Credits:

Beethoven

Description:

Composer Moravec (1957-), born in New York City in 1957, was a member of a boy's choir at an early age, which awakened his appreciation of Bach's works. After attending Harvard University, he did graduate work at Columbia University, then at Dartmouth College and Hunter College, where he received his doctorate in 1987. He is a very prolific composer and has recently been active in many fields, including opera. This album contains one of his finest works, the Violin Concerto, an unusual Shakuhachi Concerto, and two smaller pieces. Bachman, who plays the Violin Concerto, was the premiere performer of this piece and plays the difficult technical passages with ease. Moravec, who is also interested in traditional Japanese music, wrote the Shakuhachi Quintet for Kyo-Shin-An Arts, a fusion of Japanese instruments and Western music.At first, the music is romantic with strings only, but when the sound of the shakuhachi is added, a mysterious landscape opens up before your eyes. The piece "Eclibrium" was written especially for this album and is reminiscent in parts of Bach's Chaconne, which he admires. The last piece, written as a celebration of Maria Bachman's marriage in 2004, is intimate and tender music, almost like a Kreisler piece. This is one of his most special works, so please be aware that it is quite different from his usual style. Naxos Japan