MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2023
Approaching 60,000 reviews
and more.. and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

Zimbel Records

 

Carson COOMAN (b.1982)
Chamber Music
Summer Song (2003) for cello;
Fantasia on American Hymns
(1999-2000) for alto saxophone and piano;
Lyric Pieces
(2004) for clarinet and piano; Canalscape: Soliloquy for String Quartet (2003);
Tombeau-Aria
(2003) for string quartet;
Dawn Rituals
(2005) for flute quartet
Olga Kryvtsova (cello); Paul Wehage (alto saxophone); Moyuru Maeda (piano) [2]; Angela Occhionero (clarinet); Donna Amato (piano) [3-8]; Ukraniana Quartet; LAGO Flute Quartet
rec. live, no dates or locations provided
ZIMBEL RECORDS ZR117 [38:55]

Experience Classicsonline


Carson Cooman is a young American composer, who has written a wide range of works, using forces from solo instruments to full orchestra. His output is prolific and much of it is published. His language, if this disc is anything to go by, is essentially tonal and simple; it is inoffensive to the average listener and I have no doubt that it would appeal to the Classic FM audience. This disc serves as a good introduction to his works, including a range of instrumental combinations, from clarinet and piano to string quartet. 

The disc has a feel of being produced on a low budget; the sleeve insert is one double sided page, and the text is laid out so that it is almost cropped at the edges of the pages. One cannot, however, criticise a low budget in the current economic climate, and in the interests of artistic pursuits, I would much rather see a low budget CD available than no CD at all. The recording quality is fine – the performances are all live, and were it not for some moments of intonational awkwardness, I would probably never have noticed.

Summer Song is a short piece for solo cello, which makes use of a repeated melodic fragment. This is an uncomplicated work which is well performed and has much appeal. Another short work, the Fantasia on American Hymns for alto saxophone and piano, follows, with clear American influences and a warm saxophone tone.

The most substantial work on the disc is Lyric Pieces for clarinet and piano, in six movements. The influence of Cooman’s organ playing background can be heard in some of the textural writing. The movements follow different moods and each have distinct characters, although the performance as a whole failed to capture my attention.

The Canalscape: Soliloquy for String Quartet uses the quartet as one instrument, and has a satisfying sense of completeness. Like many of the works on this CD, the movement is slow and there is much room for expression. The harmonic language is more interesting in the Tombeau-Aria in memory of Meyer Kupferman which contains an enjoyable element of dissonance, adding tension and deeper emotional strength to the work. This is a short work, little over 3 minutes in duration, but for me, this is very much the star of the show, and something I would like to hear again. 

The closing work is a flute quartet, entitled Dawn Rituals. The most recent work on the disc, composed in 2005, this two movement work makes good use of the sonorities created by four flutes and the players balance each other well. The second movement, Sun Ride, has a sense of energy and fun and a strong sense of rhythmic drive. This is an excellent work, which showcases Cooman’s abilities as a composer. Once again, the influence of organ writing is sensed, and the movement has the general feel of a virtuosic Toccata. 

The disc has served as an interesting introduction to this composer’s works, and I’m looking forward to exploring more in the future.

Carla Rees




 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.