Quiet Music (for piano), Midwest American Piano Project (Albany Records, TROY 1069)
Fanfare 32:5 May/June
Excerpt 1:
The title of this collection could be off-putting to some who will brace behind their coastal defenses (Left and Right). But they’d miss a good show. This disc is testimony to how much substantial music is growing in our backyards, throughout every corner of the nation. Indeed, the only sad thing one ponders is how many very good composers there are out there, and how hard it is for any to get the recognition they deserve as a result.
Excerpt 2:
This project has David Karl Gompper (b. 1955) as its godfather, since most of the other composers studied with him at University of Iowa. And Gompper comes off as a composer of substance and obviously a teacher of distinction. His own piece, Hommage à W. A. (2001), does not refer to Mozart, as a casual perusal might suggest, but rather to William Albright, the composer and organist who taught at the University of Michigan, was a master of ragtime, and died at the unnatural age of 54. Full of stirring fanfare figures (without ever getting bombastic), polytonal harmonies, sparkling passagework, and cakewalking dance material, it’s a compact tour de force. Gompper’s students’ music is similarly thoughtful, expressive, and crafted. The 2007 Lake Sonata of David Maki (b. 1966) is the most limpid and impressionistic work on the program, but its four short movements combine to form a convincing formal progression from lovely stasis to a rather noble apotheosis. Downward Courses (2006) by Luke Dahn (b. 1976) is the most overtly modernistic work on the program, with its angular motives and expressionistic explosions. And while it says the least to me of the set, it is still blessed with a vigorous rhythmic sense. Quiet Music (2006) by John Allemeier (b. 1970) has a sweet sense of mystery—pointillistic melodies above a tolling pedal at the outset, developing into a quirky little dance that just as easily evaporates into the opening texture.
Fanfare 32:5 May/June
Excerpt 1:
The title of this collection could be off-putting to some who will brace behind their coastal defenses (Left and Right). But they’d miss a good show. This disc is testimony to how much substantial music is growing in our backyards, throughout every corner of the nation. Indeed, the only sad thing one ponders is how many very good composers there are out there, and how hard it is for any to get the recognition they deserve as a result.
Excerpt 2:
This project has David Karl Gompper (b. 1955) as its godfather, since most of the other composers studied with him at University of Iowa. And Gompper comes off as a composer of substance and obviously a teacher of distinction. His own piece, Hommage à W. A. (2001), does not refer to Mozart, as a casual perusal might suggest, but rather to William Albright, the composer and organist who taught at the University of Michigan, was a master of ragtime, and died at the unnatural age of 54. Full of stirring fanfare figures (without ever getting bombastic), polytonal harmonies, sparkling passagework, and cakewalking dance material, it’s a compact tour de force. Gompper’s students’ music is similarly thoughtful, expressive, and crafted. The 2007 Lake Sonata of David Maki (b. 1966) is the most limpid and impressionistic work on the program, but its four short movements combine to form a convincing formal progression from lovely stasis to a rather noble apotheosis. Downward Courses (2006) by Luke Dahn (b. 1976) is the most overtly modernistic work on the program, with its angular motives and expressionistic explosions. And while it says the least to me of the set, it is still blessed with a vigorous rhythmic sense. Quiet Music (2006) by John Allemeier (b. 1970) has a sweet sense of mystery—pointillistic melodies above a tolling pedal at the outset, developing into a quirky little dance that just as easily evaporates into the opening texture.