Bolcom, William

After The Ball plus Highlights from Vaudeville

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After the Ball
Edwardian Songs presented in a beautiful way
Oh, Miss Dall'Armi wasn't the first!
A triumph!
The Gilded Age Album of Albums

After The Ball plus Highlights from Vaudeville
Joan Morris & William Bolcom
Manufacturer: Nonesuch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music
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Moonlight Bay: Songs as Is Songs as Was
Gershwin: Piano Music
On the Level, You're a Little Devil--Songs of Vaudeville and Tin Pan Alley
Sing Gus Kahn
Knockout Drops

ASIN: B000005IY5
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

After The Ball
Good Bye, My Lady Love
A Bird In A Gilded Cage
Under The Bamboo Tree
On The Banks Of The Wabash, Far Away
Those Wedding Bells Shall Not Ring Out
I've Got Rings On My Fingers
Come Down Ma Evenin' Star
I Don't Want To Play In Your Yard
Will You Love Me In December As You Do In May?
Meet Me In Saint Louis, Louis
Love's Old Sweet Song
Waltz Me Around Again Willie
Wait 'Till The Sun Shines, Nellie
Vaudeville: I Don't Care
Vaudeville: Shine On, Harvest Moon
Vaudeville: Yip - I - Addy - I - A!
Vaudeville: Let The Rest Of The World Go By
Vaudeville: May Irwin's
Vaudeville: I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now

Customer Reviews:

After the Ball.......2007-05-24

This Cd was very enjoyable. Joan Morris' voice was clear and flexible, William Bolcom's piano was crisp .
I enjoyed the musical choices- a good montage of the era.

Edwardian Songs presented in a beautiful way.......2005-07-09

A most excellent CD with a beautiful singer and brilliant pianist
presenting an unsual collection of lovely songs. I was unable to
purchase in the UK and thank Amazon for making it possible.

Oh, Miss Dall'Armi wasn't the first!.......2005-02-03

Great to hear a singer able (and willing) to perform this kind of music: it make the songs I knew from music sheets come alive. This performance has (with a slightly different repertoire, and a different backing) been equalled recently by Jody Dall'Armi, with the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra (CD "On the Level, You're a Little Devil")

A triumph!.......2003-03-30

Thirty years after this wonderful collection appeared, it still warms hearts and wets eyes across generations. This classic recording is likely to be around forever, and it certainly deserves to be. Joan Morris provides full emotional commitment along with smart style and a beautiful voice. William Bolcom is an ideal accompanist: he's obviously of a heart with Morris but never intrudes.

One overlooked asset of this recording is the superb sonics. Listen through state-of-the-art speakers and subwoofer, and the space in the room is recreated extraordinarily well. You will seldom hear piano and voice recorded this well.

You may not admit it to your friends, but you'll listen to this masterpiece over and over. It goes straight to the Hall of Fame.

The Gilded Age Album of Albums.......2001-03-21

I first bought this album as a record in the early 1970's, and enjoyed it over and over. I tried to buy another copy but couldn't find it and gave up years ago. Suddenly I find... it and I can hardly wait to get it once more.... and with bonus tracks, too. Great! The best thing about this recording was how authentic it sounded... not "updated" in style or rendition, but with the genuine music hall ambiance that one would imagine these catchy tunes must have sounded like at the time. I guarantee if the CD is half as good as the record, this is a real treasure! There are 2 songs that were recreated for Judy Garland in "Meet Me in Saint Louis", and the originals as Joan Morris sings them will give you visions of the old Vaudeville theatre, complete with peanut gallery.

Average customer rating:

It doesn't get better than this.
starting over
starting over
excellence
Cornet Favorites

Cornet Favorites

Manufacturer: Nonesuch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Turn-of-the-Century Cornet Favorites
Herbert L. Clarke: Original Recordings 1907-21
Carnaval
The Legendary Trumpet Virtuosity of Rafael Mendez
The American Brass Band Journal

ASIN: B000005IYD
Release Date: 1992-05-27

Tracks:

From The Shores Of The Mighty Pacific: Rondo Caprice
Sounds From The Hudson: Valse Brillante
Willow Echoes
The Carnival Of Venice: Fantaisie And Variations
At The Beach: Concert Waltz
The Debutante: Caprice Brillante
Slavische Fantasie
The Bride Of The Waves: Polka Brillante
Cousins
Exposition Echoes: Polka
The Maid Of The Mist: Polka
Trombone Family: A) Shoutin' Liza Trombone - One Step (Mose Tombone's Ah-finity) B) Teddy Trombone - A Brother To Miss Trombone (Trombone Solo)
The Cascades: Polka Brilliant

Customer Reviews:

It doesn't get better than this........2001-08-01

I first bought this recording on vinyl back in 1975. Gerard Schwartz has since moved on to a career in conducting, but as this recording shows, he's a true Master of his craft. I'm a trumpet player and I know what a good sound is. This guy's got it!

More than technical perfection, the tunes are delivered with delicacy, grace and power.

starting over.......2001-07-03

This is a very good cd for a trumpet player. Many songs of Herbert L. Clarke and Jean Babtiste Arban are there in their familiar versions. If you get this cd, you ought to get Cornet Favorites also. The solos on both cd's stick to the versions found in Arban's Complete Conservatory Method and Clarke's 24 Charateristic Studies, so you can follow them note for note. Carnaval has wind symphony accompaniment and Cornet Favorites has piano accompaniment.

starting over.......2001-07-03

If you have the Arban Complete Conservatory Method and Herbert Clarke's 24 Characteristic Studies, then you have the versions of the solos that are played on this cd, and can benefit from hearing them played. All songs use piano accompaniment so you will have no trouble hearing the cornet. Carnaval (Winton Marsalis) has some of the same songs, but the cornet is harder to hear because of the wind symphony accompniment.

excellence.......2000-05-30

This is the best verison of Carnival I have heard. Classic Wynton also provides a fantastic interpretation on the most difficult trumpet solo of all time. But Schwarz shows amazing control, fantastic percision, and baffling dexterity. The Debutante and the Bride, etc. are also impressive. Its a shame Schwarz gave up trumpet to conduct. Having played these songs myself, I definitely recommend it to any classical trumpet enthusiast/student

Cornet Favorites.......1999-12-28

I enjoyed the cd because of the literature being performed. However, Schwarz's performance is mediocre and lacks luster. The sound is dull and uninviteing.The tempos were unusal and it felt there was no ensemble with the trumpet and piano performance.
I felt there was not a musical product produced in this recording.

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Bolcom - Piano Rags
Comprehensive collection of modern Americana
Still Raggin'

Bolcom - Piano Rags

Manufacturer: Albany Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
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Complete Rags for Piano: Piano Solo
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William Bolcom - Songs of Innocence and of Experience (William Blake) / Slatkin, University of Michigan School of Music

ASIN: B00000IMH2
Release Date: 1999-04-20

Tracks:

Eubie's Lucky Day (Rag Obsession)
Three Ghost Rags: Graceful Ghost Rag
Three Ghost Rags: The Poltergeist (Rag Fantasy)
Three Ghost Rags: Dream Shadows
Raggin' Rudi
The Gardenia (Slow Drag)
Tabby Cat Walk (Slow Two-step)
California Porcupine Rag
Rag-Tango
Last Rag

Tracks:

Knight Hubert
Three Classic Rags - Glad Rag
- Eiptaph for Louis Chauvin (Slow Rag)
- Incineratorag
Seabiscuits (from three popular rags)
Fields of Flowers
The Garden of Eden - Old Adam (Two Step)
- The Eternal Feminine (Slow Drag)
- The Serpent's Kiss (Rag Fantasy)
- Through Eden's Gate (Cakewalk)
Lost Lady Rag
Epithalamium

Customer Reviews:

Bolcom - Piano Rags.......2005-09-02

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..

Comprehensive collection of modern Americana.......2001-10-13

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.

Still Raggin'.......2000-04-13

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.

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Dirty Little Secret

Manufacturer: Endeavour Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Etudes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
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The Reminder

ASIN: B000NA279E
Release Date: 2007-03-13

Tracks:

The Body Of Your Dreams - Jacob Ter Veldhuis
Beat - Gerard Beljon
Carnaval Noir - Derek Bermel
A Dirty Little Secret - Daniel Felsenfeld
Maple Leaf Rag - Scott Joplin
Boogie Woogie Etude - Morton Gould
China Gates - John Adams
Fanfares - Gyorgy Ligeti
Poltergeist Rag - William Bolcom
Jaunt - Derek Bermel
Lullaby - Derek Bermel
Me Bu-to-so - Amonte Parsons
Medieval Induction - Marc Mellits
Superstar Etude No.1 - Aaron Jay Kernis

Album Description

2007 Grammy nominee Andrew Russo rides his supercharged piano into the twenty-first century with fourteen dirty little secrets packed with verve and humor, crankiness and delight, sweat and sarcasm, attitude and acrobatics, power and peril, joy and turbulence, punch and grace-fourteen short masterworks by twelve of today's most relevant composers!

A number of classical albums feature recitals of short 'encore' piano pieces, mostly nienteenth-century trifles. Dirty Little Secret has a similar structure-that is, it is a piano album with many short tracks. However, it reflects both a repertoire and attitude that belong to this century of sound bites, downloads, and the cynical sarcasm of Generation X.

A versatile, prolific artist both onstage and in the recording studio, American pianist Andrew Russo has made a name for himself through his work with many of today's leading composers in the US and Europe. As a recitalist, Russo's programs frequently feature premieres. Trained classically at the Juilliard School and the Hochschule fur Music and Theater Mendelssohn in Leipzig, he pursued further specialized training in Paris with Frederic Chiu. In addition to his extensive solo activities, Russo is a member of the piano/cello/percussion trio Real Quiet, a group much involved in commissioning new music.

"A pianist who knows no limits" -- London Times "Andrew Russo is by no means just `another pianist.'" -- Gramophone

Tracks:

The Witches Of Eastwick: Devil's Dance
Young Frankenstein: A Transylvanian Lullaby
Puck
Danse Macabre
Caprice Fantastique
Walpurgisnacht
Hexenlied
La Ronde Des Lutins
Graceful Ghost
Concert Fantasy On Gounod's Faust
Caprice No. 13
Sonata In G Minor 'Devil's Trill'
Solo Sonata No. 2: Obsession

Amazon.com

Though it's haunted by goblins, ghosts, and monsters, it is hard to find anything very satanic in much of this music, except its fiendishly difficult pyrotechnics. Its sole purpose is to display Gil Shaham's devilishly dazzling virtuosity, glorious tone, elegance, humor, and bewitching charm. The only substantial piece is Tartini's "Devil's Trill Sonata," in Kreisler's edition complete with his long, diabolically strenuous cadenza; Shaham plays it very beautifully, with genuine, moving expressiveness. Elsewhere, his tongue is never far from his cheek, whether he is tossing off Bazzini's "Rondo de Lutins" perfectly at top speed, or having fun with the fireworks of Korngold's "Caprice fantastique," Sarasate's "Faust Fantasie," Grieg's "Puck" arranged by Joseph Achron, Paganini's Caprice No. 13, with a piano part by Robert Schumann, and Saint-Saëns' "Dance macabre," in which the pianist doubles for a whole orchestra. There are also transcriptions of passionately romantic pieces by Brahms and Mendelssohn, and excursions into different styles: William Bolcom's "Graceful Ghost" rag; "Transylvanian Lullaby" from John Morris's soundtrack for "Young Frankenstein" transcribed by Shaham's pianist, Jonathan Feldman; and the title piece, "Devil's Dance" arranged by John Williams from his soundtrack for "The Witches of Eastwick." You can safely invite this devil of a violinist into your home--he is excellent company. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

Halloween Violin.......2005-10-17

While not always frightening as much as classical music with a Halloween theme, this is a fine recording to play at parties if the guests fancy this kind of music. The title refers to the Devil's Dance, for violin & piano from the film Witches of Eastwick, a work composed by John Williams. It is followed by A Transylvanian Rhapsody from the comic film Young Frankeinstein. The most famous piece of all "Danse Macabre" was Saint Saens' ghoulish work that nearly caused his mother a heart attack at the premire. Using stage effects like smoke and mist, Saint Saens had dancing skeletons waltzing on stage. The Devil Trill Sonata by Tartini has a frightening story behind it. It was rumored that the composer dreamt that the Devil gave him the score to this violin piece. It is played at an impossible speed and is one of the most difficult violin pieces ever composed. Only few violinists take on this piece. The music on this album is however not as scary as some other classical Halloween CD's out there but violin afficionados will be quite delighted.

Puzzling choices, and not all that devilish.......2004-10-21

I'll say right off that Shaham's technique is top-notch, which is what one expects from such an album. And this is fine playing, with the violin and piano generally blending well.

But while this was clearly intended to be a "concept album," the artists/producers made several puzzling (and frustrating) choices that left me wondering just what the concept was supposed to be. The music is "devilishly difficult" at some times (the Tartini, for example), "creepy and eerie" at others (the "Danse macabre", others). However, several of the pieces are neither dazzingly difficult nor all that creepy - the Brahms and the Mendelssohn, for example, fail both definitions and, frankly, just don't seem to fit on this album. And then, there's the Paganini B-flat caprice - a solo violin piece transcribed for violin and piano, weakening the focus on violin virtuosity - while the Ysaye is left as a solo piece . . . well, a **piece** of a piece - we're given only a part of one movement of a four-movement work that is both very difficult AND built around that ultimate "creepy" theme, the "Dies Irae." Why only part of a single movement?

The net effect of all this is an album that doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. It's almost as if someone committed to an album concept without making sure there was enough material to fill the album. Further quibbles: the violin is placed somewhat too far back, for my taste; on a virtuoso album, I want to be "up close" to catch all the nuances of the performance. And the balance between violin and piano is less than ideal at times, at least to my ear.

As I said, the playing is fine; it's the concept execution that falls short of "as advertised."

Watch Out Where You Play This CD.......2002-05-17

As everyone says this is an extremely enjoyable disc. While it played fine in my ordinary CD player, the one in my computer couldn't handle it. Not only wouldn't it play, but it crashed the whole machine. Real deviltry at work!

... the best music ever recorded!.......2002-05-07

Sometimes I forget to breathe-this CD is so mind-blowing! This is the type of CD that you can't help but wave your hands around pretending to conduct the song!........ Ok.... Deep breathes.......o-o...I have to calm down! Now this CD features not just the best musicians but the best composers. They are John Williams (simply the best), Camille Saint-Saens (who composed one of the most famous "spooky" songs: Danse macabre!) ,and John Morris, you know.... Composed the music for YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, the funniest movie EVER! And guess what the theme song is on the CD!.. The charming yet spooky.........'Young Frankenstein': A Transylvania Lullaby. Hexenlied, one of my favorites, is by MR. Felix Mendelssohn (no he's not Felix the cat!)..........So...many....good.....songs....so.....Little--t-t-time. OK. It's time to wrap things up.....BUY THIS CD, YOU WON'T REGRET IT! :)

Pretty good.......2002-01-23

This CD has pretty interesting selection. My only qualm about it is sometimes it seems that the piano is competing for volume with the soloist, especially in Dans Macabre. This rendition is definitely not my favourite version. But some other gems make up for this, like Devils Dance, and La Ronde des Lutins. Devils dance is really well arranged and performed, and thats my favourite track on this album.

William Bolcom - Songs of Innocence and of Experience (William Blake) / Slatkin, University of Michigan School of Music

Average customer rating:

A supremely moving work of art
Enjoyable?
Remarkable performance
Thankyou...
An Excellent Example of Modern American Composition

William Bolcom - Songs of Innocence and of Experience (William Blake) / Slatkin, University of Michigan School of Music
Ilana Davidson , Nathan Lee Graham , Leonard Slatkin , Joan Morris , Carmen Pelton , and Nmon Ford
Manufacturer: Naxos American
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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William Bolcom: Symphony No. 1; Symphony No. 3; Seatlle Slew Orchestral Suite

ASIN: B000641YZK
Release Date: 2004-10-19

Tracks:

Introduction - Thomas Young
The Ecchoing Green - Combined Choruses
The Lamb - Measha Brueggergosman
The Shepherd - Peter 'Madcat' Ruth
Infant Joy - Marietta Simpson
The Little Black Boy - Nathan Lee Graham
Laughing Song - U-M Chamber Choir
Spring - Thomas Young
A Cradle Song - Linda Hohenfeld
Nurse's Song - Joan Morris
Holy Thursday - Combined Choruses
The Blossom - Measha Brueggergosman
Interlude - Orchestra
The Chimney Sweeper - Nathan Lee Graham
The Divine Image - Joan Morris
Nocturne - Orchestra
Night - Thomas Young
A Dream - Ilana Davidson
On Another's Sorrow - Combined Choruses
The Little Boy Lost - Carmen Pelton
The Little Boy Found - Nathan Lee Graham
Coda - Orchestra

Tracks:

Introduction - Orchestra
Hear The Voice Of The Bard - Nmon Ford
Interlude - Orchestra
Earth's Answer - Christine Brewer
Nurse's Song - Joan Morris
The Fly - MSU Children's Choir
The Tyger - Combined Choruses
The Little Girl Lost - Nmon Ford
In The Southern Clime - U-M Chamber Choir
The Little Girl Found - Combined Choruses
The Clod And The Pebble - Thomas Young
The Little Vagabond - Joan Morris
Holy Thursday - Carmen Pelton
A Poisin Tree - Nathan Lee Graham
The Angel - Ilana Davidson
The Sick Rose - Marietta Simpson
To Tirzah - Combined Choruses

Tracks:

The Voice Of The Ancient Bard - Nmon Ford
My Pretty Rose Tree - Chorus Men
Ah! Sun-Flower - U-M Chamber Choir
The Lilly - Thomas Young
Introduction To Part V - Orchestra
The Garden Of Love - Thomas Young
A Little Boy Lost - Carmen Pelton
A Little Girl Lost - Christine Brewer
Infant Sorrow - U-M Chamber Choir Soloists
Vocalise - Combined Choruses
London - Nathan Lee Graham
The School Boy - Linda Hohenfeld
The Chimney Sweeper - U-M Chamber Choir
The Human Abstract - Nmon Ford
Interlude: Voces Clamandae - Orchestra
A Divine Image - Soloists

Amazon.com

Bolcom's dream of setting Blake's poems to music began when he fell under their spell as a teenager; he worked on the composition of Songs of Innocence and of Experience on and off for 25 years, completing it in 1982. This live recording celebrates the 20th anniversary of the work's American premiere. Following an early edition of the poems that assigns them a different order from the customary one, he created nine movements to form "a series of arches." Blake's own principle of "contraries" and his use of many poetic traditions is a perfect counterfoil for Bolcom's eclecticism, which encompasses styles ranging from solemn chorales, lush romanticism, abrasive, dissonant modernism, to jazz, folk, country, and rock. His interpretation of the poems, which he calls "A Musical Illumination," is sometimes startling, but always interesting, highly personal, and unquestionably sincere. Some of the settings enhance and heighten the poems, entering deeply into their spirit and mood. Others seem at variance with them: "The Lilly," a peaceful, serene poem, set to crashing, aggressive music, is an extreme example, and some stratospheric, jagged soprano lines seem to add nothing to the text. For some of the most arresting, convincing settings, Bolcom uses his well-known and beloved cabaret style, sung to perfection by his wife and partner, mezzo-soprano Joan Morris. Indeed, the entire performance is beyond praise. The work calls for a whole army of participants: several choruses, including a children's choir, a dozen vocal soloists, a speaker, a harmonica player, a fiddler, and a huge symphony orchestra augmented by electronic instruments and extra brass and percussion. The last produce a large number of terrifying explosions, both between and within the songs, as well as fascinating sound effects, like imitations of running water, delicate tinkles, and ominous roars and rumbles. The singers are superb; the women contribute incredible coloratura leaps, melting lyricism, caressing warmth, while the men include a heroic tenor, a commanding baritone, and sometimes sung, sometimes spoken scatting. Leonard Slatkin holds his enormous forces together with total control and authority. --Edith Eisler

Album Description

William Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience date from the turbulent period in English and American history when the United States was in its infancy. Occupying 25 years of William Bolcom's compositional life, his "musical illuminations," inspired by Blake's own wide panoply of poetic styles in the cycle, travel thrillingly from intense dissonance to folk, rock, and reggae to encompass the breadth of the Blakean spiritual universe.

Customer Reviews:

A supremely moving work of art.......2007-02-26

I am writing this not as a music critic but as someone who has enjoyed William Blake's poetry for most of my life. I bought this CD because of Blake's poetry. I realized that of late I had not been reading poetry or enjoying it as much as when I was younger. I became hooked right away and I have been playing this CD over and over again for more than a month. I can't listen to any other piece of music. Some of the pieces are better than others, but everything sung by Nathan Lee Graham is moving beyond words (at least any words I know). So I think anyone who enjoys poetry, the English language, history, ideas or the human voice will enjoy listening to this CD over and over again. This music has touched me like no other piece of music ever. I think the artists, particularly Nathan Lee Graham, should all become rich and famous. I was even thinking that A Divine Image should be released as a single. I think it would go to #1, with a bullet.

Enjoyable?.......2006-06-20

By what measure should we judge a piece of music? Should it be by its level of complexity? by its technicality? by the level of emotion it conveys, or does not? Or should a piece of music be judged solely upon whether or not we, as listeners, enjoy it?

Like it or not, music has almost always been judged by whether or not we, as listeners, enjoy it - but what gets factored into our personal enjoyment of a piece of music is many things, including, but not limited to, whether or not we appreciate its complexity, technicality, and how effective it is at conveying its purpose. When most people discuss music, when they talk about what they like or what they don't like, they often mention qualities of the music which suited them or which rubbed them the wrong way.

Bolcom's Songs of Innocence... is one such piece of music that I, as a listener, am confused over. I'm not sure if I like it, but I'm quite positive that I don't dislike or even hate it. As a whole, I find that I'm fairly displeased with the overall result, yet, on a closer inspection, I find that I am quite pleased with each of its parts; therefore, it's a bit of a paradox to find that I enjoy each and every part but not the summation its parts. The truth is, when looking at this piece of music as a whole, it utterly boggles the mind because it is, in truth, so large and it covers so much ground musically and lyrically that it's quite impossible to absorb it all in one sitting, in one listening. To just say that Songs of Innocence opens with a fairly standard aria surrounded by orchestral accompaniment and ends, over 2 hours later, with a reggae-sounding song is not enough because in between the beginning and end, Bolcom includes other genres ranging from rock, country, jazz, and soul...and of course, "classical."

This piece of music has been described as representing all of the 20th century's achievements in music in one fell swoop. But just because it does so, does that insinuate that it deserves to win a Grammy, as it did in 2006, and does it deserve the laud and praise it is receiving? A serious part of me wishes to say 'no' because I feel I've heard better pieces of music from the 20th century. Sure, Mahler's 9th Symphony does not capture the whole of the 20th century within its 1 1/2 hour grasp, neither does any of Shostakovich's or Robert Simpson's symphonies. And so, I'm forced to resign myself to the fact that Bolcom has created an astonishing achievement with this work.

But, as monolithic as it may be in size and in scope, there are moments when it does not feel entirely cohesive, and there are moments, during the latter half, when I honestly wanted the disc to hurry up and finish for no other reason than I felt like I was being presented the same material and the same concepts over and over and over again. However, in terms of technicality and complexity, Bolcom has taken a series of poems and created something wholly other and enjoyable out of them. He even does a fantastic job of conveying the emotion of each unique poem by arranging music around it that fits like a glove. Is it enjoyable to listen to? It is, for the most part, but, as I've already said, it can seem to run a bit long at times. On the whole, though, I do recommend this disc to anyone interested. If Bolcom is remembered for nothing else in 50-100 years, it will be this piece of music.

Remarkable performance.......2006-04-17

As a graduate of the University of Michigan (some time ago) who attended every single performance of both student orchestras while a student, I was eager to hear how the kids played in this Grammy performance. In short, the performance is simply magnificant.

This is not easy music to listen to or play and it is unlike any of the Bolcom music I had heard before. It has a multitude of styles, colors, tonalities, etc. With each listening, however, I hear and appreciate more of this complex piece.

The (professional) soloists are generally excellent with occassional poor diction. The chorus is outstanding, but the orchestra and music steal the show.

Thankyou..........2006-03-26

...to J. Scott Morrison, Grady Harp et al whose glowing reviews prompted me to buy this work by a composer I only otherwise knew by reputation. As I only purchased it today, I know it will be a CD that will require many further listenings. It's a veritable "crazy-quilt" of a work that traverses many styles and idioms. I was a bit reticent about buying a disc performed by music school students (I myself was one once) - not that I thought they wouldn't be talented, just maybe not quite good enough. I have put this (unwarranted) prejudice aside, however, as the performances are excellent. The vocalists in particular (all of them) are outstanding.
Altogether a thoroughly interesting and original piece of music.

An Excellent Example of Modern American Composition.......2006-02-17

I had the double pleasure of hearing a performance of this live in Ann Arbor AND purchasing the CD for subsequent enjoyment.

Bolcolm's composition, though somewhat dated (in the notes above you can see that this was actually written some time back) is still very fresh in 2006.

The use of seeming disparate forms of music (check out the raggae ending juxtaposed against some fairly depressing wording) has a "World Music" feel.

The University of Michigan Choirs, in spite of numbering over 400 on stage and on the CD still manage to produce a clear sound. A strong testimony to the quality of the directors of those choirs.

BRAVO- This truly deserved the recent Grammy recognition.

Average customer rating:

Forty Years of Bolcom Violin Music

William Bolcom: Violin Sonatas

Manufacturer: Naxos American
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

William Bolcom: Music for Two Pianos
William Bolcom: Symphony No. 1; Symphony No. 3; Seatlle Slew Orchestral Suite
William Bolcom: Songs
William Bolcom - Songs of Innocence and of Experience (William Blake) / Slatkin, University of Michigan School of Music
Paul Moravec: The Time Gallery; Protean Fantasy; Ariel Fanstasy

ASIN: B000E0VNYS
Release Date: 2006-02-21

Tracks:

I. Legend
II. Nocturne
III. Quasi-Variations: Scenes From A Young Life
I. Summer Dreams
II. Brutal, Fast
III. Adagio
IV. In Memory Of Joe Venuti
I. A Piacere, Drammatico-Allegro Con Fuoco
II. Andante
III. Like A Shiver-Attacca
IV. Moderato, Risoluto, All'arabesca
I. Allegro Brillante
II. White Night
III. Arabesque
IV. Jota

Customer Reviews:

Forty Years of Bolcom Violin Music.......2006-05-13

Hard on the heels of three earlier Naxos releases of music by one of America's best composers, William Bolcom (b. 1938) -- including the transcendent 'Songs of Innocence and of Experience' -- we have here his four violin and piano sonatas performed by a married violin/piano duo, Solomia Soroka and Arhtur Greene, who are colleagues of Bolcom's at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The first, written in 1956 when Bolcom was a freshman at the University of Washington, is astonishingly assured. (He did revise it many years later but says this was mostly just to excise some repetitive passages.) Its three movements culminate in a ten-minute set of variations subtitled 'Scenes from a Young Life,' based on a Beethovenian theme which still somehow manages to sound like an American folksong. Stylistic changes are wrung on the theme and it ends with a serene restatement, almost hymnlike, interrupted by a manic bitonal scalar expostulation by the two instrumentalists.

Sonata No. 2 (1978) was dedicated to the memory of the great jazz violinist, Joe Venuti, who had died while he was composing it. It was written for Sergiu Luca, who had been closely associated with Venuti. The first movement, called 'Summer Dreams,' is a swinging blues with a wild middle section. This is followed by 'Brutal, fast' which is tempestuously virtuosic for both players; it is almost Bartokian in its ferocity. III is an inward Adagio that ends in an ecstatic hymn. (Bolcom has the ability to write the simplest music that yet expresses deep feelings.) IV is directly influenced by the music of Venuti and is a sometimes dreamy, sometimes volatile 'Venutian salsa.'

The Third Sonata (1993) was commissioned to honor the 75th birthday of fabled violin teacher, Dorothy DeLay, by the Aspen Music Festival, where she had been a guiding presence for many years, and was premiered by one of her eminent pupils, Nadia Salerno-Sonnenberg. Subtitled 'Sonata Stramba' -- 'stramba' is Italian for 'weird' -- it is a four-movement, twenty-minute piece that is expressionist in impact until the fourth movement which sounds for all the world like a Piazzolla tango refracted through Bolcom's musical lens.

Sonata No. 4 (1996) has a spiky allegro first movement followed by II, 'White Night,' meant to convey insomnia -- not quite spooky, not quite frantic, sometimes musing, sometimes humming to itself. III and IV are an Arabesque and Jota, with Moorish/Spanish melisma. Are those snap pizzicati in III, or is the violinist knocking on the body of her violin? Whatever the source, this addition of percussion to the mix helps to convey an exotic flavor that is hypnotic.

These are attractive, powerfully crafted works that represent a significant addition to the canon of American violin sonatas. They are not quite as evocative as those by Ives, but they can be mentioned in the same breath as those masterworks. The performances by Soroka and Greene, praised in the very helpful booklet notes by the composer, can be assumed to be authoritative.

Scott Morrison

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A Trancendental Sense of Humor!!!!!!

Serious Fun!

Manufacturer: Albany Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Jay Reise: The Devil in the Flesh and Other Pieces

ASIN: B0009OPMTQ
Release Date: 2005-06-01

Tracks:

Come on Algernon
Maternity
Usherette's Blues
Musical Chairs
Pretty Plain
Someone is Sending Me Flowers
Christian Dior
Summer is A-Comin' In
Madeira, M'Dear
Ill Wind
A Word on My Ear
A Farmer's Boy
I'm Spending Hanukkah in Santa Monica
The Masochism Tango
The twelve Days After Christmas
The Green-Eyed Dragon
Lime Jello Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Surprise
The Shape of Things
I Never Do Anything Twice
Tamara, Queen of the Nile

Product Description

Jeremy Nicholas writes: Â“Phrases that chill the heart: Â‘I want a volunteer from the audience.Â’ Â‘Is this your car, sir?Â’ Â‘Have we shown you our holiday snaps?Â’ Or how about Â“TonightÂ’s lecture is on the art of writing comedy.Â” Go to that seminar and one thing you know for sure in advance is that you are consigning yourself to an evening devoid of any humor. Dissecting comedy, analyzing jokes or, in this case, comic songs, has all the allure of pulling off the wings of a butterfly to see how it flies. Setting off writing a comic song is rather like being your own crossword compiler, designing the grid, filling in all the squares, setting your own clues. No, itÂ’s not, really. ItÂ’s more like taking a pile of kidÂ’s building bricks and making a spectacular skyscraper from them. No, thatÂ’s not it either. But there are elements of both that are pertinent (a good word for seminars).Â” In other words, comedy (and comic songwriting) is hard work. Think of the last time you told a joke and it didnÂ’t come off. The material was right but maybe the delivery was off. But remember the joy when the response was perfect: not only did they laugh, but you sensed the anticipation: this is going to be funny. And for this album, the anticipation certainly pays off. Anyone who grew up in the 1950Â’s and 1960Â’s will recall the wonderful humor of the works of Tom Lehrer, the classic HMV (Angel in this country) LPÂ’s of Michael Flanders and Donald Swann. More recently weÂ’ve seen how Stephen Sondheim and William Bolcom can easily move back and forth between the serious and the humorous. And just to prove that comedy can be serious business, we have the participation of Marc-Andre Hamelin, one of the most highly regarded concert and recital pianists as accompanist and composer, joined by his wife Jody Karin Applebaum. Her resume includes performances of BachÂ’s Christmas Oratorio and St. Matthew Passion, HandelÂ’s Messiah, to contemporary works by Stephen Albert, Heitor Villa-Lobos and Gorecki. Together they have performed in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Canada, England and the Middle East. Together they have recorded music of Britten, Schoenberg, Bolcom, Wolpe, Weill, Satie and Poulenc. Here both they and you have some fun for a change!

Customer Reviews:

A Trancendental Sense of Humor!!!!!!.......2005-07-14

As an amateur pianist, I know how it is to play music of different styles for different occasions. I also have a slightly skewered sense of humor as well as a love of serious classical music. So on my shelves I have Dr. Demento as well as Mahler, Broadway Shows as well as Shostakovich. Marc-Andre Hamelin, one of the best pianist nowadays because he makes the most hardest piece of music sound easy, is married to Jody Karin Applebaum, a wonderful singer. They have recorded the Cabaret songs of Bolcom, Britten and Fredrich Hollaender and now turn their attention to comedy songs from many eras. Much of this repertoire is taken from Sarah Walker's Cd on Hyperion. Applebaum's diction is very clear and every song has a different mood and different voices and accents when needed. Comparisons between William Bolcom and Joan Morris are inevitable. Bolcom's "Lime Jello Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Surprise" is also included. The program notes are written by Jeremy Nicholas, who has provided us with very informative program notes for Hyperion CD's, and who has written some wonderful songs such as "Usherette's Blues" and "Place Settings". Tom Lehrer's classic "Masochism Tango" makes an appearance (which is also on one of Dr. Demento's greatest hits CD's).Hamelin's recordings and performances have one thing that many pianist's do not have-HUMOR (when it's needed, of course). Here, he gets to put it to good use, and you can tell that they're having fun. This is a live recording, so there is much laughing from the audience, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Hamelin keeps suprising me with his CD's and repertoire choices, and this is no exception. Let's have some more, please!!! (maybe Dave Frishberg, more Flanders and Swann?).

Average customer rating:

Cabaret Songs (Complete)

Manufacturer: Centaur
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Blue - The Complete Cabaret Songs of William Bolcom and Arnold Weinstein
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Cabaret Songs - Volumes 3 and 4: Voice and Piano
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Cabaret Songs - Volumes 1 and 2: Voice and Piano

ASIN: B0002YLCSS
Release Date: 2004-09-28

Tracks:

Ancient Cabaret (2001): On a Statue of a Runner
Ancient Cabaret (2001): Unlucky Eutichus
Ancient Cabaret (2001): An Encaustic Painting
Ancient Cabaret (2001): Timomarchus's Picture of Medea in Rome
Ancient Cabaret (2001): Praxiteles' Aphrodite
Cabaret Songs, Vol. I (1978): Over the Piano
Cabaret Songs, Vol. I (1978): Fur (Murray the Furrier)
Cabaret Songs, Vol. I (1978): He Tipped the Waiter
Cabaret Songs, Vol. I (1978): Waitin
Cabaret Songs, Vol. I (1978): Song of Black Max (As Told by de Kooning
Cabaret Songs, Vol. I (1978): Amor
Cabaret Songs, Vol. II (1981-1983): Places to Live
Cabaret Songs, Vol. II (1981-1983): Toothbrush Time
Cabaret Songs, Vol. II (1981-1983): Surprise!
Cabaret Songs, Vol. II (1981-1983): The Actor
Cabaret Songs, Vol. II (1981-1983): Oh Close the Curtain
Cabaret Songs, Vol. II (1981-1983): George
Cabaret Songs, Vol. III (1996): The Total Stranger in the Garden
Cabaret Songs, Vol. III (1996): Love in the Thirties
Cabaret Songs, Vol. III (1996): Thius King of Orf
Cabaret Songs, Vol. III (1996): Miracle Song
Cabaret Songs, Vol. III (1996): Satisfaction
Cabaret Songs, Vol. III (1996): Radical Sally
Cabaret Songs, Vol. IV (1996): Angels Are the Highest Form of Virtue
Cabaret Songs, Vol. IV (1996): Poet Pal of Mine
Cabaret Songs, Vol. IV (1996): Can't Sleep
Cabaret Songs, Vol. IV (1996): At the Last Lousy Moments of Love
Cabaret Songs, Vol. IV (1996): Lady Luck
Cabaret Songs, Vol. IV (1996): Blue

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Sensational Vocal Album by Carole Farley and William Bolcom
Great Songs, but Mind the Singer
The Songs of William Bolcom

William Bolcom: Songs
Carole Farley , William Bolcom , Farley , and Bolcom
Manufacturer: Naxos American
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

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William Bolcom - Songs of Innocence and of Experience (William Blake) / Slatkin, University of Michigan School of Music
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William Bolcom: Symphony No. 1; Symphony No. 3; Seatlle Slew Orchestral Suite

ASIN: B0009F4UBQ
Release Date: 2005-06-21

Tracks:

You Cannot Have Me Now - Or, the Military Orgy
Night, Make My Day
The Digital Wonder Watch
My Father The Ganster
The Last Days Of Mankind
This Is A Face
Since I Have You
The Rabbit
I Am Not Free
For Me
From Wandering
Beware
I Wouldn't Die
I Remember
For Everything
I Have Climbed
Pity Me Not Because The Light Of Day
How To Swing Those Obbligations Around
The Crazy Woman
Just Once
Never More Will The Wind
The Sage
O To Be A Dragon
The Bustle In A House
Night Practice
I Saw Eternity
The Fish
Costa Del Nowhere
Table
Mary
River Song
Messing About In Boats
Rat's Song
When We Built The Church

Customer Reviews:

Sensational Vocal Album by Carole Farley and William Bolcom.......2007-02-13

Carole Farley and William Bolcom have recorded this landmark CD, and I can easily understand why this CD received a GRAMMY nomination in the "Best Vocal Recording of the Year" and a 2nd GRAMMY nomination in the "Best Engineered Recording of the Year" category. It's indeed one of the best vocal albums of contemporary songs ever made. Carole Farley, who made her MET debut in the MET's first LULU production, seems to be just at home with Puccini, Poulenc, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich and even Latin American popular songs (her Lecuona songs album is extremely beautiful).
William Bolcom's accompaniment is brilliant, and the songs are a revelation.
J.B. (Pittsburgh, Pa)

Great Songs, but Mind the Singer.......2006-07-04

This is one of those discs where the listener has to balance the advantages of the program with the disadvantages of the performance. Bolcom is one of this country's most versatile and brilliant composers, and those qualities are demonstrated to great effect in the songs on this album. His piano playing is, as one would expect, also solid and expressive. The drawback here is Carole Farley. Although her diction and intonation are good, as far as tone-color goes, she seems to be a one-trick pony; and if you don't like that trick (opera singer trying to sound like what she thinks a musical theater singer sounds like), listening to her can get very tiring. So while I highly recommend the disc for its content, I suggest listening to excerpts first before buying just to make sure that the singer's voice doesn't drive you batty.

The Songs of William Bolcom.......2006-02-14

The American composer William Bolcom (b. 1938) is best-known for his large-scale setting of William Blake's "Songs of Innocence and Experience," which is available on a 3-CD Naxos set. This new collection of Bolcom's songs also on Naxos shows the composers's lifelong fascination with Blake. It includes an early lyrical setting of Blake's poem, "Mary" which deals with a beautiful and intelligent young woman and her rejection by her society. In the several torch and cabaret-style works it includes, the collection also shows Bolcom's attempts to fuse classical with popular styles of music. Bolcom also has done so in his piano music, much of which is heavily influenced by ragtime.

The songs on this CD are performed and selected by soprano Carole Farley with Bolcom himself at the piano. Ms. Farley has also recorded for Naxos' "American classics" series a selection of the songs of Ned Rorem with Rorem at the piano. Ms. Farley and Naxos are doing listeners a service by introducing them to the world of the American art song.

The highlight of this CD is the 20-minute song-cycle "I will breathe a mountain" in which Bolcom sets 11 poems by American women. The poems were selected by Alice Fulton, and they include Fulton's own "I will swing those obligatos around" in which the young singer describes a come-on from a boor. The song writing is declamatory in character with many twists, turns, and shouts in the vocal line. Only the setting of H.D.'s "Never More Will the Wind" is lyrical and flowing. Besides Fulton and H.D. the settings include poems by Millay, Gwendolwn Brooks (a poem called "The Crazy Woman" with appropriately wild shrieks) Anne Sexton, Denise Levertov, Marianne Moore (listen to what Ms. Farley makes of the poets wish to be a DRA' GON), Emily Dickinson (in a moving poem of the stillness of a home after death),Louise Bogan, May Swenson, and Elizabeth Bishop. "I will breathe a mountain" is an outstanding and moving contemporary American song-cycle and is in itself sufficient reason for hearing this recording.

The CD also includes a second exquisite cycle, "Songs to Dance" which sets ten miniature poems by George Montgomery. This is a work to be danced as well as sung, and it has apparently been performed live only once, by the composer, his wife, the soprano Joan Morris, and dancer, Dan Wagoner. It has never been recorded before. The work deserves to be heard and seen.

Many of the remaining works on this CD are cabaret-style theatrical pieces that Bolcom composed in collaboration with lyricist Arnold Weinstein. The best of these are two torch songs from a show called "Casino Paradise": Night Make my Day (a parody of the torch style which is sometimes performed straight) and "My Father the Gangster", in which a young woman laments how men are, understandably, worried about her father and afraid to approach her. The collection opens with a scream by Ms. Farley in the erotic novelty "You cannot have me now", about the affairs of the wife of a German officer, sung with a heavily inflected German accent and also set to words by Weinstein.

I enjoyed Bolcom's short setting of May Swenson's poem "The Digital Wonder Watch" with the tick-ticking in the piano. This song is a satire of technology, with the poet describing the features of her "wonderful watch" while asking: "Does it show how to wind up/a broken heart?" The other songs on the CD include the passionate "The Last Days of Mankind", conceived for rock singer Marianne Faithful, two eloquent settings of poems by Richard Tillinghast, and four concluding early collaborations between Bolcom and Weinstein.

This CD offers an opportunity to explore the world of American song in the works of a leading contemporary composer. The cycle, "I will breathe a mountain" will be a lasting achievement in American art song.

Robin Friedman

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