Gernot Wolfgang
Albany Records TROY1624 (2016)
2016 GRAMMY® Award Nomination
Tracklist
Musicians
| Jennifer Johnson | oboe |
| Judith Farmer | bassoon |
| Nic Gerpe | piano |
| Joanne Pearce Martin | piano |
| Robert Thies | piano |
| ECLIPSE QUARTET | |
| NEW HOLLYWOOD STRING QUARTET |
Credits
All music composed by Gernot Wolfgang (BMI/AKM).
Engineered by Rich Breen.
Executive producers: Judith Farmer and Gernot Wolfgang.
Produced by Gernot Wolfgang and Judith Farmer.
All music published by Doblinger Music Publishers.
PASSING THROUGH was nominated for a 2016 GRAMMY® Award in the category Best Classical Compendium.
“The five works on “Passing Through” are substantial, provocative, entertaining examples of the now and future of chamber music, and the album as a whole is well deserving of its 2016 Grammy nomination for “Best Classical Compendium” not only for its intense and skilled performances but for the intriguing program.”
Don Clark, icareifyoulisten.com
“Thoroughly addictive … Modern chamber music simply does not get any better than this.”
David Rowe, Classical CD Reviews
“Every so often, a recording comes along that is really off the beaten path … so far off, in fact, that it seems to create its own genre … Wolfgang’s music is not just jazz music with a little more form, or classical music that swings. He has found a way to completely blend the two types of music in such a way that there is no real delineation between them. In other words, his music conforms to the highest standards of classical composition … he has created a sound world in which one enters and leaves jazz influence as other composers have used indigenous folk music (a la Bartok, Kodaly or Prokofiev) … a beautiful and deeply moving listening experience.”
Lynn Rene Bayley, The Art Music Lounge
“Gernot Wolfgang’s new recording “Passing Through” is as thoughtful and entertaining as any 21st century music I’ve heard this year. Wolfgang’s experience as a film composer and arranger has given him a facility with open, emotional music, a variety of instrumental colours, and melodies – whether film-shorthand leitmotifs or longer folk- and pop-inspired tunes – that linger in the memory … today’s classical music is invigorated and made more relevant by the scene-painting, emotional nudging and character-shading work done in the Hollywood studios. This gives us a much richer musical eco-system, enriched by so many streams, to engage so many more people. This new album is a grand example of this richness.”
Dean Frey, Music for Several Instruments
“This album is packed with incredible music and it’s so wonderfully diverse too .. A beautifully produced collection of intricate compositions.”
Darren Rea, reviewgraveyard.com
“This first track [Flurry] is an exemplary introduction to all the excellent qualities of this album: It features inventive and well-crafted music, is played with dedication and utmost professionalism by high caliber performers, and is served by an excellent recording sound and general balance .. This beautifully crafted CD, which was nominated for a GRAMMY Award in the category Best Classical Compendium, will most definitely attract the interest of curious double reed players looking for new challenging but rewarding works that will appeal to their audience. Gernot Wolfgang’s music is worth the attention of serious performers.”
Marc Vallon, The Double Reed
“As indicated by its “Groove-Oriented Chamber Music, Vol. 3” subtitle, “Passing Through’s” contemporary classical settings draw upon the syncopated rhythmic drive of jazz, as well as other non-classical forms. Wolfgang demonstrates a special gift for integrating the styles in these pieces; never does the jazz-classical blend feel contrived … While the performances are all first-rate, special mention must be made of the playing of oboist Jennifer Johnson and bassoonist Judith Farmer in the title work and pianist Joanne Pearce Martin and the Eclipse Quartet in “New England Travelogue”; the sensitivity they bring to Wolfgang’s material brings it to vivid and expressive life.”
textura.org
“This new release is Vol. 3 in a series devoted to Wolfgang’s very appealing chamber music … Albany has done yeoman’s work in its long dedication to American composers, sometimes of a very obscure stripe, and here I think they’ve found one of the most engaging, skilled and ingenious. Wolfgang’s music keeps you on your toes awaiting the next burst of exuberance.”
Huntley Dent, Fanfare
“The Austrian-American composer Gernot Wolfgang, trained in both countries, has kept a foot in both the commercial and academic spheres to good effect. This collection of chamber music, which elegantly fuses classical structures with popular rhythms and textures, is a worthwhile introduction to his style … This is not “crossover” music so much as concert music that takes popular music as a basis.”
James Manheim, AllMusic
“As a composer, he sounds entirely comfortable with his material, and he handles the technical parameters of his work with virtuoso ability. This music is very easy to enjoy. The performers are very good; there is a fun, loose-limbed quality to the playing that honors the composer’s style. ”
Peter Burwasser, Fanfare
“Performances on the album are truly superb—these are some of LA’s fines studio and concert musicians. The sound is well-balanced for both the more intimate works as well as those that add in piano and expand the palette. These are all engaging chamber pieces well worth the time of those interested in exploring some very accessible chamber music.”
Steven A. Kennedy, Cinemusical
“Composer Gernot Wolfgang has produced an eminently enjoyable CD worthy of attention … in three words the review is ‘go get it!’ which happens to be the title of one of its tracks.”
Rafael de Acha, rafaelmusicnotesdotcom
“Gernot Wolfgang’s writing combines a feel of mid 20th century tonality with jazz elements and streaks of modernism. His use of ‘grooves’ rather gives the music an attractive, toe-tapping element which I very much enjoyed. Certainly a composer to keep an eye open for.”
Robert Hugill, planethugill.com
“The pieces are quite varied and lots of fun to listen to. The two works with oboe and bassoon, “Passing Through” and “Trilogy”, add to the very small repertoire for this instrumental combination and will no doubt be welcome by the double reed community.”
Wai Kit Leung, hongkongdoublereeds.com
“Contemporary, abstract, stylistically varying works – jazz, reggae, classical. Fun!”
WRUV Reviews