Past Made Present: Music of Jessica Krash
Tanya Anisimova, Members of the Washington Master Chorale, Robert DiLutis, Ian Swensen, Emily Noël, Jessica Krash, Laura Kaufman, Thomas Colohan
As the music on this recording so aptly demonstrates, Jessica Krash composes with the heart of a chamber musician. Her compositions look for conversations between musical lines, and for the shifts in feeling and outlook as these interactions deepen. Her works, which have wide-ranging emotions and textures, give space for performers to create nuanced shapes and tone colors while they respond to each other. The pieces on this recording are also a dialogue between old and new: old and new music and poetry; old and new musicians; old and new social, philosophical, and emotional issues. Krash's music has been presented in both traditional and experimental settings in Germany, Austria and around the U.S., including the major performance venues and museums in Washington, D.C. She is the recipient of numerous fellowships, awards, and commissions, and has given a series of chamber music masterclasses at Strathmore, and a series of lectures at the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, and NIH. This is her second recording for Albany Records.
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Track Listing
| Title | Composer | Performer |
|---|---|---|
| Young Vilna | Jessica Krash | members of the Washington Master Chorale; Ian Swensen, violin; Robert DiLutis, clarinet; Tanya Anisimova, cello; Thomas Colohan, conductor |
| Sulpicia's Songs | Jessica Krash | Emily Noël, soprano; Jessica Krash, piano |
| Turns of Phrase | Jessica Krash | Laura Kaufman, flute; Jessica Krash, piano |
| The Cantigas de amigo of Martin Codax | Jessica Krash | Emily Noël, soprano; Jessica Krash, piano |
| Delpi-What the Oracle Said | Jessica Krash | Tanya Anisimova, cello |
Reviews
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"Named one of top 10 releases in 2018 by women composers"
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"Composers who cloak their works in genre-agnostic garb of the post-Minimalist and indie classical styles get most of the attention now, but other approaches to contemporary musical language have not surrendered the field entirely. Recent CDs by composers Jessica Krash, Harold Meltzer and Mark Applebaum show that there is still plenty to be said in hybrids that temper neo-Romantic lushness with post-tonal grittiness Ms. Krash's Past Made Present offers five works in which she filters slices of the past through a contemporary sensibility. "
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"The intersection of past and present – past made present, as the disc's title states – is nowhere more tellingly realised than in the second of Jessica Krash's two song-cycles on this thoroughly engaging, thought-provoking programme. The Cantigas de amigo of Martin Codax (2015) are seven songs by the eponymous 13th-century Spanish minstrel to which Krash composed a 'modern piano accompaniment' faithful to the emotional and structural ideas of the original songs'. The result is a truly vibrant fusion of past and present, the piano at times emulating medieval instruments, at others being itself. Krash also composed the vocal part for the sixth song, missing from the manuscript. It is a haunting cycle, full of youthful ardour and steely-eyed wistfulness. Krash's musical language is euphoniously tonal, chameleon-like in style, allowing her to create convincing works as different as the two song-cycles and the Impressionistic fantasy for flute, Turns of Phrase (2016), inspired by the shakuhachi and delightfully played by Laura Kaufman and the composer, a sensitive accompanist here as in the songs Despite disparate provenance, the recordings sound well together and make a fine case for a fascinating composer. Well worth investigating."
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"As important to the continued viability of Classical Music as memorable performances by accomplished performers is the emergence of original, compelling compositional voices that communicate the modern world's complex emotional conundrums in musical language that challenges, comforts, and uplifts The pieces on Past Made Present speak with a creative voice that is at once wonderfully original and gratifyingly familiar In the pieces on Past Made Present, Jessica Krash transforms the bittersweet sounds of looking back and forging ahead into music that makes sincerity audible."Record of the Month, April 2018
*Album cover provided for Editorial use only. ©Albany Records. The Albany Imprint is a registered trademark of PARMA Recordings LLC. The views and opinions expressed in this media are those of the artist and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views and opinions held by PARMA Recordings LLC and its label imprints, subsidiaries, and affiliates.