A Miriam Gideon Retrospective
Liner Notes   Cat. No. 80393     Release Date: 1990-01-01

Speculum Musicae; The New York Camerata

There is in American painting a dynamic movement known as abstract expressionism, led by such well-known artists as Jackson Pollack, Franz Kline, and Willem de Kooning.

In Music there is an equivalent--and equally important--development, which we call atonal expressionism. Its lineage stretches from Carl Ruggles and Roger Sessions to Stefan Wolpe and Elliott Carter. The work of Miriam Gideon stands out as a major and individualistic realization of this style.

One of the characteristics of abstract expressionism is that it is highly intense and personal; nonrepresentational art, free of references to the outside world, must of necessity build from its own premises and reflect an interior emotional world. This experience is exactly what we find in Miriam Gideon's music. There is a drama and lyricism here, highly controlled yet nevertheless personal, economical yet full of fantasy.

Although she is well known as an instrumental composer (until recently, instrumental music has dominated new-musical life), Gideon's fondness for the voice and her use of lyric and dramatic poetry play a major role in her output, which includes an opera, several choral works, and many songs and song cycles with piano and various instrumental ensembles.

Through the choice of texts and their settings, a dialogue is established between the poet's images of love, nature, or death and the composer's lyric fantasy--highly vocal, freely intense, and atonal. The music on this recording well represents this evocative side of her work.

Various Artists

A Miriam Gideon Retrospective

MP3/320 $16.00
WAV $16.00
CD $26.00

Track Listing

Steeds of Darkness: I. Moderato
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Steeds of Darkness: II. Rather fast
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Suite for Clarinet and Piano: I. Allegro
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Suite for Clarinet and Piano: II. Moderato
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Suite for Clarinet and Piano: III. Allegretto
Miriam Gideon
Buy
The Shooting Starres Attend Thee: I. The Shooting Starres Attend Thee
Miriam Gideon
Buy
The Shooting Starres Attend Thee: II. Give Me More Love, or More Disdaine
Miriam Gideon
Buy
The Shooting Starres Attend Thee: IV. Interlude
Miriam Gideon
Buy
The Shooting Starres Attend Thee: IV. Know, Celia, Since Thou Art So Proud
Miriam Gideon
Buy
The Shooting Starres Attend Thee: V. Around my Neck an Amulet
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Eclogue for Flute and Piano: I. Lively and singing
Miriam Gideon
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Eclogue for Flute and Piano: II. Andantino
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Böhmischer Krystall
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Creature to Creature: I. The Fly
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Creature to Creature: II. Spider
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Creature to Creature: III. Snake
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Creature to Creature: IV. Firefly
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Creature to Creature: V. Hoot-Owl
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Creature to Creature: VI. Interlude
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Creature to Creature: VII. L'Envoi
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Leise Zieht Durch Mein Gemüt
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Lockung
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Vergiftet Sind Meine Lieder
Miriam Gideon
Buy
She Weeps Over Rahoon
Miriam Gideon
Buy
The Too-Late Born
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Four Epitaphs: I. Epitaph for a Wag in Mauchline
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Four Epitaphs: II. Epitaph on Wee Johnie
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Four Epitaphs: III. Epitaph on the Author
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Four Epitaphs: IV. Monody on a Lady Famed for Her Caprice
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Mixco
Miriam Gideon
Buy
To Music
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Poet to Poet: I. An Ode for Ben Jonson
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Poet to Poet: II. To Thomas Moore
Miriam Gideon
Buy
Poet to Poet: III. Ave atque vale (In Memory of Charles Baudelaire)
Miriam Gideon
Buy