Fast Fantasy

Charles Wuorinen is one of the world's leading composers. His many honors include a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and the Pulitzer Prize (as the youngest ever composer to receive the award). His compositions encompass every form and medium, and include works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, soloists, ballet and stage. He has been commissioned to compose his Fourth Piano Concerto for Peter Serkin and the Boston Symphony Orchestra for James Levine's first season as Music Director. Wuorinen has been described as a "maximalist," writing music luxuriant with events, lyrical and expressive, strikingly dramatic. His works are characterized by powerful harmonies and elegant craftsmanship, offering at once a link to the music of the past and a vision of a rich musical future. Both as composer and performer (conductor and pianist) Wuorinen has worked with some of the finest performers of the current time and his works reflect the great virtuosity of his collaborators. He is Professor of Music at Rutgers University and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. About Fred Sherry Wuorinen writes: "I've known and collaborated with Fred Sherry for more than three decades. During that time we have often performed together, and I have written many pieces for him - in fact, all the works on this disc have been composed for Fred. Saying that he is a superb player, wonderful performer, and profound musician is true enough, but for me needs to be supplemented with an appreciation for a long and marvelous friendship, a true meeting of minds, and an endless source of stimulation and merriment. I owe him more than I can say."