JOSEPH, DAN — Tonalization (for the Afterlife)

"Mutable Music is pleased to announce the release of the latest collection of chamber works by New York-based composer and hammer dulcimer player Dan Joseph. The central work is the 33-minute multi-movement sextet Tonalization (for the afterlife) scored for flute, violin, cello, marimba, harpsichord and hammer dulcimer. The work, composed in 2009, was the composer's first new large-scale piece to follow his 2006 collection Archaea and marked the return of the Dan Joseph Ensemble to New York's concert stages after a two-year hiatus. Along with the accompanying duos Wind Patterns and Music Primer, these three works formed the core of the ensemble's repertoire from 2009 to 2011. While discernibly tethered to minimalist and post-minimalist idioms, the works on this CD draw strongly from the composer's decade in California (1991-2001), where he came into contact with West-coast pioneers Terry Riley, Lou Harrison and Pauline Oliveros and studied Chinese and near Eastern folk music. The works thus combine the rhythmic drive of pulse minimalism with a contemplative, improvisational approach. Ever present, however, is the composer's strong sense of timbre and unabashed ear for pure beauty." [label info]

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