The Alexander String Quartet: Eric Pritchard, violin; Kate Ransom, violin; Paul Yarbrough, viola; Sandy Wilson, cello
Musical Elements: Robert Beaser and Daniel Asia, music directors; Syoko Aki, violin; Peer Sacco; violin; Marshall Coid, violin; Lois Martin, viola; Chris Finckel, cello; Dennis Masuzzo, bass; Daniel Asia, Conductor
The Yale Cellos: Francois Salque, Ole Akahoshi, Carol Ou, Robert Maine, Claude Giron, Minhye Clara Kim, Pansy Chang, Brandon Vamos, celli; Martin Bresnick, Conductor
The Harrington String Quartet: Dawn Harms, violin; John Meisner, violin; Amy Brandfonbrener, viola; Emmanuel Lopez, cello
Martin Bresnick’s music seems a veritable compendium of the genres and styles of the century’s end. In addition to distinguished works for traditional ensembles—orchestras, choruses, piano trios, and the like—he has written theater pieces that recall and update Kurt Weill, hard driving works for amplified instruments, ground-breaking music for extended-technique virtuosi, and delicate solo works for marginalized instruments like the piccolo, mandolin, and toy piano. This range of output, and Bresnick’s fluency within it, speaks not merely to his considerable skills, but to his always- open ears and mind. His appetite for all the music that surrounds him is matched by an ability to synthesize and integrate those same diverse musical elements. This formal and stylistic eclecticism locates him firmly in the American school of Ives and Nancarrow. But this is not the whole story, for it is in Bresnick’s “orchestrationally” most conventional music—in particular the string music that appears on this disc—that he displays the full breadth of his vision.
Bresnick is well aware of Western art music as a choice among many, for his scholarly work has included ethno- musicological research into the music of Waterbury, Connecticut, as well as extensive contact with the music ofthe former Yugoslavia. Yet by choosing to work within the Western art music tradition, his concern has not been to exalt that tradition, to assert its primacy, nor to work toward its continued ascendancy, but rather it is to stock-take, to reflect on what it means to be a composer within this tradition, at this time, and at this place...
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.t(s).
Martin Bresnick: Music for Strings
| 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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String Quartet No. 2 "Bucephalus": I. Bucephalus
Martin Bresnick
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String Quartet No. 2 "Bucephalus": II. Around To The Sun
Martin Bresnick
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String Quartet No. 2 "Bucephalus": III. Alexandrine
Martin Bresnick
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String Quartet No. 2 "Bucephalus": IV. At Jhelum
Martin Bresnick
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String Quartet No. 2 "Bucephalus": V. The New Advocate
Martin Bresnick
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Wir Weben, Wir Weben for String Sextet: I - Anfänge (Beginnings)
Martin Bresnick
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Wir Weben, Wir Weben for String Sextet: II - Die Weber (The Weavers)
Martin Bresnick
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Wir Weben, Wir Weben for String Sextet: III - Anhänge (Indices, Addenda)
Martin Bresnick
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B.'s Garlands
Martin Bresnick
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String Quartet No. 3: I. Calmo, Risoluto, Teneramente
Martin Bresnick
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String Quartet No. 3: II. Feroce, Cascando
Martin Bresnick
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String Quartet No. 3: III. Pensieri, Oscuri, le Stelle (Dark Thoughts, The Stars)
Martin Bresnick
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