Aaron Avshalomov/Jacob Avshalomov
Liner Notes   Cat. No. NWCR667     Release Date: 2007-02-01
Margaret Moore, piano; Portland Youth Philharmonic; Jacob Avshalomov, conductor; Oslo Philharmonic; Igor Buketoff, conductor; Charles Matheson, tenor; Mid-America Chorale; Larry Smith, organ; John Dexter, conductor


Born and raised in Siberia, Aaron Avshalomov as a boy was fascinated by the music and theater that flourished among the Chinese in the cities where he lived. Although he intended taking up residence in the U.S. as early as 1917—staying here for a year then, and for three-and-a-half years during the mid- twenties, Avshalomov made his home for the better part of thirty years in China, steeping himself in its native music. Only in 1947 did he finally come to America for good, following the outbreak of the civil war that led to the establishment of the communist Chinese People’s Republic.

Largely self-taught as a composer, Aaron Avshalomov made his main livelihood in books during the China years, first in Peking and Tientsin, and finally in Shanghai where for fifteen years he was head librarian of the Shanghai Municipal Library. Besides the works recorded here, his catalogue includes several ballets on Chinese themes, two operas, a violin concerto, a flute concerto, songs, and four symphonies, three of them written during his later years in America.

Jacob Avshalomov was born in 1919 in Tsingtao, China of an American mother and a Siberian-born father, the composer Aaron Avshalomov. The young Avshalomov received early musical instruction from his father, and was educated at American and British schools in China before working in factories in Tientsin, Shanghai, and Peking. In 1937 he returned to the United States with his mother. He subsequently studied in Los Angeles with Ernst Toch, and spent two years in Portland, Oregon at Reed College in the Junior Symphony (now the Portland Youth Philharmonic) and studied with its conductor, Jacques Gershkovitch. He subsequently studied composition and orchestration at the Eastman School with Bernard Rogers


This title, originally issued on the CRI label, is now available as a burn-on-demand CD (CD-R) or download in MP3/320, FLAC or WAV formats. CD-Rs come in a protective sleeve; no print booklet or jewel case included. Liner notes are accessible via the link above.

Various Artists

Aaron Avshalomov/Jacob Avshalomov

MP3/320 $9.99
FLAC $9.99
WAV $9.99
CD-R $9.99
CD-Rs come in a protective sleeve; no print material or jewel case included.
A *.pdf of the notes may be accessed here free of charge.
   Liner Notes



Track Listing

Piano Concerto in G: I - Allegro non troppo
Aaron Avshalomov
Buy
Piano Concerto in G: II - Adagio
Aaron Avshalomov
Buy
Piano Concerto in G: III - Finale: Allegro moderato
Aaron Avshalomov
Buy
Peking Hutungs: Symphonic Poem on Chinese Street Sounds and Cries
Aaron Avshalomov
Buy
Taking of T'ung Kuan
Jacob Avshalomov
Buy
Prophecy, for mixed Chorus, Cantor, and Organ
Jacob Avshalomov
Buy