The Wolf Rounds title applies only to the last of these three works, a typically spacious piece by Christopher Rouse containing nested circular patterns he intends to be reminiscent of wolves as they pace off their territories. Whether you would catch the reference without guidance from the booklet (in English only) is debatable, but the work is a fine example of Rouse's only seemingly neo-Romantic style, which is more rigorous than retrospective. The packaging for this Naxos release promises "three highly contrasting new ...
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The Wolf Rounds title applies only to the last of these three works, a typically spacious piece by Christopher Rouse containing nested circular patterns he intends to be reminiscent of wolves as they pace off their territories. Whether you would catch the reference without guidance from the booklet (in English only) is debatable, but the work is a fine example of Rouse's only seemingly neo-Romantic style, which is more rigorous than retrospective. The packaging for this Naxos release promises "three highly contrasting new works" for wind ensemble, but actually the three pieces, though entirely distinct in programmatic subject matter, fit together well and have a kind of sober, languid quality in common, and all fall between the poles of tonal and atonal. The big surprise is the work by the least-known composer of the trio, Montana-based David Maslanka. The Concerto for trombone and wind ensemble is a memorial to musician Christine Nield-Capote, a friend of both the composer and trombonist Tim Conner....
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