Paul Dresher: Casa Vecchia

Robert Black (Performer), Paul Dresher (Composer), Yuki Morimoto (Conductor), Ensemble 9 (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Robert Black, Ensemble 9
• Conductor: Yuki Morimoto
• Composer: Paul Dresher
• Audio CD (October 24, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Starkland
• ASIN: B000002GVE
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #219,113 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Stereo Review
Four works...by one of the best and most original of post-minimalist composers.

Product Description
Paul Dresher’s music compellingly draws from a broad spectrum of sources, including contemporary classical music, rock, minimalism, and his years of study of the classical musics of India, Africa, and Indonesia.

This CD presents the first recording of one of Dresher’s strongest and most engaging works. Commissioned and premiered by the Kronos Quartet, Casa Vecchia (performed here by Vienna’s Ensemble 9) offers a striking, convincing blend of the best elements of minimalism within an evolving, cohesive structure. The transcendental flow – building to a euphoric climax – of Casa Vecchia “recalls the contemplative paths of Górecki and Pärt” (John Diliberto).

The CD opens with the hypnotic Underground, which originally appeared on Starkland’s compilation CD, From A to Z. “Atmospheric and otherworldly” (CMJ), it is perhaps Dresher’s most ambient work.

The infectious Mirrors, performed by Bang on a Can’s Robert Black, deftly generates, weaves, and layers electronically processed materials within a virtuosic, real-time performance.

Other Fire, drawing on location recordings Dresher made in Southeast Asia, skillfully processes and combines the environmental sounds into an evocative soundscape.

Classical Pulse! concludes that this is “some of the most hypnotic music to come from his generation of renegade composers...4 Stars”

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars transcending "-isms", July 30, 2001

By	Kurt E. Doles (Eugene, OR USA) - See all my reviews

The word "postminimalist" gets thrown about frequently when Paul Dresher's name is mentioned. Though certainly inspired by Reich, Glass, Riley, et al, Dresher's music consistently transcends the neat little boxes that critics and scholars alike use to tie music to one historically-based tradition or another. This collection of four works provides an excellent introduction to Dresher's vibrant and versatile musical world. Though frequently relying on electronics in combination with acoustic instruments, his music never falls into the "gee whiz, look what this machine can do" trap that has caught so many other composers. I find the two completely electronic works, "Underground" and "Water Dreams," to be particularly beautiful soundscapes. His theater works, though markedly different in style from the pieces on this disc, are also highly recommended for anyone seeking a respite from bland, cookie-cutter Euro-American academic music.