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NEW MUSIC - WITH A CHOCTAW STRAIN
The Keene Sentinel
http://www.sentinelsource.com/entertainment/entertainment_news/new-music-with-a-choctaw-strain/article_93db570c-d19d-571f-b53a-18d8bf7fe224.html
Jan 12 2012
NH
By Frank Behrens Contributing Writer SentinelSource.com | 0 comments
New music - with a Choctaw strain
I have been introduced to an interesting composer named George Quincy.
He was born in Oklahoma and is proud of his Choctaw heritage. Having
received two degrees from, and having taught at, The Juilliard School,
he garnered wide experience in the performance arts. Not least of
all his talents is composing; and he has sent me two CDs of his
non-vocal works.
I am reminded of the composer Alan Hovhaness, who discovered the music
of Armenia, burned all his earlier pieces, and then integrated Armenian
harmonies into his works. Quincy is fascinated with his Choctaw
traditions, but is equally comfortable with other musical influences.
For example, there is on the Troy label a CD titled "Choctaw Nights:
Chamber Music of George Quincy," as played by the New York Five. It
contains three pieces, the first of which is "Choctaw Nights," in
five movements: "Fanfare for a Choctaw Soul," "Trio for a Comet,"
"Snowy Io," "Europa" and "Jupiter." It compares favorably with Holst's
"The Planets," but its idiom is entirely different. Quincy writes
that he has always combined the myths of Greece and those of his tribe.
"Voices from Ground Zero" is atmospheric in an entirely different way.
The three movements here are "Canon for September Eleven," "Calling
Through the Night" and "Mirrors of Being." It is quite chilling.
"Shakespeare Nocturnes" are very moody, but I find no distinctions
between the Scottish thane, the Danish Prince and the Italian lovers
in the three sections: "The Scottish Play," "Hamlet" and "Romeo and
Juliet." I do enjoy them, however, as pure non-referential music.
A Cottage Records CD, "The Journey of the Red Feather," also featuring
the New York Five, is more characteristic of what I like in Quincy's
works. He says he sees feathers as "a beautiful and perfect expression
of the creative life force."
Specifically, the three pieces on this disc are about "life and
experience."
Each of the sections is in three parts. "The First Morning" is a
quintet about "coming into being." "The Great Spirit and the Child"
is a trio (flute, viola, piano) and describes a red feather watching
the child gain experience and individuality. The last section,
"The Journey of the Red Feather," is a quintet that celebrates the
variety of nature.
From: Baghdasarian
The Keene Sentinel
http://www.sentinelsource.com/entertainment/entertainment_news/new-music-with-a-choctaw-strain/article_93db570c-d19d-571f-b53a-18d8bf7fe224.html
Jan 12 2012
NH
By Frank Behrens Contributing Writer SentinelSource.com | 0 comments
New music - with a Choctaw strain
I have been introduced to an interesting composer named George Quincy.
He was born in Oklahoma and is proud of his Choctaw heritage. Having
received two degrees from, and having taught at, The Juilliard School,
he garnered wide experience in the performance arts. Not least of
all his talents is composing; and he has sent me two CDs of his
non-vocal works.
I am reminded of the composer Alan Hovhaness, who discovered the music
of Armenia, burned all his earlier pieces, and then integrated Armenian
harmonies into his works. Quincy is fascinated with his Choctaw
traditions, but is equally comfortable with other musical influences.
For example, there is on the Troy label a CD titled "Choctaw Nights:
Chamber Music of George Quincy," as played by the New York Five. It
contains three pieces, the first of which is "Choctaw Nights," in
five movements: "Fanfare for a Choctaw Soul," "Trio for a Comet,"
"Snowy Io," "Europa" and "Jupiter." It compares favorably with Holst's
"The Planets," but its idiom is entirely different. Quincy writes
that he has always combined the myths of Greece and those of his tribe.
"Voices from Ground Zero" is atmospheric in an entirely different way.
The three movements here are "Canon for September Eleven," "Calling
Through the Night" and "Mirrors of Being." It is quite chilling.
"Shakespeare Nocturnes" are very moody, but I find no distinctions
between the Scottish thane, the Danish Prince and the Italian lovers
in the three sections: "The Scottish Play," "Hamlet" and "Romeo and
Juliet." I do enjoy them, however, as pure non-referential music.
A Cottage Records CD, "The Journey of the Red Feather," also featuring
the New York Five, is more characteristic of what I like in Quincy's
works. He says he sees feathers as "a beautiful and perfect expression
of the creative life force."
Specifically, the three pieces on this disc are about "life and
experience."
Each of the sections is in three parts. "The First Morning" is a
quintet about "coming into being." "The Great Spirit and the Child"
is a trio (flute, viola, piano) and describes a red feather watching
the child gain experience and individuality. The last section,
"The Journey of the Red Feather," is a quintet that celebrates the
variety of nature.
From: Baghdasarian