Composer Elena Ruehr has said of her music: "The idea is that the surface be simple, the structure complex." The works on this album of string quartets and other chamber music live up to that ambition; all of them have programmatic content that a listener might easily guess without guidance, but nothing is trite or obvious, and the music holds one's interest throughout. The best, perhaps, is saved for last: Insect Dances - Suite for string quartet No. 8, is "written for listeners of all ages," and it is a rare and precious ...
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Composer Elena Ruehr has said of her music: "The idea is that the surface be simple, the structure complex." The works on this album of string quartets and other chamber music live up to that ambition; all of them have programmatic content that a listener might easily guess without guidance, but nothing is trite or obvious, and the music holds one's interest throughout. The best, perhaps, is saved for last: Insect Dances - Suite for string quartet No. 8, is "written for listeners of all ages," and it is a rare and precious example of contemporary music that can appeal to children. The program for one movement, "Wasp," reads like this: "Wasp is an uninvited guest who appears at the house. Dragonfly and Grasshopper and Spider try to get Wasp to leave, but just as Wasp exits, Wasp turns around and comes back. After some effort from Dragonfly, Spider, and Grasshopper, Wasp flies away." The "adult" works are no less evocative; the titular Icarus easily takes its place in the long parade of artworks inspired...
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