Carol Plantamura, soprano; Paul Sperry, tenor; SONOR Ensemble of the University of California, San Diego: John Fonville, flute; William Powell, clarinet; Edwin Harkins, trumpet; Miles Anderson, trombone; Cecil Lytle, piano; Daryl Pratt, percussion; Dan Dunbar, percussion; David Yoken, percussion; Janos Négyesy, violin; György Négyesy, viola; Peter Farrell, cello; Peter Rofe, contrabass; Bernard Rands, conductor; Miles Anderson, trombone Columbia String Quartet: Benjamin Hudson, violin; Carol Zeavin, violin; Sarah Clarke, viola; Eric Bartlett, cello

Over the decade of the 1970s, Bernard Rands’s music gained international recognition and established him as a major figure among his generation of composers. Through an impressive number of works written for many performance styles, the originality and distinctive character of his music emerged—music acclaimed for its “plangent lyricism,” “dramatic impact,” “strength of ideas and technical sophistication”—qualities he developed from his association with Dallapiccola, Maderna, and Berio. Some sixty works (commissioned by noted soloists, ensembles and orchestras) are published by Universal Editions, London and Vienna, and are regularly performed and broadcast in many countries.

Since coming to the United States in 1975, Rands has been honored by major awards from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, Broadcast Music Inc., the Guggenheim Foundation, the Koussevitzky Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Fromm Foundation. Canti del sole for tenor and orchestra was premiered by Paul Sperry with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Zubin Mehta at the Horizons ’83 Festival. It was awarded the1984 Pulitzer Prize.

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.