SHEILA SILVER (b.1946)
1. Canto (1988) 18:04. First recording.
A setting of Ezra Pound: Canto XXXIX
Michael Dash, baritone
RICHARD KASSEL (b.1953)
2. Gathering (1987, revised 1988) 4:40. First recording.
Poem by Ruth Bachman
Christine Schadeberg & Tamzen Flanders, sopranos
3. Res Facta (1988) 4:25. First recording.
Sheldon Berkowitz, bass-clarinet
William Trigg, percussion
4. Celebrating… (1989) 5:33. First recording.
Poem by Patricia Y. Ikeda
Christine Schadeberg & Tamzen Flanders, sopranos & hand percussion
LAURA KAMINSKY (b.1956)
5. Twilight Settings (1985, revised 1988) 23:23 First recording.
Christine Schadeberg, soprano
New York’s Musicians’ Accord was founded in 1980 to bring high-quality performances of innovative new music to a wider audience–they are currently working with Mode on a series of recordings of Luciano Berio’s music. This, their first CD, contains Sheila Silver’s Canto, a dramatic monologue for baritone and chamber ensemble of which Richard Dyer of The Boston Globe said: “…matches Pound’s text with music which boldly occupies a psycho-spiritual region that few others have cared to approach; it is a beautiful work.” Tim Page had this to say of Kassel’s Res Facta in Newsday: “…brief, cogent and expertly written, (with) a welcome strain of dapper, educated modern jazz.” Kaminsky’s Twilight Settings for soprano, string quartet and percussion depicts a musical picture of the magic of twilight. Mayne Miller had this to say in the New York City Tribune: “…having a simple dignity, lyric beauty and dramatic contrast between its movements.” Both Sheila Silver and Laura Kaminsky have had recent releases on CRI.