Henry Brant: Music for Massed Flutes (CD)
(New World CD 80636-2)
The long and illustrious career of American composer Henry Brant can be framed with the music he has written for the flute. The Pulitzer Prize–winning composer's three epic works for multiple flutes do not fit into any standard category of instrumentation or form; rather, they span the creative life of a man who for all of his life has been referred to as a "maverick," a "pioneer," an "experimentalist," and, since the 1950s, the "world's leading composer of 'spatial' music," in which the placement of the musicians around the performance space is as important a compositional element as the timbre, time, or pitch. It is with the development of his use of space as an intrinsic part of his musical vocabulary that Brant established himself as a major figure in American music of the 20th century.
—From the liner notes by Paul Taub. Complete liner notes are available on the New World Records website.
Ghosts and Gargoyles (2001)
for solo flute and orchestra of 3 piccolos, 5 flutes, and 2 alto flutes
Robert Aitken, soloist and conductor
Kathleen Nester and Svjetlana Kabalin, piccolos
Bart Feller and Paul Taub, flutes
Stefani Starin and Sue Ann Kahn, flutes
Dianne Aitken and Patti Monson, bass flutes
Jeffrey Kraus, drum set
Donato Cabrera, assistant conductor
Mass in Gregorian Chant for Multiple Flutes
(Mass for June 16) (1984)
Robert Aitken, conductor
Dianne Aitken, Leslie Allt, Alice Barmore, Ardith Bondi, Laura George, Lucille Goeres, Emily Hodges, Don Hulbert, Rochelle Itzen, Sue Ann Kahn, Karl F. Kraber, Gerardo Levy, Katherine McClure, Karen Purpura, Jayn Rosenfeld, Seth Rosenthal, Pamela Sklar, Stefani Starin, Paul Taub, Barbara Williams, and Patricia Zuber, flutes
Angels and Devils (1931)
for flute and flute orchestra
A re-mastering of the historic LP released on CRI in 1956
Frederick Wilkins, solo flutist
Henry Brant, conductor
Samuel Baron, Frances Blaisdell, Philip Dunigan, Harold Jones, Andrew Lolya, Claude Monteux, Harry Moskovitz, Murray Panitz, Lois Schaefer, and Kenneth Schmidt, flutes, piccolos, and alto flutes
The New York Flute Club gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, which made the project possible. The CD may be purchased through the NYFC's online store and is typically available for sale at all NYFC events for $15. It may also be purchased via the New World Records website:
www.newworldrecords.org.
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