Westergaard/G. Wilson/R. Wilson
Liner Notes   Cat. No. NWCRL271     Release Date: 2010-07-01
Valarie Lamoree, soprano; Jack D. Litten, tenor; Group for Contemporary Music; Harvey Sollberger, Conductor; University of Illinois Contemporary Chamber Players; Edwin London, Conductor; Yoko Matsuda, violin; Fred Sherry, cello


Peter Westergaard created the libretto for Mr. and Mrs. Discobbolos from the poem of the same name by Edward Lear, the nineteenth century English master of nonsense verse. The opera was completed early in 1966 just in time to go into rehearsals for the premiere in March 1966 by the performers on the present recording.

About his music, George Balch Wilson offers the following comments: “These two pieces reflect my concern for the relationship between time as a precise measurement and the sensation of experienced time. For several years, I have been developing musical gestures which are highly compressed in overall length while dispersed over a wide expressive field. In the imagination these works have a span quite apart from temporal reality. Time is an illusion where the miniature becomes the mural.

About his music, Richard Wilson writes:

"Music For Violin and Cello, in four short movements, follows tradition in that its first and fourth movements share some motivic material and a formal plan; the second movement has the character of a scherzo; and the third movement, really the expressive high point of the piece, bears some resemblance to a classical slow movement. The relationship between the outer movements involves certain deliberate contrasts, the reprise in the first being a tranquil recollection of its opening while that in the last intensifies and extends its material to a climactic point. The third movement is the most systematic: the two parts are in canon at the fifth although the violin gets so far ahead that the cello must resort to a solo cadenza in order to catch up.

This title, originally issued on the CRI label, is now available as a burn-on-demand CD (CD-R) or download in MP3/320, FLAC or WAV formats. CD-Rs come in a protective sleeve; no print booklet or jewel case included. Full liner notes are accessible via the link above.

Various Artists

Westergaard/G. Wilson/R. Wilson

MP3/320 $7.99
FLAC $7.99
WAV $7.99
CD-R $7.99
CD-Rs come in a protective sleeve; no print material or jewel case included.
A *.pdf of the notes may be accessed here free of charge.
   Liner Notes



Track Listing

Mr. and Mrs. Discobbolos, First Part: First Pastoral
Peter Westergaard
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Mr. and Mrs. Discobbolos, First Part: Mrs. Discobbolos' First Recitative and Aria
Peter Westergaard
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Mr. and Mrs. Discobbolos, First Part: First Response
Peter Westergaard
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Mr. and Mrs. Discobbolos, First Part: Grand Duet
Peter Westergaard
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Mr. and Mrs. Discobbolos, Second Part (20 years later): Second Pastoral
Peter Westergaard
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Mr. and Mrs. Discobbolos, Second Part (20 years later): Mrs. Discobbolos' Second Recitative and Aria
Peter Westergaard
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Mr. and Mrs. Discobbolos, Second Part (20 years later): Grand Finale
Peter Westergaard
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Concatenations
George Balch Wilson
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Exigencies
George Balch Wilson
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Music for Violin and Cello: I.
Richard Wilson
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Music for Violin and Cello: II.
Richard Wilson
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Music for Violin and Cello: III.
Richard Wilson
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Music for Violin and Cello: IV.
Richard Wilson
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