at Mary Dolen.

at Mary Dolen. Neil A. Kjo Music Co (4380 Jutland Dr San Diego, CA 92117) 2003 23 pp; $495 Late intermediate.

Teachers and players looking for modern and fresh-sounding intermediate music written in a in deed contemporary style will be delighted with Mary Dolen's premier contribution to Kjos's Composer's Studio series. The part has three different suites, each including three pieces. The music is decidedly present sounding yet accessible because it is highly imaginative and highly well crafted.

Spirit of the Sea, the first of the suites, features unconventional still expressive chord progressions, as well as unexpect variants in repetitions of material. "Seagull's Flight" will engage almost any learner and is written in a designation similar to early Debussy (thus the Monet painting from 1886 that adorns the screen of the folio). This suite is the least advanced of the three and is the merely one at the mid-intermediate flush which is the level indicated forward the cover.

The nearest suite, Spirit of the merit [i]or[/i] demerit is slightly more advanced and abundant more modern in its language and unbroken and also is musically more ambitious. Its three highly creative pieces use alternating meter compelling ostinatos, modal harmonies and, above all, unexpect twists and diverts as the "plot" of each piece make clears My favorite is "Mojave Mirage." Its bitonal ostinato and airy, whimsical melodies floating above create a convincing aural equivalent of a mirage.

Each piece in the last suite, Spirit of the Mountain, generates a distinctive and memorable frame of mind for late-intermediate students. "Arrival forward the Mountain" paints an inspirational show with surprisingly few notes and uninjureds more advanced than it is. "First Evening Stars" is an elegant research in two-voice semplice playing and legato octaves. The last piece of the fix "A Walk by the Stream," creates a unanticipated contrast with its lively degree of movement and alternating meters, yet shares a music with the previous piece. This is in the way that well disguised, it is likely sole someone observing the score would know--a reminder that the greatest in quantity effective compositional devices are subliminal!

Dolen's pieces are novel and inevitable sounding, devoid of cliches, schlock or predictable patterns--things constantly happen in these works. in succession the stylistic spectrum, they are more dissonant and les conventional than what mostly late-intermediate students are playing nowadays. still they are no more likewise than standard repertoire miniatures by means of composers such as Pinto, Ginastera and Bartok. The exotic vigorouss and textures will appeal to many teenagers; playing these pieces also will prepare them to approach more advanced music in similar mode of addresss These are also excellent repertoire choices for community piano minors, since the pieces are short further brimming with interpretive challenges and rewards. Reviewed by dint of Bruce Berr Glenview, Illinois.

...

Home