Home
Dutch Masters
Loading Inventory...
Barnes and Noble
Dutch Masters
Current price: $24.99
Barnes and Noble
Dutch Masters
Current price: $24.99
Loading Inventory...
Size: OS
*Product Information may vary - to confirm product availability, pricing, and additional information please contact Barnes and Noble
With the single exception of
, the composers represented on this album are all but unknown outside the Netherlands, and even
's
, a set of serialist miniatures from the composer's youth, are not commonly heard. So one attraction here may be the chance to sample a variety of Dutch duo piano music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Variety is the key word; the music ranges from the mixture of late Romanticism and Impressionism in the
of
, from the late '20s, to
of 1959, even more exacting than the
. One is tempted to say that nobody will like everything here, but the brother duo pianists
and
would disagree; a subsidiary aim of the album is to pay tribute to their teacher,
, who taught them to explore all new sounds with an open mind. The album is perhaps best experienced with its booklet note, describing the experience of studying with
, but the quality of freshness he imparted also comes through in the music-making itself. There is one contemporary
by
, also a student of
, and in general, the program has an unusual feel of exploring a very specific scene in great depth. A standout work is the Impressionist, slightly jazzy, and slightly humorous
, a Dutch Jewish composer who died in the Holocaust. Most of the works follow the large 20th century trends but show fresh twists on them. This is an offbeat album, to be sure, but one that will be appreciated by many. ~James Manheim