David Kaplan champions a diverse set of new music in ‘New Dances of the League of David’
Excerpts from Album Review by Richard Fairman for The Financial Times
A few years ago the BBC Proms showcased a new version of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, in which the six concertos were interspersed with movements by living composers. This kind of tribute is becoming increasingly popular; now here is another.
Back in 2013-15, the pianist David Kaplan hit upon a similar idea based on Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze. He wanted to see how contemporary American composers might respond to Schumann’s collection of piano miniatures with their capricious interplay of dreaminess and turbulence.
....There are many fine recordings of the Schumann, so this is all about the new music. Some of the composers, such as Andres and Mark Carlson, harmonise afresh while keeping close to Schumann’s emotional world. Others, such as Thomas and Shaw, home in on a rhythm or chord and explore its possibilities.
....the whole point is their diversity; Kaplan champions them all with spirit.
Read FT Review in full here
For more information on each of the commissioned composers and their works, read the album’s liner notes here.
Release Date: July 12, 2024
New Focus Recordings
Recorded at the Evelyn and Mo Ostin Recording Studio at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, Los Angeles, CA, June 26-30, 2017.
Session co-producers: Benjamin Maas and Timo Andres
Sound engineer: Benjamin Maas
Producers: Benjamin Maas and David Kaplan
Editing, mix, and mastering: Benjamin Maas.
Yamaha DCFX piano preparation: Sean McLaughlin
℗ & © 2024 David Kaplan
Liner note author: David Kaplan
Liner note editor: Laura Hartenberger
Cover Images: Synthesized images of Robert Schumann, using a 3d modeled/ computer rendered portrait of Robert Schumann by Hadi Karimi, and subsequently processed by Marc Wolf in Adobe Photoshop. hadikarimi.com/portfolio/robert-schumann-1850
Design, layout & typography: Marc Wolf, marcjwolf.com
Photos by Dario Acosta and Titilayo Ayangade
New Dances of the League of David graphic by Liana Finck, 2014
Read full press release with track list here:
Photos of David Kaplan by Titalayo Ayangade and Dario Acosta available in high resolution - download here.
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