Michael Torke: Three
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Composer: Michael TorkeConductor: Yoel Levi
Conductor: David Alan Miller
Conductor: Michael Torke
Conductor: David Zinman
Orchestra: Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Orchestra: Albany Symphony Orchestra
Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra of London
Orchestra: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2004-11-02
Music Label: Ecstatic Records
Soundtracks:
- Javelin - Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
- First Movement - John Harle
- Second Movement - John Harle
- Third Movement - John Harle
- December - Philharmonia Orchestra
- Run - Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
- Charcoal - David Zinman
Music reviews of Michael Torke: Three
Music Review: MUSICAL IDEALISM FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW
Rating: 5 Stars
"If we do not encourage the music of today, there will be no music of tomorrow." Serge Koussevitzky
Post-minimalism? Michael Torke, our greatest living composer in what can broadly be described as "classical music", has a devoted listener following, but has never been accepted by the media intelligentsia. Consistently condemned with faint praise or ignored entirely, Torke's vigorous, adventuresome work is nothing short of tomorrow's music today. His compositions are often compared to those of Stravinsky, Debussy, Prokofiev, or Copland, and cynical critics are apt to resort to descriptions such as "bombastic" or "crowd-pleasing". Of course anything discovered by audiences before receiving approval from academia is quickly dismissed by our society's Know-It-Alls, and exhilarating, forward-looking music (like the five compositions found on this disc) is always viewed with suspicion. Torke is no longer subject to conforming to the demands of record-company bean-counters, having formed his own (appropriately named) Ecstatic Records in 2003. Featuring four different conductors (including Torke) and four different orchestras, Three is a compiliation of some of his best work from the early 1990s.
So what does this controversial music actually sound like? Torke (b.1961) has already developed an individual, personal sound-world, as distinctive as a thumb print. While each work moves to the beat of its own drummer, one quickly begins to recognize fluttering, frothy flutes, quirky woodwind lines, vigorous strings and percussion, churning rhythms, big, emphatic brass statements, and staccato orchestral tuttis. Small repetitive thematic fragments work their way into your consciousness. Occasionally there will be a brooding, plaintive line and a few dissonances, but for the most part this is optimistic, energetic, extroverted music.
Take Charcoal, for instance. This is a real orchestral workout, almost Torke's La Mer. The vibrant Javelin, and Run both elicit images of flight and athletic movement. December is a string serenade of a repetitive, almost percussive nature. For something really different, listen to the three movement Saxophone Concerto, written in 1994 for John Harle. From jaunty to howling, the soloist plays clarinet-like ostinatos, even a cadenza on an unjazzy soprano sax. The second movement is almost a lullaby with a flowing string theme, a Torke rarity. After a third movement dominated by tone clusters, this work ends suddenly. (Please also note that the track timings listed in the booklet for this piece are incorrect).
While Torke's orchestral utterances can occasionally be reminiscent of the previously-mentioned composers, he is in no way overly derivative. There is perhaps nothing on this CD quite as memorable as Bright Blue Music (the late-80s composition - found on the CD entitled One - that first gained him widespread exposure or notoriety) but it is still highly recommended. Let this disc be an outstanding reminder that exciting, picturesque classical music is certainly not dead or confined to movie soundtracks. This is not post-minimalism, post-academia, or post-anything: this is the music of new horizons, sky-wide in scope and significance. The future is now.....tuba and pedal-point lovers rejoice!
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Description of Michael Torke: Three
While still a composition student at Yale, Michael Torke practically defined post-minimalism, a music in which eclectic young composers utilize the repetitive structures of a previous generation to incorporate musical techniques from both the classical tradition and the contemporary pop world.This disc contains one of Michael Torke's most popular works, 'Javelin,' commissioned on the occasion of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's 50th anniversary and performed for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. 'Run' was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic for their 150th season.
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