Terry Riley: Cantos Desiertos

Robert [1] Beaser (Composer), Joan Tower (Composer), Terry Riley (Composer), Lowell Liebermann (Composer), Peter Schickele (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Composer: Robert [1] Beaser, Joan Tower, Terry Riley, Lowell Liebermann, Peter Schickele
• Audio CD (June 17, 2003)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Naxos American
• ASIN: B00009NHBP
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #260,312 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely contemporary classical flute and guitar music!, August 20, 2004

By 

Joy Fleisig (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Terry Riley: Cantos Desiertos (Audio CD)

One of the things I love about the budget classical music label Naxos is that their CDs are so cheap that they make me willing to experiment on repertory that I would not normally buy or even listen to. Worse comes the worse, if I'm disappointed, I'm only out about one-third the money I would have paid for a full-price disc. Although there are exceptions, I tend to avoid most 'contemporary classical' music, finding it at best intellectually but not emotionally satisfying and at worst unmelodic, uninteresting, and existing only to puff up the composer's ego. Thankfully, this CD of music for flute and guitar by several living American composers is nothing of that sort. After listening to selections on a Tower Records listening station, I was intrigued enough to buy the entire album, and have never regretted it.

Four selections from Robert Beaser's folk-song based cycle 'Mountain Songs' begin the program. It is a pity they could not record the entire eight-song cycle, but then several of the other selections would have to have been cut for time. `Barbara Allen' probably has the most familiar melody, and the flute and guitar together give it a new voice and complexity. The sprightly tune of `The House Carpenter' belies its tragic story, although a sudden diminuendo at the conclusion is very ominous. `He's Gone Away' has two yearning, sorrowful stanzas separated by a jaunty interlude. `Cindy', the only item without origins in the Appalachians (it's a frolic tune based on a minstrel fiddle song), would be perfect music for a square dance.

Joan Tower's spiky and colorful 'Snow Dreams' uses the timbres of the flute and guitar to create images (although I would say sculptures) of many different types of snow from light flakes to swirls to blanketed landscapes and more. However, Tower leaves the choice of whether these images even need to be found up to the listener.

The centerpiece of the disc is the title composition, Terry Riley's 'Cantos Desiertos'. I am surprised that the 'Father of Minimalism' could write something so beautiful and melodic. As the title suggests, it is strongly flavored with Latin rhythms, although the opening `Cancion Desierto' is based on an Indian sitar melody. The guitarist plays his instrument almost as a drum in the beginning, something I have never heard done before. `Quijote' (Dreamer) consists of variations on that theme, and in `Llanto' (Lament) the flute seems almost to sob and wail like a human being. `Tango Ladeado' (Tango Sideways) is there just because Riley always wanted to write a tango! The final movement `Francesco in Paraiso' is dedicated to a friend of Riley's who died of AIDS. Not surprisingly, this is the most overtly emotional part of the work, and has an almost Bach-like construction.

Because Lowell Lieberman writes tonal, neo-romantic music, he is often sneered at by the critical establishment, who call his work "derivative". This is a great pity, especially in light of the Sonata for Flute and Guitar included here. The sweet and wistful Nocturne recalls Ravel and Debussy (although the notes compare it with Shostakovich), conjuring up images of impressionist paintings, and the Allegro is a spirited virtuoso showpiece.

Peter Schickele is of course best known as the, er, 'discoverer' of the hilarious spoof composer P.D.Q. Bach. Yet he is also a very fine composer under his own name. `Windows' was written as a wedding present for his brother, and is divided into three movements. The Pavane resembles compositions of the Renaissance, almost like a lute song, the Catilena is warm and nostalgic, and the percussive final Refrain is very African in flavor and rhythm.

Flutist Alexandra Hawley (a student of Jean-Pierre Rampal) and guitarist Jeffrey McFadden play flawlessly and have an excellent rapport. As usual, Naxos' sound engineering is top-notch. I also note the presence of the superb guitarist Norbert Kraft as producer here - he has produced many guitar recordings for Naxos and has also recorded a essential disc of Villa-Lobos guitar music for them. Naxos also provides detailed liner notes with biographies of the composers and performers and descriptions of the pieces, and again as usual, the cover painting ('Desert Mountains' by Alfred Miller) is quite beautiful. To be picky, I think that Naxos should have released this CD as part of its "21st Century Classics" series instead of its "American Classics" series. While all of these pieces are indeed American, the oldest of them is only 38 years old and the most recent 6 years old, in the same time frame as most of the works in the first series.

Although the music on this disc is often very soothing and relaxing - I have listened to it often at work - it is far too complex and interesting to be merely 'relaxation music'. I would recommend this CD not only to devotees of the flute and guitar but to any classical music lover with an adventurous spirit. These pieces deserve a much wider audience, and it is a pity that so few composers of our day write music in this vein.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Intriguing Mix of Flute and Guitar Sparks a Surprisingly Affecting Naxos Recording, August 18, 2006

By 

Ed Uyeshima (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Terry Riley: Cantos Desiertos (Audio CD)

This is a most unexpected recording from the bargain-priced Naxos label as it combines flautist Alexandra Hawley and guitarist Jeffrey McFadden for five lovely works, the centerpiece being an original suite, "Cantos Desiertos", composed expressly for flute and guitar by California minimalist Terry Riley. Initially, you would expect the result to be more appropriate on the meditative Windham Hill label, but there is enough variety here to make repeated listenings worthwhile. It begins with Robert Beaser's "Mountain Songs" which contains snatches of familiar folk melodies within the four pieces, effectively contrasting the dancing tone of Hawley's flute with the more percussive rhythm provided by McFadden's guitar.

Joan Tower's eight-minute "Snow Dreams" is more expressionistic with some jarring rhythms becoming increasingly unsettled as the elusive snowflakes in the piece become a blizzard, the sound of which is enhanced especially by McFadden's nimble fingering. The true highlight of the disc, Riley's composition has a pervasive Latin flavor that leads with the quiet, haunting "Canción Desierto" and changes dramatically to the more rhythmic "Quijote" and then the remorseful "Llanto". There is an improvisational jazz feel to the fourth movement, "Tango Ladeado", and the composition ends with the hopeful-sounding "Francesco en Paraiso", an elegy of sorts to French composer and countertenor Royon le Mee, who died from AIDS at age 40.

Lowell Liebermann's moving "Sonata for Flute and Guitar, Op. 25" starts in a dream-like trance with "Nocturne" but switches gears to the more rhythmic, kinetic "Allegro". The last piece, Peter Schickele's "Windows, Three Pieces for Flute and Guitar", is the most traditional-sounding of the set with an almost Baroque-sounding "Pavane", a mournful "Cantilena" and the aggressive strumming of McFadden's guitar on "Refrain". The disc's overall feeling is relaxing, but there is certainly enough variety in the compositions to surprise you with the versatility that these two instruments provide when played so masterfully. As with most Naxos discs, the sound is quite clean, enhanced no doubt by the acoustics of St. John's Chrysostom Church in Newmarket, Canada, where it was recorded in 2002.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Look elsewhere for a thrill., April 18, 2006

By 

Redgecko (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Terry Riley: Cantos Desiertos (Audio CD)

I generally like the music of Terry Riley and his Salomne Dances by the Kronos Quartet are especially worth a listen. But the innovative sounds for which he is known are missing in this composition. The Joan Tower composition, Snow Dreams, is the only piece that saves this bland recording. Snow Dreams is also on the recording "Black Topaz" along with other wonderful music. Do yourself a favor and go to the Naxos website to hear a sample before buying.