Schwantner: Sparrows / Music of Amber

Featuring

Klaus Simon
Britta Stallmeister
Florian Hoelscher
Anne Parisot
Holst-Sinfonietta
Joseph Schwantner

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Composer Biography

Joseph Schwantner, an American composer, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1978 for his orchestral work Aftertones of Infinity.

Compositional Technique

Schwantner's musical language is influenced by George Crumb, Olivier Messiaen, and Debussy, with Crumb being the most significant influence.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Joseph Schwantner's music is characterized by a quest for "magic and bewitching sounds," often requiring performers to produce unusual effects and use additional instruments like glasses or crotales.

Compositional Technique

For lyrical effects, Schwantner employs harmony based on the fifth, which can create a "gently impressionistic almost siren-like sensuality."

Recording & Production

This album features world premiere recordings of Joseph Schwantner's Soaring, a piece for flute and piano, and Two Poems of Aguedo Pizarro, a set of songs for soprano and piano.

Performer Biography

The Holst-Sinfonietta, a chamber orchestra founded by Klaus Simon in 1996, specializes in less familiar or new repertoire and is named after the English composer Gustav Holst.

Compositional Technique

Schwantner frequently uses chords of equal intervals, such as minor third harmony (from two diminished seventh chords) and major third harmony, which has a softer character.