Track Listing

1. Trio No. 1 for Violin, Cello and Piano, Op. 32
2. Concerto for Violin, Piano & String Quartet, Op. 28
3. Two Pieces for Violin and Viola, Op. 4
4. Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano, Op. 46
5. Trio No. 2 for Violin, Cello and Piano, OP. 77

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #315222 in Music
• Released on: 2004-09-28
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
Peter G. Davis writes: "Spanning the years 1978 to 2001, the music on this disc gives a useful overview of the musical aims and stylistic development of a prominent, productive, and often provocative American composer between the ages of 17 and 40. It is a useful mini-survey and a revealing one as well. All five works are written for small instrumental combinations, an exposed medium in which no composer has ever found an easy place to hide. In chamber music every note counts, and the composer must make the performer as well as the listener feel actively engaged with the music's substance and forward progress at all times, if the piece is to emerge as a fully satisfying listening experience. Anyone who listens closely to Lowell Liebermann's scores has to be impressed by their ability to do precisely this in music notable for its clarity and textural lucidity. Some will be tempted to call these works neo-romantic, neo-classical, post-modern, or any number of other fashionable terms, most of them not very helpful. Labels are often misleading, but one thing is certain; Liebermann is not concerned with startling his audiences by experimenting with radical new structures, never-before-heard musical sounds, or extended instrumental techniques. Indeed, he adopts a more conservative stance that apparently stings certain critics for whom novelty is absolutely essential if a new work is to be considered artistically valid. So much the worse for them. Liebermann is too busy composing to enter into such aesthetic arguments. The title of each piece on this disc honestly describes what it is, and in terms that composers as far back as Haydn and Mozart would recognize. Liebermann's music falls gratefully upon the ear, but it is filtered through the sensibility of a composer who clearly lives in our time and is fully aware of the tumultuous musical upheavals of the past century, even as he consciously makes the choice to offer us something that rises above the fray. Liebermann writes music that above all strives for balance and beauty - and braininess as well, for all those who care to dig beneath the surface. It is a healthy sign of the times that a composer can once again choose to be accessible in this way and not be automatically squashed and discouraged by the mandarins of contemporary music. Such was the fate of many American composers active in the generation that preceded Liebermann, and the new music scene is still in recovery from those bad old days."

Amazon.com
Lowell Liebermann, born in 1961, is a prolific, successful composer who seems immune to the latest fashions in sound-effects and other innovations. His music is tonal and conservative, technically first-rate, unfailingly interesting, and unabashedly expressive and beautiful. The four works recorded here were composed between 1978 and 2001. The earliest, Two Pieces for Violin and Viola, sound most contemporary: a bit dissonant, linear, contrapuntal, combative; one is lyrical, the other vigorous. The other works are all cast in one continuous movement divided into distinct sections. The Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Quartet begins with a tinkling piano solo in the high register that recurs at key points. The soloists trade and develop lovely melodies and brilliant runs, the quartet comments. The Violin and Piano Sonata features strong contrasts of mood and texture; its flowing lines, high violin register and piano figurations are reminiscent of Prokofiev. The program begins and ends with a Piano Trio. No. 1 opens with an expansive stratospheric violin melody over a delicate, impressionistic accompaniment. The strings converse, the mood becomes agitated, building to several climaxes. No. 2 is the program's most recent work. Two impetuous, driving sections, punctuated by crashing chords, flank a calm, somber, somewhat eerie slow part that grows in intensity and builds to a passionate climax. The playing is superb. Terwilliger's tone is ravishing; his duo with Cooperstock is already renowned worldwide for its style and polish, and Diaz fits in seamlessly. The Ying Quartet lends empathetic support. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews

chamber music of lowell liebermann
This is a good recording or worthwhile music. Mr. Liebermann uses a musical language which audiences can understand, and has a genuine lyric gift. The performers capture this romantic ardor well.