Music of Noël Lee
Liner Notes   Cat. No. NWCR798     Release Date: 1998-01-01

e Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique; Jean-Pierre Marty, Conductor; András Adorján, flute; Ole Böhn, violin; Noël Lee, piano, harpsichord

Noël Lee, born in China in 1924 of American parents, received his early musical education in Lafayette, Indiana. He studied at Harvard University with Walter Piston, Irving Fine, and Tillman Merritt—interrupted by thirty-eight months of military service during World War II—and at the New England Conservatory of Music. In 1948, he went to Paris to continue his education under the guidance of Nadia Boulanger.

Boulanger wrote:  “Noël Lee is one of the finest musicians I have met. Composer with a real personality, he has refinement and strength, an acute perception of the resources of his instrument, a sense of the hierarchy of values and a total understanding of the works.”

Among the many awards he received in early years are from the Lili Boulanger Composition Prize, the Young Composers’ Contest of the Louisville Orchestra, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In recent years the Cultural Affairs Ministry in France and the French National Radio have given him three important commissions—an unusual distinction for a composer not of French nationality. In 1986, a second prize in the Arthur Honegger Composition Contest for a set of Piano Etudes—the first prize going to György Ligeti—and in 1991, the Charles Oulmont Prize were awarded him by the Foundation of France.

Aaron Copland wrote: “Here is a composer who writes his music with his eyes wide open, and with a kind of cool intensity that defines his personality...Music to him is a natural language, a language he uses without strain or mannerism. ...no matter how complex the textures may be, the musical discourse is always lucid and reasoned.”

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.

Noël Lee

Music of Noël Lee

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

Caprices on the name Schoenberg: I. Proclamation (Deciso)
NoÌÇl Lee
Buy
Caprices on the name Schoenberg: II. Exhortation (Allegro angoscioso)
NoÌÇl Lee
Buy
Caprices on the name Schoenberg: III. Stanza (Andantino)
NoÌÇl Lee
Buy
Caprices on the name Schoenberg: IV. Challenge
NoÌÇl Lee
Buy
Caprices on the name Schoenberg: V. Splotches, Streaks (Scherzoso)
Le Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique, NoÌÇl Lee
Buy
Caprices on the name Schoenberg: VI. Synchrony (Energico, ritmico)
NoÌÇl Lee
Buy
Caprices on the name Schoenberg: VII. Suffix (un poco mosso)
NoÌÇl Lee
Buy
Convergences
NoÌÇl Lee
Buy
Five Preludes Prolonged: I. Imprint
NoÌÇl Lee
Buy
Five Preludes Prolonged: II. Prelude at the second
NoÌÇl Lee
Buy
Five Preludes Prolonged: III. Interval
NoÌÇl Lee
Buy
Five Preludes Prolonged: IV. Prelude as Tango
NoÌÇl Lee
Buy
Five Preludes Prolonged: V. Non-measured Prelude
NoÌÇl Lee
Buy
Dialogues
NoÌÇl Lee
Buy