Carnegie Chamber Players: Maria Bachmann, violin; Richard Goldsmith, clarinet; Yari Bond, cello; and Jon Klibonoff, piano; Rolf Schulte, violin; Eric Bartlett, cello; and Eliza Garth, piano; Anthony de Mare, piano

Speculum Musicae: Susan Palma, flute/piccolo; Allen Blustine, clarinets; Benjamin Hudson, violin; Eric Bartlett, cello; Donald Palma, Conductor

Regarding the quartet Circular Dreams (1991), the title suggests the way the principal themes in this piece repeat and evolve as they describe spiral trajectories through time. The musical narrative follows the progress of recurring dreams as they continually leave and return to their points of origin, further enriched and intensified with every cycle...

The Open Secret was composed at the American Academy in Rome in the autumn of 1984 (revised in 1990). My temperament at the time was very much affected by the strangely harmonious coexistence of classical ruins with monuments from all the succeeding historical eras in that most enchanted city. Many of the post-Empire buildings that were constructed using materials from the actual ruins themselves contribute markedly to this impression. Some of the musical materials here—open fifths, simple modal melodies—recall an ancient flavor, and reflect my desire to use traditional, perhaps anachronistic, materials in a fresh context. The “open secret” is that the raw stuff of present and future invention is always around us, ever available to be renewed and refreshed.

Music Remembers for piano solo was composed for Tony de Mare in Rome in the Winter of 1985. It begins with a series of brief contrasting juxtapositions: mercurial, violent outbursts alternating with snatches of tender lyricism. These sections become gradually longer and more substantive and eventually settle into a groove until at last the music evaporates into the ether disappearing entirely.

I imagine the Kingdom Within (1987) as following the contours of an inner spiritual landscape. The piece divides into four large sections: a slow introduction presenting the rising four-note motive from which the rest of the piece evolves, a lively section, an extended contemplative passage that lies at the structural heart of the piece, and finally a highly energized concluding section that unifies and resolves the conflicting tendencies and materials.  —Paul Moravec


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.