William Bolcom: Songs
CML call number: CD CLASSICAL Bolcom
Anthony Tommasini wrote in the New York Times: "[I]n his songs he almost always balances the contemporary classical and popular elements deftly, as this splendid recording of 34 songs spanning 40 years amply demonstrates. … Mr. Bolcom writes that 'Night, Make My Day' … was intended as a sendup of a 'Liza Minnelli-ish over-the-top extravaganza.' But this torch song is filtered through a rigorous contemporary sensibility, with fractured rhythms and gritty piano chords. [Soprano Carole] Farley takes it seriously. … Even songs that seem just novelties on the surface are musically subtle, like 'The Digital Wonder Watch (An Advertisement).' … Ms. Farley … is especially fine in two major song cycles. 'Songs to Dance,' a setting of 11 poems by George Montgomery, is an ingenious set of miniatures, by turns wistful, sweet and fitful. … In 'I Will Breathe a Mountain,' a setting of 11 poems by American women, Mr. Bolcom offers surprising takes on some of the texts. I especially love 'The Bustle in a House,' based on a poem by Emily Dickinson, which is like some strangely beautiful, harmonically out-of-focus church hymn."
Anthony Tommasini wrote in the New York Times: "[I]n his songs he almost always balances the contemporary classical and popular elements deftly, as this splendid recording of 34 songs spanning 40 years amply demonstrates. … Mr. Bolcom writes that 'Night, Make My Day' … was intended as a sendup of a 'Liza Minnelli-ish over-the-top extravaganza.' But this torch song is filtered through a rigorous contemporary sensibility, with fractured rhythms and gritty piano chords. [Soprano Carole] Farley takes it seriously. … Even songs that seem just novelties on the surface are musically subtle, like 'The Digital Wonder Watch (An Advertisement).' … Ms. Farley … is especially fine in two major song cycles. 'Songs to Dance,' a setting of 11 poems by George Montgomery, is an ingenious set of miniatures, by turns wistful, sweet and fitful. … In 'I Will Breathe a Mountain,' a setting of 11 poems by American women, Mr. Bolcom offers surprising takes on some of the texts. I especially love 'The Bustle in a House,' based on a poem by Emily Dickinson, which is like some strangely beautiful, harmonically out-of-focus church hymn."
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