Album Notes

An amazing combination of very modern writing ( some 12 tone) with an extremely expressive sound. The amazement is that counterpoint can sound so meaningful--it's been a long time.
Please check out www.vanslyckmusic for effective compositions for almost every instrument.

Nicholas Van Slyck, who died in 1983, was a Boston composer and teacher who wrote strong, well-crafted, and melodically distinctive music. The structures are mostly classical, the harmonic language basically tonal with plenty of spice, color, and ambiguity. The performances from various venues are vigorous and full of character, especially William Purvis’s juicy French horn and Trudi Van Slyck’s booming piano in Forest Music from 1979.The composer’s widow also turns in an eloquent performance of the 1966 Twelve Cadenzas, a confident set of pieces rich in polyphony and colorful themes. Irma Rogell makes a gorgeously clatterly sound in an homage to Scarlatti from 1963 and two suites for harpsichord, while Thomas Elliott offers contrast in ‘Fantasia Numerica’ for solo bassoon. The program celebrates not only a neglected composer but a vital New England music scene that he helped create. –Sullivan, American Record Guide, 2010.