Ladislav Kubik - Flashes Of Light - Classical - CD

Flashes Of Light, composed in 2014-15, connects the classical concept of a concerto with a provocatively unusual sound, made possible by the combination of brass and percussion instruments with four pianos. Historically, writings for multiple pianos have been very rare (i.e. works by Antheil, Glass, G.F. Haas, Reich, Spahlinger, Wyschnegradsky), and always originate from the composers's specific intent or stylistic concept. In Ladislav Kubík's work, the use of four pianos is for the multiplication of the piano's characteristics, including the ability to produce highly sophisticated inner textures and, of course, to substantially extend all technical possibilities of the instrument. Yet, despite existing within this atypical ensemble, the piano maintains it's usual idiomatic character as it has absorbed three centuries of musical development. The piano section appears as a homogeneous body and presents a wide variety of musical possibilities, ranging anywhere from the lyrical cantilena to intense percussive passages. All individual instrumental parts are very demanding and their relative importance to the ensemble as a whole is well balanced. However, at the center of the composition is the first solo trumpet. Ladislav Kubík (born in 1946 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) studied composition and music theory at the Prague Academy of Music. Kubík has received many awards for his compositions including the Guggenheim Fellowship, distinctions at the International Rostrum of Composers UNESCO, the Intervision Prize, and the International Franz Kafka Prize. Commissioned by the prestigious organizations in Europe and America, his works have been performed in nearly 30 countries. He served as an adjudicator in major world music competitions and established his own "Ladislav Kubík International Prize in Composition". Ladislav Kubík resides in the United States where he is a professor of composition at Florida State University. As a sought-after pedagogue he appears yearly at the CASMI International Summer Courses in Prague. Personnel: Hui-Ting Yang - Piano; Phyllis Pancella - Mezzo-soprano; Karen Bentley Pollick - Violin; Barbara Butler, Christopher Moore - Trumpet soloists; Read Gainsford, Joel Hastings, David Kalhous, Heidi Louise Williams - Piano soloists; Javian Brabham, Judy Gaunt, Seth Johnson, John Kilgore, Eric Millard, Rebecca Walenz - Trumpet Ensemble; John McGovern, Mitchell Gribbroek, Peter Soroka, Ben Tomlinson - Percussion; Alexander Jiménez - Conductor.

• FLASHES OF LIGHT
• Classical
• Neos