Search - Eric Ewazen, Arthur Foote, Leo Kraft :: From The Hudson Valley - Kraft, et al / Swinchoski, et al

Fully within the pastoral tradition

F. Behrens | Keene, NH USA | 07/19/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A kindly gentlemen approached me after a talk I gave at a local library and gave me a gift of an Albany CD titled (Troy 371), featuring talent from that region performing four American composers. The works were selected to feature flutist Margaret Swinchoski, who plays in each of the four pieces. Leo Kraft's 1997 work "From The Hudson Valley" and Arthur Foote's "A Night Piece" (1918) are played by the Hudson Strings under JoAnn Falletta. Godfrey Schroth's "Spring in Buck's County" (1974) has pianist Ron Levy, who is joined by Scott Brubaker on the French horn in Eric Ewazen's "Ballade, Pastorale and Dance" (1993). Do not be deterred by the dates of three of those works. They are as lovely as any "Romantic" nature piece from the late 1800s,with just that touch of atonality here and there to let us know where we are. The playing is exemplary. A perfect gift for yourself or a discerning friend. The gentlemen, by the by, turned out to be Mr. Schroth himself."