Ronald Copes, violin; Angela Schwartz, cello; James Bonn, piano; The Dunsmuir Piano Quartet
"... If constructing organic structures is one challenge facing today's composers, finding a distinctive musical voice is another. Stephen Hartke has one. Authenticity is a difficult quality to account for, but Mr. Hartkes music is guileless and affecting..." －The New York Times
Stephen Hartke (b 1952) is concerned, not with effect, but with affect, not with novel sounds or concepts but with all the sounds, concepts, and experiences that affect him and could affect his listeners. He is not eclectic, but synthesistic. His music capitalizes not only on the breadth of his musical experience and general erudition, but also on the musical experience of his generation, which grew up enjoying access through recordings and broadcast to many different musical eras, genres, and languages.
Messiaen, Bartók, Ives, jazz, gagaku, gamelan, samba, plainchant, pre-Renaissance polyphony (to cite a few influences) and a deep interest in visual art are all filtered through Hartke's ecumenical sensibility and inform his rich, colorful, lyrical and rhythmically vital compositions, three of which－Sonata-Variations (1984) for violin and piano, The King of the Sun (1988) for piano quartet, and Night Rubrics (1990), for solo cello－are featured on this collection. Hartke has been singled out by The New York Times as one of the more important figures of the post-Babbitt generation of younger American composers.
Stephen Hartke: The King of the Sun
| MP3/320 | $9.99 | |
| FLAC | $9.99 | |
| WAV | $9.99 | |
| CD | $15.99 |
Track Listing
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King of the Sun: 1. Personages in the night guided by the phosphorescent tracks of snails
Stephen Hartke
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King of the Sun: 2. Dutch interior
Stephen Hartke
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King of the Sun: 3. Dancer listening to the organ in a Gothic cathedral
Stephen Hartke
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King of the Sun: Interlude
Stephen Hartke
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King of the Sun: 4. The flames of the sun make the desert flower hysterical
Stephen Hartke
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King of the Sun: 5. Personages and birds rejoicing at the arrival of night
Stephen Hartke
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Night Rubrics: 1. Nocturnes
Stephen Hartke
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Night Rubrics: 2. Envoi
Stephen Hartke
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Sonata-Variations: 1. Andante: Theme, Variations 1-4
Stephen Hartke
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Sonata-Variations: 2. Introduction, Rondo and Finale: Variations 5-15
Stephen Hartke
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