Toby Twining: Eurydice

by Toby Twining

Overview

Toby Twining is a genuine American original. Like many composers of his generation who emerged in the late 20th century, he was classically trained in contemporary techniques and incorporated them in music also influenced by jazz and rock, but he works almost exclusively with voices and is one of the few composers (along with Meredith Monk) who has developed a uniquely individual approach to vocal minimalism and post-minimalism. He studied with Ben Johnston, who had worked with Harry Partch, and much of Twining's work incorporates Partch's principles of microtonal tunings. He also employs an inventive and colorful variety of non-traditional vocal sounds, some taken from other cultures. He puts all this together with melodies and harmonies of exceptional sweetness (and sometimes exceptional strangeness) to create a sound that is not like any other. Using a vocal quintet, here augmented with a cello, Twining creates incidental music for Eurydice, a modern re-telling of the Orpheus legend by playwright Sarah Ruhl. It's a little hard to imagine how music of this distinctiveness wouldn't draw all attention away from what was going on on-stage, but it's a fabulous, mysterious aural experience. Twining and his virtuosic performers sing and play with remarkable precision, sometimes projecting enormous power and sometimes diaphanous fragility. The sound is very clean, nicely atmospheric, and realistically present. The music has such immediate appeal and is so emotionally expressive that the album can be appreciated by traditional listeners willing to dip their toes into music from off the beaten path, as well as die-hard fans of the avant-garde. Highly recommended. ~ Stephen Eddins

Product Details

Release Date:	02/22/2011
Label:	Cantaloupe
UPC:	0713746306823
Rank:	223234

Tracks

1. Eurydice~Playing in the Waves
2. Eurydice~The Nasty Interesting Man
3. Eurydice~Yes! Yes! Yes!
4. Eurydice~Eurydice's Fall
5. Eurydice~A Dirge
6. Eurydice~Underworld Motif: Strange High Pitched Noises
7. Eurydice~The String Room
8. Eurydice~Recovering Speech
9. Eurydice~Triskaideka Chords
10. Eurydice~The Book
11. Eurydice~Finding Purchase
12. Eurydice~Eurydice in the Stars
13. Eurydice~Orpheus at the Gates
14. Eurydice~The Walk
15. Eurydice~Underworld Montage
16. Eurydice~E-U-R-Y-D-I-C-E

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Toby Twining   Primary Artist,Baritone (Vocal),Alto (Vocals)
Eric Brenner   Soprano (Vocal)
Steven Bradshaw   Tenor (Vocal)
Liz Filos   Alto (Vocals)
Mark Johnson   Bass (Vocal)
Floreta Shapiro   Cello

Technical Credits

Toby Twining   Executive Producer,Composer
Kenny Savelson   Executive Producer
Michael Gordon   Executive Producer
David Lang   Executive Producer
Charles Harbutt   Mastering
Julia Wolfe   Executive Producer
Mark Johnson   Producer
Jorg Cousineau   Engineer