Recordings:
Cello Music of Randall Svane
Richard Locker, cello
Martha Locker, piano
Leggiero Records (May 2005)
Now available on |
"Svane's works for cello are imaginative and show a strong understanding in writing for the instrument. The recording is excellent."
JANOS STARKER
"Svane has a beautiful and original musical voice."
NATHANIEL ROSEN
International Tchaikovsky Competition
Gold Medal Winner, 1978
"This is really beautiful and interesting music.
You have been able to use the sonorities of the cello to great effect..... Richard Locker is an ideal conveyor of the expressive possibilities contained in your compositions."
MICHAEL GREBANIER
Principal cellist, San Francisco Symphony
"Svane's three cello suites echo with lessons well-learned; one can hear the counterpoint of Bach, as well as the dark lyricism of Britten. Cellist Richard Locker's flair for detail helps make repeated listens a pleasure.
Another early piece, "Dreams Go Wandering Still," is a gem-like adagio for cello and piano in melodious neo-Romantic style, a la Barber. Locker and his niece, Martha Locker, paint a lovely picture with it."
Bradley Bambarger
NEWARK STAR LEDGER July 26, 2005
"You have to admire contemporary composers who choose to grapple with classical music's sacrosanct past, especially those with the chutzpah to take on the task of adding to a well-trodden repertoire niche. Are there any stones left unturned by J. S. Bach and Benjamin Britten when it comes to unaccompanied cello suites? Well, there must be a few pebbles lying around yet to be discovered. So like a determined prospector, composer Randall Svane decided to hunt in a stripped quarry in search of diamonds. The booty turns out to be these three expressive cello suites that demonstrate Svane's clear, straightforward approach and admiration towards his material."
-RN
NEW MUSIC HITBOX
July 2005
"American composer Randall Svane has made a substantial and important addition to the cello repertoire with his three lovely Unaccompanied Cello Suites and "Dreams Go Wandering Still...." (for cello and piano), written during the years 1979-1988. In the notes accompanying the disc he states that "admiration for the cello suites of J.S. Bach and Benjamin Britten inspired him to compose his own three cello suites."
Mr. Svane has an original voice, lyrical and emotional, using dissonance melodically and uneven meter as an expressive element. The Suites are based on classic forms but within that context their construction and content are unique.
A contemplative aria that expresses both tender lyricism and more intense passion, the title of "Dreams Go Wandering Still..." is borrowed from the the great Japanese haiku master Basho. In 1694, as he lay dying, Basho composed his final Haiku:
On a journey ill,
and over fields all withered, dreams
go wandering still."
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