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The pieces in this collection were all written with the idea of remembrance or memory -- mostly, but not entirely, of specific people. The pieces differ widely in most other ways, musically and emotionally. Imbrie's work is a requiem written on the death of his son; in it he alternates the traditional Latin liturgy with poetry of William Blake, George Herbert, and John Donne. The works of Charles Dodge, Stuart Saunders Smith, and Robert Erickson are reminiscent of a baroque tombeau, capturing the spirit or art of a particular person or age. George Burt's Exit Music is simply a meditation on the general idea of leaving or saying goodbye.
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| Requiem (1984) by Andrew Imbrie (b. 1921) |
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Performers: soprano Lisa Saffer, the New York Virtuoso Singers, and the Riverside Symphony
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| Family Portraits: Brenda (1994) by Stuart Saunders Smith (b. 1948) |
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Performer: Thomas Moore, piano
"... part of a large series of musical compositions portraying family members in sound." (Smith)
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| Exit Music III: An Interlude (1986) by George Burt (b. 1929) |
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Performers: Cleveland Chamber Symphony
"... based on the idea of exiting or saying goodbye to something, in contrast to the spirit of the many overtures, fanfares, and preludes which are intended to begin something." (Burt)
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| | Any Resemblance is Purely Coincidental (1980) by Charles Dodge (b. 1942) |
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Performer: Alan Feinberg, piano
"... a work for live piano and tape. The tape part is based on computer restoration and resynthesis of the 1907 recording of the legendary Enrico Caruso singing 'Vesti la giubba' from Ruggero Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci (1892). The work is dedicated to the memory of Margaret Fairbank Jory, who was executive director of the American Music Center at the time that I was its president." (Dodge)
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| General Speech (1969) by Robert Erickson (1917-1997) |
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Performer: Stuart Dempster, trombone
A setting of a farewell speech given by General Douglas MacArthur at West Point Military Academy in 1962. It attempts to embody the persona (and mythic status) of General MacArthur, including full military costume, stage directions, and lighting.
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