Search - Benita Valente , Eva Kim , Melvin Chen , Alexis Pia Gerlach , Erica Kritzer , Henry Lee , Jean deMart , Jurij Konje, Robert Schulz , Peggy Pearson , Mieko Take-Mendez, Scott Yoo Karol Bennett , Earl Kim :: Exercises en Route

The twentieth century yielded a powerful explosion of musical points of view. Many composers embraced increasing complexity as a way of capturing the statistical, overcrowded, ambiguous, and combative nature of modern life. But others, such as the late American masters Morton Feldman and Earl Kim, believed strongly in the power and poignancy of even a single sound; Rather than embracing chaos, they strove to reduce musical thought to a refined, precise essence. The works on this album, which span thirty-five years of his creative life, show Earl Kim to be a master of interior passion, with an exacting sense of sonority, harmony, and pacing. His music combines elusiveness, ambiguity, and ellipses with a restrained romanticism, yielding works of troubled stillness and abiding beauty Kim?s musical landscapes are uncluttered, slowly progressing, often monophonic. Musical moments flourish briefly, and then rarely reappear. Continuity and silence are carefully balanced. Although the sound-world is very restrained, shocks and surprises still occur. Kim was deeply attracted to the human voice; most of his output features it. For his texts, he turned most often to the works of Samuel Beckett. The reclusive writer was famously difficult about granting permission to composers to set his words to music; Kim was one of only a handful of composers to receive his consent. This disc, the first dedicated solely to his music, was prepared and recorded under his supervision shortly before his death. Exercises en Route was composed from 1963?70. The full work received its premiere in 1971 with Benita Valente and an ensemble conducted by the composer. It is scored for soprano/narrator, flute/piccolo, oboe, clarinet, violin, cello, and two percussionists, who perform an array of exotic instruments, including African and Japanese hand and stick drums and a Japanese bell and woodclapper. Exercises is one of Kim?s most important Beckett settings ?Dear Linda, a letter written by Anne Sexton to her daughter in the spring of 1969, bears the date Wed. 2:45 p.m. It is a letter of advice, confession, and love. The musical narrative consists of several episodes that depict what might have been the shifting turmoil of Anne Sexton?s life. The closing measures take the form of a simple canon when the mother speaks to her daughter of her own mother.?