CONTENTS

IN THIS ISSUE ..., 3
BIOGRAPHY: Richard Rivera,4
BRAVI TO ..., 4

An Interview with George Walker,  Duffie, 5

LEGATO NOTES
No Restin’ at the Westin: The Busy CMA Conference, 2004  Kaufman, 6

LIVE EVENTS
In Brevity There Can Be Wisdom McBride, 9
Cosi Fan Tutte? Non Piu   McBride, 9
Ending with a Bang!  Liechty, 10
U.S.-Antillean Echoes Back and Forth
     de Clef Piñeiro, 10
Myriad Musical Minds  Cleary, 11
Music Without “Reason”   Cleary, 12
O que Orquesta tan rica!  de Clef Piñeiro, 12
The Long and the Short of It  Cleary, 13
“Intruder” in the Musical Landscape  Kroll, 13
Putting Harrison into Context  Pehrson, 14
Fiddler on the Roof of Technology  BLC, 14

Scelsi: “All of the Above”  Pehrson, 15
Marriage, Murder and Masochism   BLC, 16
…and So…they Played   Liechty, 17

DOTTED NOTES from…
Frank Retzel; Jon Liechty; John de Clef Piñeiro; Mark Greenfest; Peter Kroll; BLC, 17

SPEAKING OUT
LETTERS, 19
OP-ED  BLC, 19

RECORDINGS
An Ancient Instrument in Today’s World
      Kroll, 21
From Britain and Britten et al with Love
      Mitrano, 21
Setting the Themes  BLC, 21
Sax Act  Mitrano, 22

CDS IN BRIEF & RECENT RELEASES
Luis Antonio Escobar: Canticas y Madrigales       BLC, 22
Igor Stravinsky: FIREWORKS
      BLC, 23

THE PUZZLE CORNER:
Another outstanding winner, 24

COMPOSER INDEX, 26

BULLETIN BOARD, 27

WEB SUPPLEMENT

Gala Announcement

Who Will Be the Next New Music Champion? The Envelope, Please!
Gala 2004 will feature three new awards and celebrate with music, music, music!

Festival

Dresdener Tage des Zeitgenössisches Musik

An Ancient Instrument in Today’s World

by Peter Kroll ©2004

‘20th Century Music for Recorder and Piano.’ Bela Bartok: From Gyergyo, Sz35; Three Hungarian Folk Songs from Csik Country, Sz 35a • Hans Georg Burghardt: Partita Brevis, Op. 32 • Gordon Jacob: Sonata • Walter Leigh: Sonatina • Hans-Martin Linde: Trio • Wolfgang Stockmeier: Sonatine; Pipeau Melodies • Short pieces by Darius Milhaud, Albert Roussel, Francis Poulenc, Georges Auric. Anita Randolfi, recorders; Mary Barto, flute; Marcia Eckert, Douglas Lima, piano (on Leigh and Pipeau Melodies) 001(TT=61:51)

As the program notes indicate, "more original music has been composed for the recorder in the 20th century that in any other time in history." The notes also point out that the composers on the disk pair the recorder "with the modern piano to create an unmistakably contemporary sound." Finally, to place the works in context, the Jacob, Linde and Stockmeier works were composed in the 1960s; the others were written earlier in the century.

Burghardt’s Partita Brevis, is a highly Romantic work which makes good advantage of the range and warmth of the alto recorder in five movements of different mood and intensity, the first and last in particular being quite moving. The Bartok pieces: "present some of his earliest use of Hungarian folk song material." The first set is for soprano or sopranino recorder and piano; the second is a later reworking for piano alone. It was very interesting to note the differences. The recorder helps retain the folk sound; the piano solo shows great sophistication in arrangement and is clearly a move towards a more classical orientation.

Leigh’s Sonatina contains charming, folkbased melodies with slight dissonances in three (fast-slow-fast) movements. Linde’s Trio makes nice use of the different timbres of flute and alto recorder. Unfortunately, the musical material is only intermittently engaging. Jacob’s Sonata highlights the technical aplomb of Randolfi on the alto recorder especially in its intricate, dancing Scherzo; its Largo combines warmth and dissonance in creative ways and its finale has a captivating propulsion to it. It is a nice find.

The Stockmeier Sonatine also features the alto recorder and uses a "modified 12 tone technique" in interesting angular ways. The Pipeau Melodies were written for soprano recorder and dedicated to Louise Dyer, founder of Editions de L’Oiseau-Lyre. They are very brief, contemporary and sweet. Mention must be made of Randolfi’s technical prowess and musicianship. Her commitment to her instrument is to be admired. In this she was ably partnered. All told, an interesting disk where which overcomes the tonal similarity of the instrumentation.