Wuorinen: Ashberyana / Fenton Songs I and Ii / Josquiniana

Featuring

Charles Wuorinen
Leon Williams
James Pugh
Mark Steinberg
David Fulmer
Misha Amory

Sarah Rothenberg
Nina Lee
Lucy Shelton
Alan Feinberg
Serena Canin
Da Camera of Houston
Brentano String Quartet

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Composition History

Ashberyana was commissioned by Da Camera of Houston, an American presenter and producer of ensemble music, to honor Sarah Rothenberg's tenth anniversary as Artistic Director.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Charles Wuorinen's music is characterized by powerful harmonies and elegant craftsmanship, linking to the music of the past while envisioning a rich musical future.

Composer Biography

Charles Wuorinen, born in New York in 1938, is a leading American composer whose honors include a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and the Pulitzer Prize, which he received as the youngest composer.

Composition History

Fenton Songs I and Fenton Songs II are settings of poems by James Fenton, whose libretto Charles Wuorinen used for his opera based on Salman Rushdie's novel, Haroun and the Sea of Stories.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Charles Wuorinen's 'remakings' of music from the past, such as Ave Christe of Josquin and Josquiniana, are not sentimental journeys but rather continued explorations of thought, approached with meticulous fidelity to the original.

Composition History

Praegustatum, a three-minute piano work, was composed in 2005 as a gift of gratitude for conductor James Levine, with whom Charles Wuorinen has had a fruitful relationship.

Compositional Technique

In Ashberyana, Charles Wuorinen pairs the baritone and trombone as unexpected partners in duet, with the trombone often performing a vocalise or joining the voice in unisons.