Butler American Rounds
A commitment to new music focuses on a distinctive but accessible composer
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Martin Butler, Domenico Scarlatti
Genre:
Chamber
Label: NMC
Magazine Review Date: 8/2007
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 72
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: NMCD120
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
American Rounds |
Martin Butler, Composer
Martin Butler, Composer Schubert Ensemble of London |
Siward's River Song |
Martin Butler, Composer
Jane Salmon, Cello Martin Butler, Composer |
Suzanne's River Song |
Martin Butler, Composer
Martin Butler, Composer Simon Blendis, Violin William Howard, Piano |
Sonatas for Keyboard Nos. 1-555, Movement: D (L415) |
Domenico Scarlatti, Composer
Domenico Scarlatti, Composer Schubert Ensemble of London |
Sonatas for Keyboard Nos. 1-555, Movement: E (L323) |
Domenico Scarlatti, Composer
Domenico Scarlatti, Composer Schubert Ensemble of London |
Nathaniel's Mobile |
Martin Butler, Composer
Martin Butler, Composer William Howard, Piano |
Sequenza Notturna |
Martin Butler, Composer
Martin Butler, Composer Schubert Ensemble of London |
Funérailles |
Martin Butler, Composer
Martin Butler, Composer William Howard, Piano |
Walden Snow |
Martin Butler, Composer
Douglas Paterson, Viola Martin Butler, Composer William Howard, Piano |
Author: kYlzrO1BaC7A
Martin Butler’s contribution to the chamber domain has been a significant one. All of these pieces were written over the past decade with the Schubert Ensemble in mind: the earliest being American Rounds – which combines American folk idioms with a rhythmic impetus whose Stravinskian incisiveness is anything but mindlessly post-minimalist. Equally engaging are the “River Songs” derived from the chamber opera A Better Place, its restrained yet evocative mood distilled in the threnody for Siward and the effulgent lyricism of that for Suzanne. On a lighter note, the two Scarlatti transcriptions – respectively vigorous and poetic – evince a keen ingenuity. The most striking works, however, are the two piano pieces: Nathaniel’s Mobile – which intercuts linear and harmonised melody so the music evolves, without intensifying, towards its conclusion; and Funérailles, which adds a more disruptive element that opens out the music’s dynamic and emotional range on the way to its quiet yet restive close. Sequenza notturna passes through several expressive vignettes, given focus by the unassuming viola melody that underpins them, while Walden Snow is a “postcard” from New England of touching limpidity.
The performances are as sensitive and assured as one would expect from the Schubert Ensemble, continuing their laudable contribution to British new music, and the sound is a model of chamber balance. Informative notes from John Fallas, and a disc that should extend the audience for a composer whose idiom – distinctive but accessible and never remotely facile – is nowhere better represented than here.
The performances are as sensitive and assured as one would expect from the Schubert Ensemble, continuing their laudable contribution to British new music, and the sound is a model of chamber balance. Informative notes from John Fallas, and a disc that should extend the audience for a composer whose idiom – distinctive but accessible and never remotely facile – is nowhere better represented than here.
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