Ilya Muroets

Two twentieth century violin concertos, stylistically polar opposites, but with a common emphasis on melody are presented here. Written by two very different composers who nevertheless, each in his own time, rejected the mid-20th century ascendancy of atonality and the serial composition of music, these pieces provide an interesting take on mid-century music. John Adams (b. 1947) is a composer who does not like to be pinned down. Being branded a minimalist has not suited him any better than did the confines of his training in the twelve-tone system while he was a student at Harvard. Adams has said that its taken me 20 years to escape the corrosive effects of graduate school. Indeed, his style has continued to evolve since his early association with the so-called minimalists Philip Glass and Steve Reich.