Aleck Maury

This CD presents several piano works by Philip Glass, played with grace and enthusiasm by Aleck Karis. Wichita Vortex Sutra (1988) was inspired by the poem of the same title by Allen Ginsburg from 1966, which alternates between images of a road across the U.S. and a protest against the war in Vietnam. The basis of the music is a simple Protestant-like hymn tune with chromatic passing tones. This is treated to rhythmic syncopation and, at other times, is surrounded by quickly arpeggiated patterns. The Metamorphosis (1988), with the title from Kafka's famous work, is in five movements. Each movement has simple melodies and a simple set of chords, usually four in number, with chromatic changes between them. These "changes" happen through the addition of a chord or other simple alteration.

The fundamentally Romantic idiom of Carl Reinecke coexists with the twilight of the 19th century and the dawn of the 20th century. He was a precocious and prolific composer, who wrote music from an early age after his birth in the North German town of Altona in 1924.

This recording presents two of Claude Debussy's enduring masterpieces- the Children's Corner suite (1908), and his brilliant- Études (Books 1 & 2) (1915), played by the American pianist, Aleck Karis. Mr. Karis has performed recitals, chamber music, and concertos across the Americas, Europe, Japan,and China. His six solo discs for Bridge Records include music of Chopin/Carter/Schumann (BRIDGE 9001) Mozart (BRIDGE 9011), Stravinsky (BRIDGE 9051), Cage (BRIDGE 9081A/B) Feldman/Webern/Wolpe (BRIDGE 9420) and Poulenc (BRIDGE 9459). Karis studied piano with William Daghlian, Artur Balsam and Beveridge Webster. He is a distinguished professor of music at the University of California, San Diego.

Morton Feldman’s “For John Cage” is the second of seven large-scale works dedicated to artists, a series which includes Frank O’Hara, Bunita Marcus, Christian Wolff, Stefan Wolpe, Philip Guston, and Samuel Beckett. Feldman met John Cage in 1950, at a time when Feldman’s composition studies with Stefan Wolpe had reached a kind of dead end. Cage gave him encouragement, enthusiasm and permission to be himself. They remained friends until Feldman’s death in 1987. In its austere texture, “For John Cage” gives equal weight to the violin and piano parts. The fact that the two instruments often play similar material makes the contrast between the sustained sounds of the violin and the decaying sounds of the piano especially clear.

This recording presents two of Claude Debussy's enduring masterpieces- the Children's Corner suite (1908), and his brilliant- Études (Books 1 & 2) (1915), played by the American pianist, Aleck Karis. Mr. Karis has performed recitals, chamber music, and concertos across the Americas, Europe, Japan,and China. His six solo discs for Bridge Records include music of Chopin/Carter/Schumann (BRIDGE 9001) Mozart (BRIDGE 9011), Stravinsky (BRIDGE 9051), Cage (BRIDGE 9081A/B) Feldman/Webern/Wolpe (BRIDGE 9420) and Poulenc (BRIDGE 9459). Karis studied piano with William Daghlian, Artur Balsam and Beveridge Webster. He is a distinguished professor of music at the University of California, San Diego.

Voici trois belles histoires pleines de mystères, d’honneur et de courage. Une lumière étonnante les éclaire, celle du merveilleux : ici, la mauvaise fée provoque la mort, le chevalier devient loup-garou et l’enfant oiseau. Tout est là, même la Lune blanche et ronde qui appelle la magie et le destin, l’amour et l’amitié. …