Search - Cohen, Chone, Palange :: Generations - works by Gerald Cohen: Trio for viola, cello & piano; Four Songs on Hebrew Texts; String Quartet No. 2; V'higad'ta L'vincha (And You Shall Tell Your Child), for soprano, chorus, clarinet, cello & piano

"Generations" features the world premiere recordings of new chamber and vocal works by the dually talented composer Gerald Cohen. Having been steeped in the traditions of new music composition at Yale, Cohen has also been an active Jewish cantor since his graduate school days at Columbia University. These two worlds, one of rigorous compositional studies and the other of intense liturgical work, have been combined into this one remarkable disc. Including an exuberant String Quartet, led by violinist Curtis Macomber, as well as a six-part vocal work based on the Passover Haggadah and featuring a children?s chorus, this disc also highlights the vocal gifts of Cohen, who is also a featured baritone soloist. Cohen uses tradition "as raw material for the new and the innovative." He "avidly weaves together several different traditions, including the classics of Western music, the traditions of the 20th century, and the traditions of Jewish liturgical and secular music."?Michael Kannen