Add this copy of Paul Bowles Complete Piano Works, Vol. 1 to cart. $21.09, new condition, Sold by Importcds rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Sunrise, FL, UNITED STATES, published 2016 by Naxos.
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Leonard Bernstein; Paul Bowles; Virgil Thomson. New. New in new packaging. USA Orders only! Brand New product! please allow delivery times of 3-7 business days within the USA. US orders only please.
Add this copy of Complete Piano Works to cart. $29.47, new condition, Sold by newtownvideo rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from huntingdon valley, PA, UNITED STATES, published 2016 by Naxos American.
In the late 1940's at mid-life, the American composer Paul Bowles made two dramatic changes in direction. Bowles (1910 -- 1998) moved from the United States to Tangiers and became an expatriate for the rest of his long life. Bowles also changed from a career centering on composition to a career as a writer of novels, stories, and travel essays. His most famous work is the dark novel, "The Sheltering Sky". The Library of America has published two volumes of Bowles' writings, all of which date from his years as an expatriate.
With the emphasis on his writings and on his own iconoclastic character, Bowles' music has suffered neglect. The American Classics series of Naxos is attempting to rectify this situation with the first of two CDs devoted to Bowles' piano music. The works are performed by the Invencia Piano Duo consisting of pianists Andrey Kasparov and Oksana Lutsyshyn, both of whom studied at the Moscow State Conservatory and at the Indiana University School of Music. Kasparov and Lutyshyn both have won international piano competitions and they both teach at Old Dominion University in Norfolk. They perform alternately on the solo piano tracks of this CD before performing together on the final work, Bowles' 1947 Sonata for Two Pianos. The pianists are beautifully sympathetic interpreters of Bowles' music. Pianist Kasparov also wrote the informative liner notes.
With the exception of the Sonata for Two Pianos, the works on this CD consist of miniatures. The works are modernist in tone but accessible. Bowles' music is clearly voiced, lucid and concise. He writes in a variety of styles, including blues and jazz and Latin American. Bowles makes use of American folk music, and his style appears influenced by that of his mentor, Aaron Copland. Some of the music is strongly rhythmical while other works are quietly lyrical and sad. The music is a pleasure to hear.
The short works on this Cd are grouped thematically. They include Latin American dances and musical portraits. There are two short self-contained sets: a group of seven Folk Preludes based upon American folk themes and a group of six Preludes in a more abstract style. The CD includes a lovely meditative stand-alone piece, "Cornelia Askew at the Garden", three arrangements by Bowles of works he composed by orchestra, and three arrangements by Kasparov of Bowles' songs. Short musical tributes to Bowles by Leonard Bernstein and Virgil Thompson also are included and capture the man's dapper elegance and insouciance. The large work on the program, the sonata for two pianos, is in a modern idiom. It includes to short, fast and percussive outer movements which surround a much longer, meditative slow movement. The contrasting moods are at the heart of the work.
Naxos and the two performers deserve thanks for presenting Paul Bowles' music as part of the American Classics Series. Bowles was a character and his music is both individual and American. I hope the series will present further works of Bowles. Naxos kindly provided me with a review copy of this CD.
