Search - Alvin Singleton :: Sing to the Sun - Chamber Music of Alvin Singleton

Alvin Singleton
Sing to the Sun - Chamber Music of Alvin Singleton
Genre: Classical

Track Listings (5) - Disc #1
1. Greed Machine
2. Argoru III for Flute
3. Sing to the Sun
4. Apple for Four Clarinets
5. Fifty Times Around the Sun

CD Details

All Artists: Alvin Singleton
Title: Sing to the Sun - Chamber Music of Alvin Singleton
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Albany Records
Release Date: 2/1/2007
Album Type: Single
Genre: Classical
Styles: Opera & Classical Vocal, Chamber Music, Historical Periods, Classical (c.1770-1830), Modern, 20th, & 21st Century
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 034061090229

Synopsis

Product Description

Award-winning composer Alvin Singleton has written music for theatre, orchestra, solo instruments and a variety of chamber ensembles. A composer-in-residence with the Atlanta Symphony in the late 1980s and a student of renowned Italian composer Goffredo Petrassi, Singleton s works have been performed by the orchestras of Boston, Pittsburgh, Houston, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Detroit and many more. Sing to the Sun is a set of five chamber works ranging from solo flute to large ensemble with chorus. Singleton exhibits in the recording of these five works the patience, appreciation of quiet subtlety, and psychological control that make for fine chamber music. Traditionally, chamber music is players music and in that, traditionally serious (as are all five of the present works). But Singleton fans also expect to be caught up in the Singleton wit on one level or another be it some unusual title or a certain odd presentation of notes laid out, usually early, in the piece itself. Both average listeners and cognoscenti find themselves caught up in wondering what s next? With this composer the listener is given clues that he or she is invited to participate fully in the musical experience about to unfold, something thought anathema by many recent composers.

CD Reviews

Depth and truth

Alex Shapiro | Malibu, California | 03/13/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If a composer uses notes to communicate, then Alvin Singleton uses the entire universe of sound to share his observations with listeners. This marvelous disc is a collection of five remarkably diverse pieces that span across several decades of Singleton's way of hearing the world. The journey through time and sound is magical.

Every performance in this collection is expert, and it's obvious from the deep consideration the musicians give to each work that they have a great admiration for Mr. Singleton. it would be especially hard to ignore the wide-eyed drama that narrator Ashley Bryan brings to his touching set of poems in the title opus, "Sing to the Sun." He and Singleton burst with the same sense of joy, wonder and awe, and the result is an infectious and riveting experience.

The best composers draw from many influences and elicit wide emotions, all while revisiting the consistent palette of their own voice. Through the varied sonic landscapes in "Sing to the Sun," we're always tucked under the confident arm of a composer whose music frames a vast expanse, and still points us to the most intimate details. This is a disc that will be enjoyed over many listenings, as Singleton's musical moods, from the witty to the meditative to the intense, communicate with depth and truth."