Crumb: Dream Sequence (Images II), Sonata for Solo Cello & Vox Balaenae [Live] [Remastered 2022] Ensemble Dreamtiger & Rohan de Saram

• George Crumb (1929 - 2022): Dream Sequence:
• 1 Crumb: Dream Sequence (Images II) [Live] [Remastered 2022] 16:54
• Sonata for Solo Cello:
• 2 Crumb: Sonata for Solo Cello: I. Fantasia (Live) [Remastered 2022] 03:22
• 3 Crumb: Sonata for Solo Cello: II. Tema pastorale con variazioni (Live) [Remastered 2022] 04:52
• 4 Crumb: Sonata for Solo Cello: III. Toccata (Live) [Remastered 2022] 02:40
• Vox Balaenae:
• 5 Crumb: Vox Balaenae: I. Vocalise (For the Beginning of Time) [Live] [Remastered 2022] 03:37
• 6 Crumb: Vox Balaenae: II. Sea Theme (Live) [Remastered 2022] 02:11
• 7 Crumb: Vox Balaenae: III. Archeozoic (Live) [Remastered 2022] 01:27
• 8 Crumb: Vox Balaenae: IV. Proterozoic (Live) [Remastered 2022] 02:02
• 9 Crumb: Vox Balaenae: V. Paleozoic (Live) [Remastered 2022] 01:25
• 10 Crumb: Vox Balaenae: VI. Mesozoic (Live) [Remastered 2022] 01:17
• 11 Crumb: Vox Balaenae: VII. Cenozoic (Live) [Remastered 2022] 02:12
• 12 Crumb: Vox Balaenae: VIII. Sea-Nocturne (For the End of Time) [Live] [Remastered 2022] 06:50
• Total Runtime 48:49

Info for Crumb: Dream Sequence (Images II), Sonata for Solo Cello & Vox Balaenae [Live] [Remastered 2022]

The sad news of George Crumb's death was announced on 6 February 2022, shortly after these recordings from a concert in Holland in 1978 were discovered in the KRO-NCRV archives in Hilversum. They included the first European performance of Dream Sequence (1976), one of his most beautiful and original compositions. George was always a pleasure to work with, highly professional, considerate, open to suggestions and relaxed. On one fraught occasion, when Rohan's cello mysteriously disappeared for several hours, making rehearsal impossible, we would have expected many composers to throw a tantrum (!) but not George. He remained completely calm and slightly amused by the ensuing Tati-esque comedie.

He was also a master calligrapher. His scores, all hand-drawn, are works of art, the notation often original, and models of musical practicality. We offer these three recordings from long ago in tribute and gratitude to a remarkable musician, composer and friend.

Ensemble Dreamtiger was formed in 1973 to explore music, old and new, from around the world, and its interaction with European traditions. Dreamtiger worked with musicians and composers from most regions of the planet: Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, India, Sri Lanka, The Americas, Canada, Greece, Sicily et alia, but its centre was cosmopolitan London. American music featured prominently in Dreamtiger's programmes, from Charles Ives and John Cage to George Crumb and beyond, with adventures in the jazz-inflected worlds of George Gershwin, Kurt Weill and Stephen Sondheim. A special focus was accorded to Colin McPhee who had lived in Bali in the 1930s. His many pioneering transcriptions of Balinese gamelan music, for various ensembles, formed a core part of Dreamtiger's repertoire and were featured in an American documentary film, in 1983, about McPhee's life.

“…utterly delighted to see that Rohan de Saram, one of the living cellists I most admire… Wow, what a great tribute to Crumb. If you don’t have all three of these works (I didn’t) already, this is an indispensable album for you.” (Art Music Lounge)

Rohan de Saram, cello
Ensemble Dreamtiger:
Kathryn Lukas, flute
Alexander Balanescu, violin
Rohan de Saram, cello
Douglas Young, piano
James Wood, percussion

Dreamtiger
was a British contemporary music ensemble led by composer Douglas Young and featuring pianist Peter Hill, flutist Kathryn Lukas and cellist Rohan de Saram, among others [see my Wikipedia article for details]. Despite the prestigious cast and the number of concerts and tours they performed between 1974 and 1984, Dreamtiger left surprisingly few traces on the web and in reference books. Published in 1982, East-West Encounters was the ensemble’s unique LP – a marvelous collection of Eastern-influenced works by 20th century composers, including masterpieces that found their way in the classical canon–, based on Dreamtiger’s 1980 U.K. tour repertoire.

Rohan de Saram
was born in Sheffield of Sinhalese parents. He began studying the cello at the age of 11 with Gaspar Cassado at the Academia Chigiana in Siena, Italy, At the age of 16, in 1955, he was honoured with the Suggia Award which enabled him to study with Pablo Casals in Puerto Rico and with Sir John Barbirolli in London. Casals said of him: “There are few of his generation that have such gifts.”

As a soloist he has played throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada & the former Soviet Union with the major orchestras & leading conductors of the world such as John Barbirolli, Adrian Boult, Colin Davis, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa & Malcolm Sargent. His debut appearance in the USA was with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra at the Carnegie Hall at the invitation of Dmitri Mitropoulos. Among the composers he worked with at that time were Kodaly, Shostakovich, Poulenc & Walton. After a recital in America, Piatagorsky presented him with a special bow which he uses for concerts.

Rohan de Saram is also an outstanding interpreter of contemporary music, and has worked personally with many leading contemporary composers. Xenakis was one of the first he worked with, giving the UK premiere of “Kottos” for solo cello. His performance of “Nomos Alpha” won him great praise from the composer who invited him to play it at the Xenakis Festival in Bonn. Later Xenakis wrote two works for him, “Epicycles” for cello & ensemble and “Roscobek” for cello & double bass. He has worked with Ligeti, giving the world premiere of his solo cello sonata; with Pousseur, giving the world premiere of “Racine 19”, a work based on a 19-note scale and dedicated to him; and with Berio, giving the UK premiere of his work for cello and orchestra, “Il Ritorno degli Snovidenia”. After the performance, Berio wrote to Rohan: “Your performance of “Ritorno” is splendid, but besides “Ritorno”, your sound, your perfect intonation, your phrasing and bowing technique make you a great performer of any music. As a result, Berio wrote “Sequenza XIV” for Rohan: this wonderful piece incorporates in a unique way the rhythms of the Kandyan drum of Sri Lanka, an instrument which Rohan has himself played since his childhood in Sri Lanka.

For many years Rohan was cellist of the Arditti Quartet, for whom hundreds of new works were written and by whom hundreds of world premiereswere given and many recordings made. Whilst with the Arditti Quartet, they were awarded the Siemens prize for their services to music and a Grammy Award for their recording of works by Elliott Carter, including his Sonata for cello and piano and his work ‘Figment’ for solo cello.

At the end of November 2005, Rohan left the ArdittiQuartet in order to work with other artists, composers and friends around the world, bringing together music from a range of musical periods, both eastern and western, classical and contemporary, composed and improvised. In December 2004, Rohan was awarded an honorary D. Litt. from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, and in December 2005, he was awarded the Deshamaniya, the national honour of Sri Lanka. His recently published book “Conversations” between Rohan and Joachim Steinheuer from Heidelberg University, has been described as “a treasure trove of musical jewels” and is available from the German publisher, wolke@wolke-verlag.de.

Booklet for Crumb: Dream Sequence (Images II), Sonata for Solo Cello & Vox Balaenae [Live] [Remastered 2022]