Salvatore Martirano: O, O, O, O, That Shakespeherian Rag
Liner Notes   Cat. No. 80535     Release Date: 1998-01-01

University of Illinois Chamber Choir & Madrigal Singers, S. Martirano, conductor; Marilyn Nonken, J.B Floyd, Vicki Ray, piano; Jacqueline Bobak, Donald Smith, vocalist; Ronald Dewar, bass clarinet, tenor sax; Thomas Howell, flute; Howard Smith, contra-alto clarinet; Arthur Maddox, celeste; Dorothy Martirano, violin; Lee Duckles, cello; Thomas Frederickson, bass; Morgan Powell, trombone; Charles Brougham, Rick Kvistad, percussion

Salvatore Martirano (1927-1995) was one of the key members of the circle of composers who, during the sixties and early seventies, were well-known for their wild eclecticism. Serialism, jazz, electronics, popular music, and theater were incorporated into their music in fresh and exciting combinations. O,O,O,O, That Shakespeherian Rag collects six of the most important compositions from his relatively small body of work.

By the late 50s Martirano had begun to freely incorporate elements of jazz and popular music. O,O,O,O, That Shakespeherian Rag (1959), one of his two magnum opuses, is a prime example of this musical synthesis-a serialist choral setting of passages from three Shakespeare plays, accompanied by a chamber orchestra that includes a jazz ensemble. Schoenberg meets bebop in a wild, intricate and richly allusive mix of words and music. Domenico Scarlatti + Art Tatum = Cocktail Music (1962)-a short virtuosic solo piano concoction. Octet (1963) is a delicately orchestrated canvas of pungent sonorities and airy textures. Chansons Innocentes (1957), are short settings for voice and piano of three e.e. cummings poems.

Ballad (1966), for voice and seven-piece ensemble including tenor sax, mixes snippets of a half-dozen standards into a heady cocktail of jazz, dodecaphony, and Broadway. Stuck on Stella (1979), for solo piano, takes its inspiration from, among others, Rachmaninov, Miles Davis, Weber's Konzertstück, and of course, the jazz standard, "Stella by Starlight." It’'s been described as “"... a nocturnal fantasy with many shifts of mood and narrative incidents... Midnight is announced by tolling left-hand octaves, followed by a chordal passage reminiscent of Debussy. The piece ends with a whiff of Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit.”"

Various Artists

Salvatore Martirano: O, O, O, O, That Shakespeherian Rag

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Track Listing

Cocktail Music
Salvatore Martirano
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Octet
Salvatore Martirano
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Chansons Innocentes-I In Just Spring
Salvatore Martirano
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Chansons Innocentes-II. Hist Whist
Salvatore Martirano
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Chansons Innocentes-III. Tumbling Hair
Salvatore Martirano
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Ballad
Salvatore Martirano
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Stuck on Stella
Salvatore Martirano
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O, O, O, O, That Shakespeherian Rag: Winter
Salvatore Martirano
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O, O, O, O, That Shakespeherian Rag: Lullaby
Salvatore Martirano
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O, O, O, O, That Shakespeherian Rag: Warning
Salvatore Martirano
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O, O, O, O, That Shakespeherian Rag: Spring
Salvatore Martirano
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