Search - Robert [1] Beaser, Joan Tower, Terry Riley :: Terry Riley: Cantos Desiertos

Emily A.
Reviewed on 12/9/2008...

An interesting compilation of contemporary music for flute and guitar. In addition to Riley composers include Peter Schickele, Joan Tower, Robert Beaser and Lowell Liebermann.

An Intriguing Mix of Flute and Guitar Sparks a Surprisingly

Ed Uyeshima | San Francisco, CA USA | 08/18/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a most unexpected recording from the bargain-priced Naxos label as it combines flautist Alexandra Hawley and guitarist Jeffrey McFadden for five lovely works, the centerpiece being an original suite, "Cantos Desiertos", composed expressly for flute and guitar by California minimalist Terry Riley. Initially, you would expect the result to be more appropriate on the meditative Windham Hill label, but there is enough variety here to make repeated listenings worthwhile. It begins with Robert Beaser's "Mountain Songs" which contains snatches of familiar folk melodies within the four pieces, effectively contrasting the dancing tone of Hawley's flute with the more percussive rhythm provided by McFadden's guitar.



Joan Tower's eight-minute "Snow Dreams" is more expressionistic with some jarring rhythms becoming increasingly unsettled as the elusive snowflakes in the piece become a blizzard, the sound of which is enhanced especially by McFadden's nimble fingering. The true highlight of the disc, Riley's composition has a pervasive Latin flavor that leads with the quiet, haunting "Canción Desierto" and changes dramatically to the more rhythmic "Quijote" and then the remorseful "Llanto". There is an improvisational jazz feel to the fourth movement, "Tango Ladeado", and the composition ends with the hopeful-sounding "Francesco en Paraiso", an elegy of sorts to French composer and countertenor Royon le Mee, who died from AIDS at age 40.



Lowell Liebermann's moving "Sonata for Flute and Guitar, Op. 25" starts in a dream-like trance with "Nocturne" but switches gears to the more rhythmic, kinetic "Allegro". The last piece, Peter Schickele's "Windows, Three Pieces for Flute and Guitar", is the most traditional-sounding of the set with an almost Baroque-sounding "Pavane", a mournful "Cantilena" and the aggressive strumming of McFadden's guitar on "Refrain". The disc's overall feeling is relaxing, but there is certainly enough variety in the compositions to surprise you with the versatility that these two instruments provide when played so masterfully. As with most Naxos discs, the sound is quite clean, enhanced no doubt by the acoustics of St. John's Chrysostom Church in Newmarket, Canada, where it was recorded in 2002."