Search - Michael Byron, Joseph Kubera :: Michael Byron: Dreamers of Pearl

Michael Byron (b. 1953) was a pupil of James Tenney, and later, of Richard Teitelbaum. He has often been described as an "early minimalist." However, his work in that direction was relatively short-lived. In fact, by 1973, that tendency had all but disappeared as his music began its upward spiral of complexity. The body of music he has composed over the past thirty years has been harmonically rich, rhythmically detailed, and increasingly virtuosic. It has been described as a music of "absolute counterpoint". Dreamers of Pearl evinces a sensitivity for the sound of the piano, a sensibility of extended playing/listening, and an interest in repetition and change through gradual and seemingly clandestine processes that transform and extend what we hear. Dreamers... belongs to a rare class of recent piano music - monumental compositions of great length, beauty, and depth all self-consciously bound to tradition-oriented genres and their deeply ingrained structures, yet inventive and thrilling in ways that inspire a few brave pianists to dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to these often mercilessly difficult pieces.