Perfect 'Circles'
CLASSICAL CD REVIEW: Percussive piece showcases talents of Margaret Brouwer
LAWSON TAITTE, Staff Writer The Dallas Morning News
February 11, 2006

... Ms. Brouwer, 65, has one of the most delicate ears and inventive imaginations among contemporary American composers. Compare her percussion concerto, Aurolucent Circles, to another recent one by Pulitzer Prize winner Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Rituals. Ms. Brouwer not only gets more seductive sounds out of the instruments, she also creates a dramatic through line that keeps the attention riveted for 27 minutes. The music is laid out spatially, so that phrases and motifs jump or flow across the soundstage...

...There's plenty more splendid music here, including two orchestral fanfares, Pulse and Sizzle, with more substance than this short form often fosters. Mandala, from 2001, blends chant-like and recorded sounds with pulsing minimalist mottoes. Remembrances, the composer's response to a personal loss, makes the journey from bereavement to consolation. You could call it neo-romantic, but pigeonholing the piece might cause you to miss just how original and moving it is.

Copyright 2006 The Dallas Morning News