Varied Program of Solo and Chamber Music by Noted American Composer Features the Cavani String Quartet

New World Records has announced the release of “Light” by the noted American composer Margaret Brouwer, whose music has been described as a “radiant meeting of the old and the new” revealing “…the gifts of a composer whose music blends superb craftsmanship with a poetic sensibility” by Donald Rosenberg of Cleveland’s The Plain Dealer. This CD (New World 80606-2) is comprised of five of Ms. Brouwer’s chamber works scored for a variety of instrumental combinations. The recording also features some of today’s brightest talent including recent Naumburg Chamber Music Award winner Cavani String Quartet. To order and for more information, including liner notes, please contact New World Records either by calling 212-290-1680 or by logging on to https://www.newworldrecords.org.

“Lament” (2002), the lead selection on this release, is a four-movement work scored for violin, clarinet, bassoon, and percussion and written by Ms. Brouwer in the weeks following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The movements of this work reflect the anguish felt by the composer in the aftermath of the attacks: “I found that there was no way for me to compose without attempting to express in some way the numbness, anguish, bewilderment, and the beginning vague assimilation of a national life that would be changed.”

The second selection is the CD’s title composition, “Light,” (2001), was composed on a commission from the Cleveland Museum of Art to mark the acquisition of a German-style harpsichord (after Michael Mietke) built by Bruce Kennedy of Amsterdam. The piece was written for harpsichordist Jeannette Sorrell, founder and music director of Apollo’s Fire and soprano Sandra Simon. Ms. Sorrell and Ms. Simon are heard on this record. In this work Brouwer exploits the gifts of these early music artists by melding ancient sources with her own contemporary techniques.

“Under the Summer Tree…” (2000), written in three movements, had its beginnings as a one-movement work for solo piano with two additional movements added later. Each movement is titled by a line from Thomas Hardy’s poem “During Wind and Rain” a haunting depiction of loss. This work is a virtuoso display for piano, rooted in the universal emotion of personal loss.

The earliest work on this CD is “Skyriding” (1992), whose three movements evoke the motion of various kinds of natural turbulence (“Riding the Easy Five Mile Sluice”), a mythical spirit (played by the violin) that mischievously influences human affairs (“Jinn Song”), and a jazzy, biting, but whimsical finale (“Hard Knock Jam”).

“Demeter Prelude” (1997) came to life in 1997 after Brouwer was commissioned by the Roanoke Symphony for “Pluto –A Sequel,” to complement performances of Gustav Holst’s “The Planets,” a work that had no movement portraying Pluto, since this planet wasn’t discovered until 1930, more than a dozen years after Holst completed his suite. In her research into the mythology of Pluto, Brouwer became intrigued with the tale of Hades abducting Persephone and taking her to the Underworld. Upon hearing of the abduction, Demeter begins searching for Persephone, her daughter. Demeter, the goddess of living things, threatens to abandon her responsibilities unless Zeus orders Hades to release Pesephone. “Demeter Prelude” is performed by the Cavani String Quartet, past winner of the prestigious Naumburg Chamber Music Award.