Joel
talks about his latest recording of The Forbidden on Leon Kirchner REVELATIONS
Verdant World Records – The Forbidden was written for and dedicated to Joel Fan
by Leon Kirchner
Friday, November 8, 2013
Friday, October 11, 2013
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Leon Kirchner REVELATIONS/Verdant World Records 2013- Leon
Kirchner passed away in 2009. He spent a lifetime composing works in his own
style, modernist, chromatic-rubato-expressive yet abstracted in rhythmic time.
Many like myself probably still have a copy of his Third String Quartet on an
old Columbia LP, if you go back that far in your listening-accumulating. The
work won him the Pulitzer Prize and it is very worth hearing. But perhaps like
with me his other work is not as well-known to you. For that we have the remedy
of an anthology of some choice chamber and vocal works on the
CD Revelations (Verdant World 002).
It has a nicely chosen cross-section of solo piano works,
songs, and choral works spanning the years 1943-2006. There is quite
understandably development and stylistic enrichment to be heard in Kirchner's
music over time. Nonetheless the charm and expressively miniature qualities of
the 1949 "Little Suite" for piano has as much to offer your ears as
the later 2006 "The Forbidden," again for piano. Time and tide had
altered his musical vision somewhat, but there was something strong there from
the beginning. The choral works haunt, the songs are difficult to sing,
challenging, with post-Schoenbergian leaps and great demands placed on the
artistry of the soprano.
In the end we have a judicious survey of some choice small
works that piques the interest, heightens appreciation of Kirchner the man and
the composer, and satisfies the modern-seeking musical consciousness. Performances
are very good, as is sound quality. Recommended!
– Grego Applegate Edwards/Gapplegate Classical Modern Music
Review
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
“Lisa Kirchner is her great father's daughter in
talent and originality. She never takes the expected or easy way, and her
songs reflect
the joys and agonies of her life's experiences. Listen, and
you will be won over. You may even hear a hint of Leon-- a truly haunting
shadow of his smile!”-
Paul Chihara
"Umbrellas
in Mint," Lisa Kirchner's new CD, is the most exciting album Ms. Kirchner
has yet to produce. She is in beautiful voice, the shimmering, delicious lines
of her vocals are here in abundance, giving the listener shivers of pure
pleasure; and the songs! Her writing continues to flourish, as a garden of
lyric beauty. What a singer! and what a CD! I am impressed, as I always have
been, by Lisa Kirchner's talent and her continuing success as a singer, writer
and performer” – Judy Collins
Friday, May 31, 2013
Lisa Kirchner Umbrellas In Mint
“Every song in Lisa Kirchner’s album, Umbrellas in Mint, is worth your attention and time. Ms. Kirchner not only has a beautiful voice, but she is a master poet with a musical gift. I thank her for including in her liner notes all the words to all the songs, and I recommend that you listen and follow along as I did.” Carl Reiner
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
From the blog
Off Topic'd
Comes a review of Leon Kirchner REVELATIONS
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Leon Kirchner : Revelations
Joel Fan, piano
Diana Hoagland, soprano
Beverly Hoch, soprano
Scott Dunn, conductor
Leon Kirchner, piano
Verdant World Records
Revelations is an interesting overview of Kirchner's music. It ranges from some of his earliest work as a student in 1943, up through 2006, three years before his death. It's also an intimate overview, comprising of works for solo piano and piano plus voice compositions.
The opening and closing piano works -- Little Suite (1949) and The Forbidden(2006) frame the collection nicely. The Little Suite is charming in its simplicity and straight-forward themes. The Forbidden, though more complex, flows with the same easy motion as the Suite.
Dawn, while tonally based, avoids all the cliches of choral writing. This brief work has a sense of urgency to it that effectively conveys the meaning of the text. Words from Wordsworth, written 20 years after in 1966 is much more strident and edgy in tone. This isn't an academic exercise in dissonance. Kirchner illuminates the text with his carefully constructed harmonies.
Three Songs (1946) and The Twilight Stood (1982) are the most angular and atonal of the selections. Once again, the music is there to serve the text. Kirchner brings the emotions of the words vividly to life.
Pianist Joel Fan, who performs on all but one of selections, is an admirable interpreter of this music. His sympathetic readings bring its emotional content to the fore.
Joel Fan, piano
Diana Hoagland, soprano
Beverly Hoch, soprano
Scott Dunn, conductor
Leon Kirchner, piano
Verdant World Records
Revelations is an interesting overview of Kirchner's music. It ranges from some of his earliest work as a student in 1943, up through 2006, three years before his death. It's also an intimate overview, comprising of works for solo piano and piano plus voice compositions.
The opening and closing piano works -- Little Suite (1949) and The Forbidden(2006) frame the collection nicely. The Little Suite is charming in its simplicity and straight-forward themes. The Forbidden, though more complex, flows with the same easy motion as the Suite.
Dawn, while tonally based, avoids all the cliches of choral writing. This brief work has a sense of urgency to it that effectively conveys the meaning of the text. Words from Wordsworth, written 20 years after in 1966 is much more strident and edgy in tone. This isn't an academic exercise in dissonance. Kirchner illuminates the text with his carefully constructed harmonies.
Three Songs (1946) and The Twilight Stood (1982) are the most angular and atonal of the selections. Once again, the music is there to serve the text. Kirchner brings the emotions of the words vividly to life.
Pianist Joel Fan, who performs on all but one of selections, is an admirable interpreter of this music. His sympathetic readings bring its emotional content to the fore.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Saturday, February 23, 2013
LISA KIRCHNER UMBRELLAS IN MINT- In this her sixth album, jazz stylist Lisa
Kirchner pushes the boundaries of her inestimable talents as a singer and
arranger and goes for creating an entire album based on a storyline. She has
written both the music and the lyrics for this highly imaginative exploration
into poetry and stage plays and invites us on a journey called UMBRELLAS IN
MINT - a story like no other and one that likely other singers will add to
their repertoire, if not in toto then at least in excerpts - that is how strong
this music is….Kirchner is such a brilliant
stylist that she is able to take us on a surreal flight of fancy about love and
life in Manhattan. She sings lead (and background) vocals, and is accompanied
by (or enhanced by, so fine are these musicians) the following: Xavier Davis,
piano, Sherman Irby, saxophone, Ron Jackson, guitar, Bill Schimmel, accordion,
Vicente Archer, bass, and Willi Jones III, drums….This is excellent music,
each song different enough to maintain forward momentum, but each is equally
fine. A very successful outing.
–Grady Harp/Amazon.com
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Leon Kirchner's "Lily"
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