SONOR Ensemble: Sebastian Winston, flute; Susan Barrett, oboe; Robert Zelickman, clarinet; David Savage, bassoon; Edwin Harkins, trumpet; Cynthia Earnest, French horn; Louise Titlow, trombone; Marie Peak, violin; Francesca Savage, viola; Peter Farrell, cello; Bertram Turetzky, contrabass; Sheila Sterling, harp; Cecil Lytle, piano; Jean-Charles Francois, Dan Dunbar, percussion; Thomas Nee, Conductor
Robert Erickson was many things—a composer, an instrument builder, a writer, an administrator, a broadcaster, among others. Although he began life in upper Michigan, his crucial early composing years were spent in Chicago and Minneapolis/St. Paul. In Chicago, his fellow students were composers like George Perle and Ben Weber. Later, in Minnesota, he became acquainted with Wilbur Ogdon and Thomas Nee, among others. In both these cities, he was under the mentorship of Ernst Krenek, who had arrived in the US in 1938, and St. Paul in 1942. He left the Midwest for California in 1953, and established himself as one of the major forces in the San Francisco Bay Area new music scene, both through his teaching work and through his work for KPFA, the listener-sponsored radio station in Berkeley where he was music director for a while, and then continued to guide and influence the station through a series of friends and associates who occupied the music director chair for many years. In 1967 he moved to San Diego, where he and Wilbur Ogdon founded the Music Department at the University of California, San Diego. By the early 1970s, he began suffering various debilitating symptoms, eventually diagnosed as polymyositis, a muscle-wasting immune system disorder. This, plus the side effects of the Prednisone he was being treated with, gradually resulted in decreased mobility and constant pain, and by the early 80s he had largely withdrawn from the teaching world at UCSD. This period of decreasing teaching activity was accompanied, however, by an increase in his musical output. Mostly a “one piece a year” kind of composer, in 1985–86 he completed seven works (two of which are included here), under conditions of constantly increasing pain and decreasing mobility. 1987 and 1988 saw one work each completed, followed by his final work in 1990. He passed away in 1997, from the disease that had been slowly killing him for many years.
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. Liner notes are accessible via the link above.
Music of Robert Erickson
| MP3/320 | $9.99 | |
| FLAC | $9.99 | |
| WAV | $9.99 | |
| CD | $9.99 |
A *.pdf of the notes may be accessed here free of charge.
Track Listing
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Kryl
Robert Erickson
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Ricercar à 3
Robert Erickson
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Postcards: I. Prelude
Robert Erickson
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Postcards: II. Stockholm
Robert Erickson
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Postcards: III. Paris
Robert Erickson
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Postcards: IV. Hotel
Robert Erickson
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Postcards: V. Venice
Robert Erickson
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Postcards: VI. Capri
Robert Erickson
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Dunbar's Delight
Robert Erickson
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Quoq
Robert Erickson
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Sierra
Robert Erickson
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