The Florestan Recital Project, Aaron Engebreth, Alison D'ama
Description
These discs offer the most complete recorded collection of works for voice and piano of Virgil Thomson (1896 - 1989), one of the most important American composers of the twentieth century. Thomson wrote songs throughout his career and they offer a unique window into his changing musical concerns and his compositional evolution. Since this recording includes works previously unpublished and unrecorded, it makes possible a more complete understanding of his work.
Thomson wrote that the great song composers - Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wolf, Mahler, Faure, Debussy, Duparc, Ravel, and Poulenc-accomplished their miracles through their ability to make the music "not only of equal quality with the verse but also its mate. It gets inside a poem and stays there, intertwined unforgettably, never to be thought of henceforth as not a part of the whole idea." He contrasted these works with the songs of Purcell, which he thought, although very beautiful and expertly done, nonetheless did not fuse the music and text—the music was merely "decorative."
Tracklisting
Ostrava New Orchestra, Owen Underhill, Ostravska Banda, Petr Kotik, Elision Ensemble, Arditti Quartet, Switch~ Ensemble, Jason Thorpe Buchanan
James Martin, Lynn Raley
Peter Gena
New World
New World
Mivos Quartet
Twilight String Orchestra; Fahad Siadat
Conrad Harris; Joseph Kubera
Christoph Croise; Andrey Baranov; Alexander Panfilov
Trio Parnassus
Katharina Kammerloher (mezzo-soprano), Arttu Kataja (baritone), Eric Schneider (piano)
BachWerkVokal, Gordon Safari (conductor)
Ostrava New Orchestra, Owen Underhill, Ostravska Banda, Petr Kotik, Elision Ensemble, Arditti Quartet, Switch~ Ensemble, Jason Thorpe Buchanan
Kilian Herold, Barbara Buntrock, Florian Donderer, Tanja Tetzlaff
Kathrin Zukowski, KammerMusikKoln
Duncan Honeybourne with Leora Cohen
