Album

Evan Ziporyn's extensive experience with Balinese gamelan and his background with Bang On A Can are evident in the four works for orchestra or wind ensemble on this CD. The fact that the pieces each inhabit a distinct sound world is a testament to his versatility and range as a composer. What the pieces have in common is their organic development—a satisfying sense of inevitability that is never predictable or formulaic. The Boston Modern Orchestra Project, conducted by Gil Rose, brings its considerable energy and virtuosity to these performances.

The CD opens and closes with the most upbeat pieces. Frog's Eye is a bright and attractive work that begins by combining the simple gestural elements and additive processes of minimalism to create contrapuntal and textural complexity, and eventually coalesces into a driving rhythmic unison at the end. Drill, ebullient and jazz inspired, features the composer as bass clarinet soloist.

The Ornate Zither and the Nomad Flute is a setting for voice and wind ensemble of two poems, one by ninth century Chinese poet Li Shangyin and the other by contemporary American W.S. Merwin. Rather than setting the texts sequentially, Ziporyn intermingles the Chinese and English. The setting is notable for its orchestration, which is magically sparkling, while maintaining contrapuntal and harmonic simplicity, and for the lyrical vocal writing.

War Chant, which is described as evoking the sounds heard inside an airplane during take off, flight, and landing, is the most musically abstract piece on the CD and is less indebted to the influence of the gamelan than the other works. Like Penderecki's Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima (to which it bears an occasional superficial sonic resemblance), it does not require knowledge of the program to be fully appreciated. Its rhythmic and gestural inventiveness, and unexpected juxtapositions, makes it consistently engaging.

© Stephen Eddins, All Music Guide

CD 1
Evan Ziporyn Composer Frog's Eye Work Boston Modern Orchestra Project Wind Ensemble Ensemble, Boston Modern Orchestra Project Orchestra, Gil Rose Conductor
1	Frog's Eye	12:47			$1.99
Evan Ziporyn Composer The Ornate Zither and the Nomad Flute, for soprano and wind ensemble Work Boston Modern Orchestra Project Wind Ensemble Ensemble, Anne Harley Soprano, Boston Modern Orchestra Project Orchestra, Gil Rose Conductor
2	The Ornate Zither and the Nomad Flute, for soprano and wind ensemble	15:29			$2.49
Evan Ziporyn Composer War Chant Work Boston Modern Orchestra Project Wind Ensemble Ensemble, Boston Modern Orchestra Project Orchestra, Gil Rose Conductor
3	War Chant	13:57			$2.49
Evan Ziporyn Composer Drill, for bass clarinet and wind ensemble Work Evan Ziporyn Clarinet (Bass), Boston Modern Orchestra Project Wind Ensemble Ensemble, Boston Modern Orchestra Project Orchestra, Gil Rose Conductor
4	Drill, for bass clarinet and wind ensemble	11:15			$1.99