SKU: NX.NV6040

By Carolyn True), David Mollenauer, Ertan Torgul, Jitka Vlasankova), Libor Kanka, Martinu Quartet (Lubomir Haviak, SOLI Chamber Ensemble (Stephanie Key, and Zbynek Pad'ourek. By Elliot Miles McKinley. Country of Origin: United States. Classical. Listening CD. Published by Naxos (NX.NV6040).

UPC: 896931003407.

On his Navona release INFINITE LANDSCAPES, composer Elliot McKinley presents Three Portraits and his String Quartet No. 7 - two adventurous works commissioned by renowned chamber ensembles. Three Portraits was commissioned by the San Antonio Texas based SOLI Chamber Ensemble and is scored for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano. In A July Watercolor (with high energy)McKinley weaves together two recurring ostinato themes, one ascending and one descending, as other instruments play trills and cluster chords. An August Watercolor (Reggae-Pop), arranged in a palindromic arch form, has a more pastiche style, with Ivesian treatments of pop-ballad and reggae styles. In A September Watercolor (Groove Variations) a lively electronic groove is played as the acoustic instruments seek to move away from a rhythmic stasis, before eventually exploding into an animated groove of their own. The piece ends with a playful Bartok pizzicato in the violin and cello McKinley's six-movement String Quartet No. 7 was commissioned by the Martinu Quartet of the Czech Republic and written in memory of the quartet's founding violist, Jan Jisa. This vibrant piece features a wide variety of ideas, including a fugue in Scherzo and Fugue and a propulsive jazzy section in Riding into the Sky. The work is anchored, however, by recurring chords of stacked perfect fifths, heard first as a distinctive motive in the expansive Cathedrals of Light and Shadow. In Three Vistas, an expressive quasi-recitative passage in the cello builds up to shimmering towers of stacked fifths. The "Cathedrals" motive returns in the final movement Coda: Toward An Endless Golden Sunset, leading to a passage marked enveloping twilight of golden-purple before fading away into the infinite landscape.

About Listening CDs

Listening CDs are traditional music recordings. Listening CDs make a great educational supplement - hear exceptional professionals play the music you're learning! Or, just enjoy listening to the music you love.