Search - John [1] Harbison, Daniel Blumenthal :: John Harbison: Four Songs of Solitude; Variations; Twilight Music

Good although not particularly adventurous

spacedog | boston, ma United States | 01/08/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"harbison has gotten much attention in recent years, especially because of his opera adaptation of the great gatsby. the pieces on this CD date back to the 80's. they don't sound much more adventurous than, say, bartok or britten, but they're enjoyable overall. the variations are scored for clarinet, violin, and piano and feature many canons. the twilight music is scored for horn, violin, and piano, and at its center it has an antiphon (i.e. anthem) that features the horn prominently and has a sort of renaissance feel. the best of the cd, however, is the four songs of solitude for solo violin. the piece alternates between pensive lyricism and darkly scherzo-like passages. as with all naxos releases, the sound quality and the performances are uniformly excellent, and the price is simply unbeatable. kudos to naxos, a budget label who thrives on putting out music by contemporary composers."