Michael Alec Rose: Chamber and Solo Works for Strings and Horn
In 2004 the American composer Michael Alec Rose (born in 1959 in Philadelphia) met the English violinist Peter Sheppard Skærved. That meeting sparked off a productive friendship: Rose has since written a number of works for Sheppard Skærved and his musician colleagues, pieces marked by striking emotional directness, balancing warm lyricism and mordant wit.
Michael Alec Rose, bell
Peter Sheppard Skærved, violin, director
Mihailo Trandafilovski, violin
Morgan Goff, viola
Neil Heyde, cello
Kreutzer Quartet, string quartet
Rachel Meerloo, double-bass
Carly Lake, horn
Longbow, ensemble
Listen To This Recording:
- Air for solo violin (2009)
- I Garage Lights
- II Standard
- III Gas
- I Spring
- II Summer
- III Fall
- IV Winter
- No. 1 Farchadat (The Joys of Yiddish, p. 113)
- No. 2 Feroce
- No. 3 Interlude (Very Slow); ♩ = ca 112
- An Arch Never Sleeps: Duo for Violin and Double-Bass (2009)
- Palimpsest for solo violin (2006)
- Dr Johnson and Mr Savage: Pantomime for Violinist and Cellist (2008)
- All’arme for solo horn (2012)
- Hopeful Monsters for string orchestra (2011)
Hubbert Peak: Three Gas Stations for String Quartet (2007–8)
Everything under the Sun: Four Seasons for Two Violins (2009)
Three Short Obsessions for solo violin (2004)
Kilpatrick :
‘…[Hopeful Monsters] The work speaks Rose’s various languages: often starkly abstract and dissonant, sometimes quite tonal, sometimes a mix of the two. It’s unusual music, enjoyable listening.’
American Record Guide
John S. McClure :
“…Masterfully weaving together harmony and dissonance, the music draws the listener in and, without fail, leaves us somehow "changed." Beautifully performed and recorded. Highly recommended.” Amazon Review
Fanfare Magazine :
‘The playing [of Everything under the Sun: Four Seasons for Two Violins] is electrifying in its dedication. Clearly, much thought has gone into the emotions projected. […]
It is testament to Sheppard Skærved’s virtuosity that one hardly believes that the Three Short Obsessions (2004) are for solo violin. […]
The intriguingly named Hubbert Peak: Three Gas Stations for String Quartet>/em> (2009) is inspired by three paintings featuring gas stations by Stuart Davis. Dedicated to the Kreutzer Quartet, it is given a performance full of tension, as if freshly minted. The Finale, “Gas,” is remarkable in its impact. Here the Kreutzer Quartet is ever mindful of the expressive force of dissonance, and of the sudden single line. Almost exactly as long as the other two movements combined, this Finale progresses to a helter-skelter ride. […]
[An Arch Never Sleeps] is a delightful, intriguing piece in which Rose fully exploits the registral chasm between the two instruments. […]
[Dr. Johnson and Mr. Savage: Pantomime] is given a most characterful performance by Sheppard Skærved and the resonant, suave cello of Neil Heyde.
The brief All’arme (2012) for solo horn lasts less than two minutes but makes its point well, with terrific playing here from Carly Lake. {…} The performance here is entirely apt in its raucous delivery. […]
All pieces here receive their first recordings, and the disc was made in the presence of the composer. Unhesitatingly recommended. ‘
—Colin Clarke, Fanfare Magazine, January/February 2014