Bolcom - Piano Rags

William Bolcom (Composer), John Murphy (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: John Murphy
• Composer: William Bolcom
• Audio CD (April 20, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Albany Records
• ASIN: B00000IMH2
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #152,755 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Still Raggin', April 12, 2000

By 

Anthony Patrick Torio (Toledo, OH, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bolcom - Piano Rags (Audio CD)

Despite the origins of ragtime being a century ago, ragtime still thrives today. It is considered a legitimate classical music form. It is even more delightful to have contemporary rags get published and performed - especially when the performance captures the nuance of the composer's intentions. William Bolcom's finely crafted rags come to life under pianist John Murphy's hands. From the delicate, thoughtful Ghost Rags to the slammin' variations in the Garden of Eden, Bolcom combines the energy of turn-of-the-century ragtime with refined classical sensibility. This CD set should be a part of any and every ragtime anthology - from casual listeners to classroom teachers.

12 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive collection of modern Americana, October 12, 2001

By 

klavierspiel "klavierspiel" (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Bolcom - Piano Rags (Audio CD)

William Bolcom is undoubtedly one of America's most important living composers and musicians. Without sacrificing one iota of his stylistic integrity or musical personality, he has done much to bridge the gap between so-called serious music and the popular idioms that most people think of when the phrase "American music" is uttered: ragtime, jazz and music-hall styles. His albums of popular music from the turn of the 20th century with his wife, mezzo-soprano Joan Morris, remain classics of their kind.

John Murphy, who plays all of Bolcom's piano rags on this collection, is a personal friend of the composer and presumably has his seal of approval. It's good to have all of this enjoyable music in one place; still, I can't muster as much enthusiasm for this album as I would like. Murphy's technique, though serviceable, seems taxed by the more demanding moments in these frequently virtuosic pieces, and the resulting lack of rhythmic precision, in particular, frequently robs the music of its full effect. He also applies the pedal more liberally than I personally like. Nevertheless, the chances of anyone else recording all of Bolcom's 29 rags (including seven unpublished pieces) in the near future is remote, so this is an album fans of this composer ought to have.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bolcom - Piano Rags, September 2, 2005

By 

Far More Music - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Bolcom - Piano Rags (Audio CD)

Better to buy the sheet music to go along with this to realize how complicated these are to play. Murphy has that special 'bent' to play the details - there are no shortcuts in this set..