Chan Ka Nin

Average customer rating: Three Hits and a Mess

Canadian Premieres Manufacturer: Analekta ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Classical | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B0000DF5K6 Release Date: 2007-04-06

Tracks:

1. Give Me Phoenix Wings To Fly: I
2. Give Me Phoenix Wings To Fly: II
3. Give Me Phoenix Wings To Fly: III
4. And The Masks Evoke...
5. Old Photographs
6. Trio No.2 For Violin, Cello And Piano: I
7. Trio No.2 For Violin, Cello And Piano: II
8. Trio No.2 For Violin, Cello And Piano: III

Customer Reviews:

Three Hits and a Mess.......2004-01-06

The only composer represented here that I'd ever heard of before is Kelly-Marie Murphy (b. 1964). She has become in the past few years one of Canada's most-played composers and with good reason. Her 'Give Me Phoenix Wings to Fly,' played here, is a 13-minute, three-movement blockbuster. Inspired by the phoenix myth, and specifically by Keats's 'But when I am consumed in this fire/Give me new Phoenix wings to fly at my desire,' and also by a few lines from Robert Graves: 'Blow on a dead man's embers/And a live flame will start,' the music does not attempt a program per se but there are plenty of flickering passages, and places where one can imagine flames erupting ferociously. Mostly, though, the piece can be enjoyed as absolute music. Murphy's rhythmic sense is unfailing invigorating, if subtle. (And it must be said that the Gryphons manage incredible ensemble with the piece's more complex cross-rhythms.) Although not recognizably tonal much of the time, there do seem to be moments of tonal centering, particularly during the piece's more restful passages. The work is notable for its continually surprising eventfulness. There is a good deal of solo work for the three musicians and each is virtuosic. I particularly gasped at the cellist's quasi-cadenza followed by a manic flight by the pianist at the beginning of III. Wow! In looking on the Internet I see that the Gryphons have played this piece all over. Huzzah to that! Now if some other piano trios would take up this piece . . .

'Old Photographs,' by Christos Hatzis (b. 1953, a professor at the University of Toronto) is a piano trio extracted from a much larger multimedia work called 'Constantinople,' which is still apparently in the process of being written; it will ultimately involve mezzo-soprano, Arabic singer, violin, cello, piano, and electronic audio as well as dancers, film projections, and stage set. This piano trio, however, stands on its own and in its 10+ minutes explores in a Romantic/Impressionist/jazz idiom a nostalgia that is palpable, certainly appropriate for its name, 'Old Photographs.' It begins with a slow and serenely beautiful piano solo, eventually joined by the violin and cello, that would not be amiss in something by Bill Evans or Denny Zeitlin, but about five minutes into the piece a Piazzollan tango emerges (and so much better than other non-Latin composers' efforts I've heard recently [the limp tango in Thomas Adès's 'Powder Her Face' comes to mind]). This sultry tango will demand you look for a dance partner. And toward the end are some piano jazz licks that remind one of that earlier Torontonian composer, Oscar Peterson. An entirely likable piece, this.

'Piano Trio No. 2, by Gary Kulesha (b. 1954, another composition professor at Toronto) is cast in the usual fast-slow-fast movements. Although generally tonal, there are occasional quarter-tones or bending of tones, asymmetric rhythms and some Webernian fragmentation. The overall impression is one of spontaneity, but closer inspection reveals a tight construction in the outer movements. Rhythmic vitality informs both outer movements. The first is rhythmically obsessive, as if it was trying to work its way out of a dilemma. It ends with almost inaudible piano and then strings asking an 'unanswered question.' The middle movement is rhapsodic and unapologetically melancholic. The recurrent unison passages in the third movement sound to me like a Beat poet reciting a bop epic. The whole thing ends in a exciting flurry.

The only disappointment here is " and the masks evoke..." by Chan Ka Nin (b. 1949, you guessed it, he teaches at the University of Toronto). At almost 18 minutes it overstays its welcome. The pretentious program supplied by the composer goes on about 'people whose culture has been suppressed' and how the piece 'pays tribute to those who, despite the repression they have suffered, rise tranquilly over their obstacles.' That is as may be, but the music itself is, to my ears, a lot of sound effects and noodling that goes nowhere and doesn't convey much along the way. There are some electronic sounds (from a theremin?; the composer has a degree in electrical engineering, we're told) and they're actually rather interesting. And there are some momentarily interesting drumming sounds in the low piano and cello.

The Gryphon Trio is a Canadian group consisting of violinist Annalee Patipatanakoon, cellist Roman Borys, and pianist Jamie Parker. They are excellent individually and as an ensemble, and sound to have really gotten into the heart of all these pieces which are, after all, being given their recording premières here. Analekta give them lifelike sound.

TT=60:41

Scott Morrison

Average customer rating:

Amici Ludwig van Beethoven , Alexander von Zemlinsky , Ka Nin Chan , David Hetherington , Patricia Parr , and Joaquin Valdepenas Manufacturer: Summit(Classical) ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Beethoven | Beethoven, Ludwig van | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Zemlinsky | Zemlinsky, Alexander von | ( Z ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Similar Items: Defined The Opera Band Opera Band Il Divo Beyond Imagination ASIN: B0000038JO Release Date: 1994-01-04

Tracks:

1. Allegro
2. Adagio
3. Tema (Allegretto) Con Variazioni
4. Allegro Ma Non Troppo
5. Andante
6. Allegro
7. Among Friends

Average customer rating:

Nouveaux Territoires Manufacturer: Atma Classique ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music ASIN: B00005JYAC Release Date: 2003-01-01

Average customer rating:

Lament on the Death of Music Manufacturer: Innova Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music Hard Bop | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Styles | Music Modern Postbebop | Jazz | Styles | Music Bebop & Post-Bop | Compilations | Jazz | Styles | Music ASIN: B00000FCIZ Release Date: 1999-03-30

Tracks:

1. Lament On The Death Of Music
2. Sax Qt
3. Qt: I. Allegro
4. Qt: II. Andnte Sostenuto
5. Qt: III. Scherzo
6. Qt: IV. Rondo
7. Chm Sym Qt: I. Allegro
8. Chm Sym Qt: II. Mayn Rue Plats
9. Chm Sym Qt: III. Menuetto, Feroce
10. Chm Sym Qt: IV. Presto

Average customer rating:

Orchestral Works by Schafer, Pauk, Dusatko and others Manufacturer: Cbc ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General Contemporary | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music ASIN: B00005NBZY Release Date: 2001-07-01

Tracks:

1. Dream Rainbow Dream Thunder
2. Echo Spirit Isle
3. Traces Of Becoming
4. Ecstasy
5. Into The Distant Stillness...

Average customer rating:

Shadow Box Manufacturer: Centrediscs ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Psalms | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music ASIN: B000009I68 Release Date: 1993-08-25

Average customer rating:

The Charmer Manufacturer: Centrediscs ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Sonatas | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Oboe | Reeds & Winds | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music ASIN: B000000U31 Release Date: 1996-12-17

Tracks:

1. The Charmer - Lawrence Cherney
2. River of Fire - Lawrence Cherney/Erica Goodman
3. Eleven Miniatures 1
4. Eleven Miniatures 2
5. Eleven Miniatures 3
6. Eleven Miniatures 4
7. Eleven Miniatures 5
8. Eleven Miniatures 6
9. Eleven Miniatures 7
10. Eleven Miniatures 8
11. Eleven Miniatures 9
12. Eleven Miniatures 10
13. Eleven Miniatures 11
14. Poem
15. San Rocco - Lawrence Cherney/Russell Hartenberger/Elora Festival Singers/Noel Edison
16. Vouvary - Lawrence Cherney

Average customer rating: Great music, bad cellist Worth the purchase for "Confessional" alone

This Is the Colour of My Dreams Manufacturer: Cbc ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music ASIN: B00005S6VY Release Date: 2001-11-20

Tracks:

1. This Is The Colour Of My Dreams
2. Soulmate
3. Confessional
4. Concerto For Cello: Adagio-Allegro
5. Concerto For Cello: Cadenza-Adagio
6. Concerto For Cello: Allegro

Customer Reviews:

Great music, bad cellist.......2004-07-20

Worth the purchase for "Confessional" alone.......2003-11-20

Average customer rating:

Quartet for the End of Time Olivier Messiaen , Chan Ka Nin , Amici Chamber Ensemble , David Hetherington , Patricia Parr , Joaquin Valdepenas , and Shmuel Ashkenasi Manufacturer: Summit(Classical) ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Messiaen | Messiaen, Olivier | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music ASIN: B0000038K5 Release Date: 1995-10-24

Tracks:

1. Liturgy Of crystal
2. Vocalise, For The Angel Who Announces The End Of Time
3. Abyss Of The Birds
4. Interlude
5. Praise To The Eternity Of Jesus
6. Dance Of Fury, For The Seven Trupets
7. A Mingling Of Rainbows For The Angel Who Announces The End Of Time
8. Praise To The Immortality Of Jesus
9. I Think That I Shall Never See...

Average customer rating:

Wild Honey Manufacturer: Atma Classique ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Classical | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B000A2GVBU Release Date: 2005-03-01

Music Composers:

1. Chang, Yu-Hui
2. Charpentier, Gustave
3. Charpentier, Marc-Antoine
4. Chausson, Ernest Amédée
5. Chávez, Carlos
6. Chen Yi
7. Cherubini, Mario Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore
8. Chihara, Paul
9. Chilcott, Bob
10. Chopin, Frederic

Music Composers

Music Composers