I had expected to have two new CDs and a book out this fall, but two of them have been delayed until February. One of the CDs, however, has arrived, titled The Minimalists, by the Orkest de Volharding on Mode Records (Mode 214/5). It’s a two-CD set, and the lineup consists of:
Steve Reich: City Life
Terry Riley: In C
Louis Andriessen: Worker’s Union
Kyle Gann: Sunken City
John (Coolidge) Adams: Short Ride in a Fast Machine
David Lang: Street
Sunken City, of course, is my piano concerto commemorating the disaster in New Orleans that attended hurricane Katrina; the august Geoffrey Douglas Madge performs as soloist. A couple of the pieces, at least City Life, are arrangements for the Volharding’s instrumentation by composer/director Anthony Fiumara. It’s a damn shame that the Volharding has apparently ceased to exist now, having been defunded by the Dutch government, but I’m very happy that they held on long enough to get this CD out as their last act. It’ll be on sale this weekend at the Cage Trust’s Cage conference at Bard College. And it’s in time for the holidays! (Among other things, I’m enjoying that this is the first time I’ve been listed on a CD cover last-name only, like some composer, like you’re supposed to know who that is.)
Congratulations!
The loss of Volharding – quite possibly the Netherlands’ most characteristic ensemble – is sad indeed, but they did have a fantastic 30+ year run and really left their mark.
Congrats with the disc, Kyle – I’ll be looking for it!
Congratulations on the release
Candidly Kyle, I think this is the very best recording of your music that I have ever heard. The music is expertly played and the engineer did a magnificent job of capturing it. Four enthusiastic stars.