Ruders, Poul / Symphony No. 4 (An Organ Symphony), Trio Transcentale, Songs And Rhapsodies.
| Album: | Symphony No. 4 (An Organ Symphony), Trio Transcentale, Songs And Rhapsodies. | Collection: | Classical | |
| Artist: | Ruders, Poul | Added: | Apr 2012 | |
| Label: | Bridge Records | |||
A-File Activity
| Add Date: | 2012-04-29 | Pull Date: | 2012-07-01 | Charts: | Classical/Experimental |
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| Week Ending: | May 6 |
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| Airplays: | 1 |
Recent Airplay
| 1. | Apr 29, 2012: | feelin' the music
(1:53) Ii. First Rhapsody |
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Album Review
Larry Koran
Reviewed 2012-04-26
Reviewed 2012-04-26
Ruders, Poul. Symphony No. 4 (An Organ Symphony), Trio Transcentale, Songs and Rhapsodies.
Label: Bridge, 2011
Poul Ruders (b. 1949), an important Danish composer, is fascinated by death, loneliness and melancholy. His music is often dissonant, but seldom harsh. Symphony No. 4 (An Organ Symphony) takes advantage of the full range of the stops of a mighty organ and the listener must guess whether organ or orchestra is producing a particular sound. Trio Transcendentale, for organ, is a three-voice display piece, starting in “popcorn Baroque” and ending in near-atonal “madness”. Songs and Rhapsodies, for accordion and wind quintet, contrasts “rhapsodic” or improvisatory songs with more melodic songs.
1. (8:06) Symphony No. 4, I. Prelude (Adagio Lontono). Slow and mysterious, hazy tone clusters, a Nordic landscape under brooding storm-clouds.
2. (8:09) II. Cortége (Adagio extreme. Brutale). A funeral procession, loud and heavy, dominated by brass and percussion. Eerie.
3. (2:33) III. Etude (Presto). Like a bravura keyboard study, with rapid figures and harmonic shifts. Racing across a hilly countryside at dusk.
4. (10:07) IV. Chaconne (Camminando leggiero). A theme circles back on itself, with quieter central interlude, then tumultuous end. 1940s Soviet soldiers march Westward, without joy.
5. (4:32) Trio Transcentale, Playful, antic, needing rest, then up and running at the finale.
6. (2:09) Songs and Rhapsodies (2010/11) [27:11] I. Gateway to Dreaming. Slowly shifting, hallucinatory chords.
7. (1:53) II. First Rhapsody. Happy, upward flurries and scurries of minimalist figuration.
8. (1:22) III. A Song Within a Dance. Wooden dolls sing and dance as jerky wooden figures do.
9. (1:28) IV. Second Rhapsody. Parisian traffic at night, including bikes and pedestrians.
10. (1:40) V. The Desert of Time Revisited. Calm melancholy.
11. (1:21) VI. Third Rhapsody. Grasshoppers and wild flowers.
12. (2:18) VII. Shadow Play. A deserted Danish shore, boats pass distantly in the night.
13. (2:26) VIII. Reveille. Trumpet calls suggest a new beginning in the Judean hills, but nothing is simple.
14. (4:11) IX. Singing into the Distant Haze. Melodic voices in imitation suggest shepherds in an impolite song contest.
15. (1:59) X. Fourth Rhapsody. Wind buddies search for Tubby the Tuba, if you know who that is.
16. (3:01) XI. Stratospheric Solo. Accordion plays falsetto.
17. (2:45) XII. Swan Song. Ducks and geese join swans in crowding a lake as night falls and all becomes quiet.
Label: Bridge, 2011
Poul Ruders (b. 1949), an important Danish composer, is fascinated by death, loneliness and melancholy. His music is often dissonant, but seldom harsh. Symphony No. 4 (An Organ Symphony) takes advantage of the full range of the stops of a mighty organ and the listener must guess whether organ or orchestra is producing a particular sound. Trio Transcendentale, for organ, is a three-voice display piece, starting in “popcorn Baroque” and ending in near-atonal “madness”. Songs and Rhapsodies, for accordion and wind quintet, contrasts “rhapsodic” or improvisatory songs with more melodic songs.
1. (8:06) Symphony No. 4, I. Prelude (Adagio Lontono). Slow and mysterious, hazy tone clusters, a Nordic landscape under brooding storm-clouds.
2. (8:09) II. Cortége (Adagio extreme. Brutale). A funeral procession, loud and heavy, dominated by brass and percussion. Eerie.
3. (2:33) III. Etude (Presto). Like a bravura keyboard study, with rapid figures and harmonic shifts. Racing across a hilly countryside at dusk.
4. (10:07) IV. Chaconne (Camminando leggiero). A theme circles back on itself, with quieter central interlude, then tumultuous end. 1940s Soviet soldiers march Westward, without joy.
5. (4:32) Trio Transcentale, Playful, antic, needing rest, then up and running at the finale.
6. (2:09) Songs and Rhapsodies (2010/11) [27:11] I. Gateway to Dreaming. Slowly shifting, hallucinatory chords.
7. (1:53) II. First Rhapsody. Happy, upward flurries and scurries of minimalist figuration.
8. (1:22) III. A Song Within a Dance. Wooden dolls sing and dance as jerky wooden figures do.
9. (1:28) IV. Second Rhapsody. Parisian traffic at night, including bikes and pedestrians.
10. (1:40) V. The Desert of Time Revisited. Calm melancholy.
11. (1:21) VI. Third Rhapsody. Grasshoppers and wild flowers.
12. (2:18) VII. Shadow Play. A deserted Danish shore, boats pass distantly in the night.
13. (2:26) VIII. Reveille. Trumpet calls suggest a new beginning in the Judean hills, but nothing is simple.
14. (4:11) IX. Singing into the Distant Haze. Melodic voices in imitation suggest shepherds in an impolite song contest.
15. (1:59) X. Fourth Rhapsody. Wind buddies search for Tubby the Tuba, if you know who that is.
16. (3:01) XI. Stratospheric Solo. Accordion plays falsetto.
17. (2:45) XII. Swan Song. Ducks and geese join swans in crowding a lake as night falls and all becomes quiet.
Track Listing