Search - Philip Larson, Roger Reynolds, Rand Steiger :: Roger Reynolds: Personae; The Vanity of Words; Variation

The range of Reynolds' genius

R. Hutchinson | a world ruled by fossil fuels and fossil minds | 09/17/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This Neuma disc is superb, and with works in three different forms, would serve as an excellent introduction to Reynolds. The title piece, "Personae," is a violin concerto, definitely one of best contemporary works in the genre. Janos Negyesy plays violin with the SONOR Ensemble and computer-processed sound -- Negyesy and SONOR, like Reynolds, are based at UC San Diego. As Reynolds explains in the liner notes, the violinist takes on four roles in turn -- conjurer, dancer, meditator and advocate, the last of which subsumes the other three in summation. A stunning, cutting edge work. The second piece is "The Vanity of Words (Voicespace V)," one of Reynolds' works with computer-processed vocals, in this case the tenor Philip Larson of UCSD. This one features a text from Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being." Unlike the concerto, this radical form is not recognizable as "classical music," but requires open ears and mind to appreciate. I am more impressed by this "pure" application than I am by "Odyssey," an avant-opera with computer-processed vocals (also on Neuma -- see my review of "The Paris Pieces"). Finally, "Variation" is a 22-minute piano piece, performed by Aleck Karis, also at UCSD. Reynolds mentions Webern as a point of reference, and I am reminded of Schoenberg's piano works, though the level of complexity is doubtless multiplied. This is contemporary music of the highest order!"