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Randall Woolf: Where the Wild Things Are - Ballet (based on Maurice Sendak's book)
Randall Woolf, Julian Allen, Kitty Brazelton
Randall Woolf: Where the Wild Things Are - Ballet (based on Maurice Sendak's book)
Genres: Dance & Electronic, Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (8) - Disc #1

Maurice Sendak's influential children's book Where the Wild Things Are is given its second classical music treatment on this disc (an opera by Oliver Knussen is also available). Composer Randall Woolf's score for the Ameri...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Randall Woolf, Julian Allen, Kitty Brazelton, Meg Busch, Wayne J. Du Maine, Sheldon Steiger
Title: Randall Woolf: Where the Wild Things Are - Ballet (based on Maurice Sendak's book)
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Composers Recordings
Original Release Date: 1/1/1963
Re-Release Date: 10/24/2000
Album Type: Import
Genres: Dance & Electronic, Classical
Styles: Electronica, Ballets & Dances, Ballets
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 090438084420

Synopsis

Amazon.com
Maurice Sendak's influential children's book Where the Wild Things Are is given its second classical music treatment on this disc (an opera by Oliver Knussen is also available). Composer Randall Woolf's score for the American Repertory Ballet is filled with oddball touches and hints of jazz and funk. Voices heard through synthesizers add to the sonic strangeness, typically ending a track with the distorted sounds of a scolding parent. But for all the genre-fusing going on here, there are also gorgeous passages; the minimalism found in the electric-violin passage during "Max gets homesick and departs" is convincing, as is the nervous energy on track two ("Max misbehaves"). Images from the children's book and the ballet production grace the liner notes. This may be a far cry from Swan Lake, but fans of Sendak or modern ballet should check out this fun music. --Jason Verlinde
 

CD Reviews

Strange and experimental can be a good thing
04/02/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am a dancer who has had the opportunity to perform in this ballet version of Where the Wild Things Are. The music fits the story perfectly. Elecronic noises and jazzy beats create a surreal atmosphere that whisks you away deep into the land of the Wild Things. If you ever have the opportunity to see this contemporary ballet I highly recommend it. The music alone is interesting and well worth a listen."
Where the Wild Things Are is Wild Fun
A. Troutt | Philadelphia, PA USA | 04/28/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is an example of the kind of exciting, original and fun music that I hope this period of music history is remembered for. I have not stopped listening to this CD since I got it. It is wild and beautiful from top to bottom with enough wit and melody to keep my toes tapping and enough complexity to keep my analytical composer's ears busy with something new each time. I highly recommend this CD to anyone who ever loved Where the Wild Things Are, as it is a really exciting way to revisit the story. I would recommend any of Randall Woolf's music to everyone, everything of his that I have heard has left me craving more, it is accessible to all listeners simultaneously and its very fresh, very today."