "working" with the Heart Sutra for about 30 years...and I write to you all, not as a music person (though I have those credens) but as a very thankful Dharma person who finally heard a version of this sutra proper for the West.

Btw, it happens to be beautiful too.

Enjoyable and modern.......2003-04-03

This is an album of modern pieces that are quite creative and enjoyable. There is a good variation found here and this allows for a rewarding hour of listining. It is one to listen to, not to play in the background.

Finest Harrison CD that I Own.......2002-07-20

I am a great fan of the varied career of Lou Harrison, perhaps the most eclectic of all American composers. His music shows the influence of Gamelan and other eastern elements, but it is music that is clearly of the west. He still even occasionally composes in twelve-note fashion, though of course within his own unique style.

La Koro Sutro is a masterwork, perhaps the most impressive Harrision work I have yet heard. The text is an Esperanto translation of the Buddhist Heart Sutra, accompanied by the "American Gamelan" (instruments created by Harrison and his life partner, William Colvig), harp and organ. Throughout the piece, Harrison displays his genius for sound. The choral writing too is excellent and the piece rises to a luminous conclusion. Deeply spiritual and moving music!

The other works on the recording are equally fine. The Varied Trio is a beautiful work for violin, piano and percussion. It is written in Harrison's "oriental chamber music" style. The titles of the movements show the varied influences from Indonesian and the French Baroque (Rondeau in Honor of Fragonard). The Suite for Violin and American Gamelan is also stunning. The slow first movement is haunting. The piece then morphs into a series of Baroque inspired dance pieces with some Indian influences in the Jhala movements. As always, Harrison fuses his overtly asian influence with a distinctively Western attitude toward composition.

Harrison should be more widely appreciated I think. His music is mostly tonal and immediately communicative. As such, it should command the same wide audience that has embraced Part, Gorecki and Tavener. But Harrison is not simple-minded as some of the minimalists can be, particularly Tavener at his worst. The music is always fresh and rewarding, and the harmonic pallete is adventurous without becoming too dissonant.

If you are a fan of minimalism, world music, or simply contemporary music that can be immediately enjoyed and yet stand up to close scrutiny, this is a great place to start. I can not give this CD enough praise!

Deeply spiritual music.......2000-05-17

"La Koro Sutro" is Esperanto for "the Heart Sutra," a traditional Buddhist hymn. I found this music deeply moving and spiritual. Lou Harrison studied with Arnold Schoenberg, but this music is not at all like Schoenberg's. This music draws you in, sometimes with unusual percussive effects (Harrison uses strange instruments like metal rice bowls), sometimes with warm, ethereal vocals. I highly recommend this album.

Don't listen.......2000-03-17

This CD is not for the faint at heart. Apparently, La Koro Sutra is Lou Harrison's finest choral work. If that is the case, I would hate to hear any other. It is very boring and often very meditative. I was severely disappointed with his music.

Tracks:

Piano Concerto: I. Allegro
Piano Concerto: II. Stampede
Piano Concerto: III. Largo
Piano Concerto: IIII. Allegro moderato
Suite For Violin, Piano And Small Orchestra: Overture
Suite For Violin, Piano, And Small Orchestra: Elegy
Suite For Violin, Piano And Small Orchestra: First Gamelan
Suite For Violin, Piano, And Small Orchestra: Aria
Suite For Violin, Piano And Small Orchestra: Second Gamelan
Suite For Violin, Piano And Small Orchestra: Chorale

Customer Reviews:

Innovative stuff!.......2007-03-11

This makes a real impression. Love the exuberant rhythms - and the lyrical section. A great sound all the way!

Orient/Occident.......2006-08-23

The Kimber Number Two tuning of the Piano Concerto is one those musical devices more felt than heard. Just intonation as utilized by, say, Harry Partch is so non-Western it strikes many ears as extra-terrestrial. In Kimberger, the 4ths and 5ths in the black keys are perfectly consonant. If you're reading this without benefit of hearing the music, it probably seems as if difficultly is an end in itself. Quite the contrary: Lou was all about simplicity. And strange to tell, this lesson came from none other than (ta-da) Schoenberg, who told him his model should be Mozart. Think Wolfy and Gamelan as you hear this music; it will fall together for you.

Keith Jarrett, as usual, is a virtuoso for all seasons in Lou's musics. The Stampede (reference Estampie, a vigorous Medieval dance) is crisp and powerful. The largo is achingly beautiful. Lou once said that among the differences between East and West Coast musicians was the lack of fear West Coasters have with a beautiful sound.

The only quibble I have with this recording is the somewhat distant sound of the ensembles. I think it keeps us at arm's length; I would have welcomed a more intimate relationship with the sonics.

Another Harrison Masterwork.......2002-07-29

I am always surprised at the lack of interest shown to the sublime music of Lou Harrison by the average music going public. Surely people who take Arvo Part and Steve Reich to their hearts can find a similar warmth for this marvelous composer. Harrison is a master composer, both intellectually stimulating and emotionally beautiful. And this CD is a marvelous place to start.

The Piano concerto is a marvelous piece. Tightly constructed, with brilliant viruoso passages, it walks the tightrope between East and West. You can hear echos of the Beethoven 4th, along with Balinese Gamelan and medieval techniques, overridden by Harrison's haunting melodic gift and a unique sense of instrumental color. The work is written for piano in just intonation, but Harrison uses the tuning system so well that the result isn't stark, like La Monte Young, but rather harmonious and sweet. This is a major repertoire piece and Keith Jarrett plays it beautifully.

The other work on the CD comes from another branch of Harrison's work, that for western instruments and Gamelan. The idea of mixing eastern and western instruments can turn gimickly, but not in the hands of Harrison. This is a beautiful piece, neither a "composed" imitation Balinese piece, nor a purely western piece, it achieves a true synthesis of the two.

Tracks:

Third Construction - Continuum Perc Qt
Logo I: Intro And Breakdown - Richard Nunemaker/David Nale/David Colson
Petite Ste: I. One For Al - Continuum Perc Qt
Petite Ste: II. For Marlene - Continuum Perc Qt
Fourscore - Continuum Perc Qt
Ku-Ka-Ilimoku - Continuum Perc Qt
Con: I. Allegro, Maestoso - Janna Lower/David Colson/Richard Brown
Con: II. Largo, Cantabile - Janna Lower/David Colson/Richard Brown
Con: III. Allegro, Vigoroso, Poco Presto - Janna Lower/David Colson/Richard Brown

Average customer rating:

Shades of grey
excellent, but Amazon's listing is wrong
Outstanding performances

Cowell: Quartet Romantic

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

Duets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Quintets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Percussion | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Henry Cowell: Persian Set

ASIN: B0000063CB
Release Date: 1998-04-28

Tracks:

Wind Quintet
Quartet Romantic
Seven Paragraphs
Suite No. II
String Trio
The Abongo

Customer Reviews:

Shades of grey.......2007-05-26

This New World CD collates the partial contents of two LPs. NW 285 was published in 1978 and had Ruth Crawford's Three Songs in addition to the Wind Quintet of Wallingford Riegger, Cowell's Quartet Romantic and John Becker's "The Abongo". NW 319 was released in 1984 and, other than Cowell's Paragraphs, Crawford's Suite No. 2 and Lou Harrison's Trio (played by an ensemble credited back then as the "New Music Consort", but not anymore on the CD reissue), also had Cowell's Pulse for Percussion Sextet and Cage's Third Construction for Percussion Quartet.

All these composers are somehow linked to one another. Wallingford Riegger and John J. Becker are the two less reputed members of the group know in the 1920s as the "American Five", along with Ives, Ruggles and Cowell. Cowell met Ruth Crawford in the early 1920s. In 1929, already an accomplished modernist composer, she began study with the famous composer and theorist Charles Seeger, father of the concept of "dissonant counterpoint" (they eventually married in 1932) - with whom Cowell; self-taught in composition in his youth, had taken music lessons in the mid-1910s. Harrison in turn was a student of Cowell in the early 1930s and, as Cowell's most famous other student John Cage, he was very much influenced by the research and experimentation in sound and rhythms of his teacher.

These composers share not only these personal ties but also a broad common compositional outlook. Other than Harrison, they are among the early generation of American experimentalists active in the 1920s, introducers of the Schoenbergian twelve-tone system (Riegger), adept at dissonant counterpoint (Becker, Crawford, Cowell), experimentators in sound and rhythm (Cowell again, Harrison). In the short pieces represented here (at 17 minutes Cowell's Quartet Romantic is the longest, but otherwise they range from 4:50 to 9:40), they are also featured in an austere, stern, serious, unseductive compositional face, painting their musical canvass with various shades of grey.

Cowell's Quartet Romantic for two flutes, viola and cello (1915-17) is the most experimental piece of the lot, a "demonstration of theoretical principles" as the liner notes aptly put it, an essay in non-binary time signatures and independent, atonal part writing, so much so that Cowell considered the piece "humanly impossible to play" - at least without the help of some new electronic resources that existed neither at the time of composition nor even at the time of publication (1964). But in 1978, the use of headphones, click-tracks and a painstaking process of repetition resulted in this recording.

To my ears the result sounds remarkably faithful to the concept: independently flowing, atonal melodic lines of greyish contour, a busy line here over a more appeased one there, the whole sounding pretty arbitrary and uningratiating. Lots of work for a disappointing result - as often with experiments, error is a necessary outcome of trial. Cowell's Seven Paragraphs for string trio date from 1925 and are couched again in a stern, severe dissonantly contrapuntal language, reminiscent of the Schoenberg-influenced German expressionists like Krenek. The movements are not cued.

Riegger wrote throughout his compositional career in a variety of styles, from Romantic and Impressionist to twelve-tone. His Wind Quintet from 1952 is a perky, atonal little fantasy (6:30) full of canonic figures and a Janacek or Stravinsky-like rhythmic vigor. Not substantial, but pleasant. A good introduction to Riegger is the CRI CD of his works: Riegger: Symphony No3, Romanza, Dance Rhythms, Music for Orchestra, Concerto for Piano and Woodwind Quintet, Music for Brass Choir, Movement for Two Trumpets Trombone and Piano, Nonet for Brass.

For reasons unexplained Ruth Crawford's Suite No. 2 for Four Strings and Piano from 1929 remained unpublished and this was its first recording. It is echt-Crawford, severe, atonal, brooding in mood and at times rising to the massive unison climax, rhythmically robust in the 3rd movement (4:53), contrapuntally elaborate. She is at her best I find in the slightly zany whimsicality of the 2nd movement (3:00). The movements are not cued.

Lou Harrison's brief (4:45) String Trio in one movement shares all those stylistic traits with Cowell's Paragraphs and Crawford's Suite - the atonality, the contrapuntal activity, the brooding and almost depressed mood - except for the occasional outbursts that give at least some feeling of contrast to the compositions of his predecessors.

Becker's "The Abongo" is stylistically the "odd-piece out" in this collection. Composed in 1933 and subtitled "A Primitive Dance", it is a percussion work much in the wake of the highly influential "Ionisation" of Edgar Varèse (1931). But its rhythmic squareness, while producing considerable adrenalin, and its call for hand claps then gruff shouts from the performers, sound embarassingly like a naïve and vaguely condescendant Western cliché of African music at the times of the West's discovery of and infatuation for "Art Nègre". A good introduction to Becker - a composer in desperate need of a (re)discovery - is on The Louisville Orchestra-First Edition Encores, with his 3rd Symphony "Symphonia Brevis".

excellent, but Amazon's listing is wrong.......2005-11-24

Other reviewer is correct -- this is superb music -- but Amazon has the wrong Crawford Seeger piece listed: on the CD is the Suite for piano and strings, a much more substantial piece than the Diaphonic Suite listed. The Cowell is a particularly interesting composition (free atonal imitation, nearly 20 minutes long).

Outstanding performances.......2003-10-27

For many of these pieces, this represents the only recording available. But there is much more of a reason why this album should receive accolades: the performances are stunningly good. Most of the musicians are familiar names, members of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Speculum Musicae (the latter a contemporary music ensemble founded by Don Palma, bassist and co-founder of Orpheus, an ensemble largely made up of Orpheus personnel). Moreover, this represents some of the best music being written in America in the middle part of the 20th Century. This recording would round out any collection.

Average customer rating:

Lou Harrison: Suite for Violin

Manufacturer: Koch Int'l Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Dances | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Polkas | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Duets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

La Koro Sutro
Lou Harrison: Works 1939-2000
Music of Lou Harrison
Lou Harrison: Suite for Symphonic Strings; Strict Songs
Lou Harrison: For Strings

ASIN: B00000J8R9
Release Date: 1999-06-22

Tracks:

Suite For Violin With String Orchestra: Threnody
Suite For Violin With String Orchestra: Estampie
Suite For Violin With String Orchestra: Jahla
Suite For Violin With String Orchestra: Chaconne
Western Dance For Piano
Three Waltzes: Waltz In C
Three Waltzes: Hesitation Waltz
Three Waltzes: Waltz In A
Suite For Cello And Piano: Moderato
Suite For Cello And Piano: Elegy
Suite For Cello And Piano: Allegro
Gigue & Musette
Polka
Jarabe
Suite For Cello And Harp: Chorale
Suite For Cello And Harp: Pastorale And Rondeau
Suite For Cello And Harp: Interlude
Suite For Cello And Harp: Aria
Suite For Cello And Harp: Chorale (reprise)

Amazon.com

A new disc of music from American composer Lou Harrison is always an occasion for joy. Harrison, perhaps more than any other American composer, has made the freest use of this century's many conflicting styles and modalities--including those from the Pacific Rim nations. The resultant polystylism is both idiosyncratic and infectious. This disc contains some of Harrison's best melodic writing, mostly for piano and solo strings, with the standout being the winsome Suite for Violin and String Orchestra (1993). Maria Bachmann is the soloist on the suite, with James Sedares and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in superb form. The suite alone is worth the price of the disc and, without a doubt, these delicate, graceful works provide an excellent introduction to Harrison. --Paul Cook

Southwest Chamber Music: Cage, Carter, Harrison, Partch, etc.

Average customer rating:

A must for modern music lovers

Southwest Chamber Music: Cage, Carter, Harrison, Partch, etc.
John Cage , Elliott Carter , Lou Harrison , and William Kraft
Manufacturer: Cambria Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quintets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

Classical | Box Sets | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Kaikhosru Sorabji: 100 Transcendental Studies, Nos. 1-25

ASIN: B00004ZE27
Release Date: 2000-10-24

Customer Reviews:

A must for modern music lovers.......2000-10-20

A monumental collection of some of the most important chamber works of the late 20th century, impeccably performed and recorded.

Average customer rating:

A Classical Portrait

Manufacturer: Music Masters Jazz
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Dances | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Etudes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Fugues | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Improvisation | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Tracks:

Bach: Prld No.1 in C - Vladimir Feltsman
Bach: Contrapunctus No.12 - Vladimir Feltsman
Bach: con in D, BWV 1054-III - Vladimir Feltsman
Vivaldi: Lute con in D-II - Eliot Fisk
Paganini: Capriccio No.5 in a - Eliot Fisk
Segovia: Catalana: Andante - Eliot Fisk
Stravinsky: Greeting Prld - Robert Craft
Stravinsky: Russian Dance - Robert Craft
Stravinsky: Scene II - Robert Craft
Mozart: Qt in B flat, K.159-III - American String Quartet
Mozart: Qt in F, K.168-IV - American String Quartet
Vivaldi: con in G, f.I No.173-I - Shlomo Mintz
Vivaldi: con in C, F.I No.3-I - Shlomo Mintz
Scarlatti: Son in C, K.327 - John Browning
Barber: Excursions, Op.20 - John Browning
Brahms: Op.40-III, Scherzo - John Browning
Mozart: Piano con in A, K.488-II - Julius Rudel
Mozart: Sym No.35 in D-IV - Julius Rudel
Handel: Duet 'Caro! Piu Amabile Belta' (exc) - Julius Rudel
Weill: Lost In The Stars - Julius Rudel
Copland: Appalachian Spring (exc) - Dennis Russell Davies
Harrison: Sym No.2-II - Dennis Russell Davies
Hovhaness: Sym No.2-II - Dennis Russell Davies
Villa-Lobos: From 12 Etudes-No.1: Anime - Fabio Zanon
Albentz: Songs Of Spain - The Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo
Chopin: From Etudes, Op.10-No.5 in G flat - Cecile Licad
Ravel: From Le Tombeau De Couperin-IV - Cecile Licad

Average customer rating:

Looking to the East

Manufacturer: Composers Recordings
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Choruses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00004SWG7
Release Date: 2000-09-26

Tracks:

Ste: Ov: Allegro Poco Maestoso; Allegro - Anahid Ajemian/Maro Ajemian
Ste: Elegy: Adagio - Anahid Ajemian/Maro Ajemian
Ste: First Gamelan: Allegro - Anahid Ajemian/Maro Ajemian
Ste: Aria: Lento Espressivo - Anahid Ajemian/Maro Ajemian
Ste: Second Gamelan: Allegro Moderato - Anahid Ajemian/Maro Ajemian
Ste: Chorale: Andante Moderato - Anahid Ajemian/Maro Ajemian
Homage To Iran: I - Andante Rubato - Leopold Avakian/Mitchell Andrews/Basil Bahar
Homage To Iran: II - Interlude - Leopold Avakian/Mitchell Andrews/Basil Bahar
Homage To Iran: III - Andante Rubato - Leopold Avakian/Mitchell Andrews/Basil Bahar
Homage To Iran: IV - Con Spirito - Leopold Avakian/Mitchell Andrews/Basil Bahar
Nocturne - Hessian RSO/David Van Vactor
Koke No Niwa (Moss Garden) - Melvin Kaplan/Walter Rosenberger/Elden Bailey/Ruth Negri
The Holy City, Op.218 - Elgar Howarth
Triptych: Ave Maria, Op.100/1a - Benita Valente
Triptych: Christmas Ode, Op.100/1b - Benita Valente
Triptych: Easter Cant, Op.100/3 - Benita Valente

Track Listings:

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

We Sing Sin

Borodin: Quintet in Cm; Bruch: Quintet

Exile on Coldharbour Lane

Urban Culture

Comes in Colours

Commodores [Original recording remastered] [Import]

Bold

C. Ph. E. Bach: Concertos for Harpsichord & Strings

Collecction [Import]

Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 3 "Eroica" & 8

Best of Big Band 1940

Bachata del Carnaval 2005

Amor De High School

Clifford Hayes & the Louisville Jug Bands, Vol. 4

Thrush Hour: A Study of the Great Ladies of Jazz