Track Listing

1. Serenata for chamber orchestra: 1. Quarter Note = 63
2. Serenata for chamber orchestra: 2. Quarter Note = 40
3. Serenata for chamber orchestra: 3. Quarter Note = 52
4. Lyric for strings
5. Poème for violin & orchestra: 1. Eighth Note = 88
6. Poème for violin & orchestra: 2. Eighth Note = 72
7. Poème for violin & orchestra: 2. Eighth Note = 120
8. Orpheus for chamber orchestra: I.
9. Orpheus for chamber orchestra: II.
10. Orpheus for chamber orchestra: III.
11. Orpheus for chamber orchestra: IV.
12. Orpheus for chamber orchestra: V.
13. Orpheus for chamber orchestra: VI.
14. Folk Songs for Orchestra: 1. Going to lay down my sword and shield
15. Folk Songs for Orchestra: 2. And they crucified my Lord
16. Folk Songs for Orchestra: 3. My Lord, what a morning
17. Folk Songs for Orchestra: 4. O Peter, go ring dem bells

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75693 in Music
• Released on: 1998-02-03
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.com
Although George Walker was the first African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize in music (for his Whitman-inspired cantata Lilacs in 1996), his compositions are not nearly as well known as they deserve to be. This release of orchestral selections--much like the 1994 compilation Portrait--offers an inviting entrée into Walker's musical world. It includes the piece that marked the composer's debut in 1946, Lyric for Strings, along with examples of more recent projects, such as the tone poem-cum-narrator Orpheus from 1994. Walker's music is often a rich amalgam of formal design with disparate elements--folk idioms, serial techniques, jazz rhythms, unusual collages of timbre--that are fused into a highly personalized, questing voice. Lyric, with its hint of Samuel Barber, seems to announce a gently guarded elegiac quality that recurs in various guises within subsequent compositions, such as the lovely Poème for Violin and Orchestra. Orpheus draws on one of music's central myths for a tautly constructed musical narrative adorned by Walker's imaginatively fluent orchestration. An excellent example of Walker's modus operandi can be found in the Folk Songs for Orchestra. These moving transformations of simple melodic elements--encased like gems within Walker's sensitive, original, meditative settings--into far-ranging statements invite repeated listening. --Thomas May

Customer Reviews

beauty from the woodwork
this is a fantastic cd, and it really is a shame walker isn't any more well known. when chicago radio station WNIB switched from classical, Walker's peice Lyric was the one that filled in their final classical slot. thus was my introduction to walker so i bought the cd. it's gorgeous and saturated with emtotion, all the works on this cd have huge climaxes and are thick with inner orchestral voices. none of that superficial first violin dominance. Lyric (for strings) is almost Adagio for Strings-esque, in fact when i heard it played on WNIB i almost mistook it for that, but it's a bit less ominous. this comes highly recomended. time to spread the works of walker

In complete agreement
I completely agree with Richard's assessment of this composer. My first exposure, sadly, was the same as his, having heard George Walker only for the first time when WNIB signed off for the final time. Walker's work is deserving of widespread acclaim. It is difficult to place importance on work of our time. We all lack distance in our perspective. But Walker's mind is brilliant and his work on "Lyric" is enormously complex, compassionate, emotive and equal to the works of many past masters. Vaughn Williams comes to mind. High praise? You bet. At the time I type this, this particular disc is not available. But search it out and you will not be disappointed.