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Prometheus Sonata
Timothy Schwarz, violin; Jane Beament, piano
David Osbon, composer
Five Hommages for violin and piano
Timothy Schwarz, violin; Jane Beament, piano
David Osbon, composer
Into the Sun
Timothy Schwarz, violin
David Osbon, composer
Still Waiting for the Revolution
Timothy Schwarz, violin; Jane Beament, piano; Lorraine Deacon, cello
"…No matter where we hear it, this album, titled Anthems After Prometheus, is an excellent collection of David Osbon’s fascinating compositions played by musicians of great virtuosity." (Fanfare)
"David Osbon is a British composer who obtained his doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was one of the last students of George Crumb. Since then he has returned to the UK and is currently associate dean and head of graduate studies at the London College of Music. He also explored musical analysis at the University of Sussex. Violinist Timothy Schwarz offers a little note in Albany’s booklet about his fascination with creative couples (Robert and Clara Schumann, for instance), in response to the dynamic at play here: The pianist of the Anglo-American Duo, Jane Beament, is Osbon’s wife. There is certainly a pronounced feeling of rapport between violinist, pianist, and composition around the performance of Prometheus Sonata of 2017, in which the seven ages of man meet the seven deadly sins. The Five Hommages for violin and piano, premiered in 1999, celebrate Elgar, Beethoven, Messiaen, Crumb, and Nigel Kennedy respectively.…Timothy Schwarz’s control of his instrument in this movement (Messaien) is particularly impressive.…The solo violin piece Into the Sun again takes as its basis another work by the composer…All credit to Timothy Schwarz for providing a performance as gripping from first to last as this one. The violin is forward in the soundstage but, thankfully, not right in one’s ear. Osbon’s piece sustains its length via a core of intensity, an intensity that holds throughout the work’s silences (around half way through).…but the present disc indicates a deep thinker with a wide expressive palette and sound compositional technique. Even the title of the disc implies this depth of thought: Anthems after Prometheus (Fanfare)
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New music for violin & piano by David Osbon, expertly performed by the Anglo-American Duo.
Formed in 2009, the Anglo-American Duo Timothy Schwarz, violin; Jane Beament, piano) has evolved into a prominent ensemble that regularly tours in the United States and Europe. Praised for its energetic and sophisticated performances, the Anglo-American Duo specializes in music from the U.S. and Britain. For their first commercial recording, they perform music by British composer David Osbon. Osbon's music has been performed, broadcast and recorded around the world. The recipient of numerous awards, Osbon studied at the University of Pennsylvania. Currently he is on the faculty at the London College of Music.Contents:
David Osbon, composerPrometheus Sonata
Timothy Schwarz, violin; Jane Beament, piano
David Osbon, composer
Five Hommages for violin and piano
Timothy Schwarz, violin; Jane Beament, piano
David Osbon, composer
Into the Sun
Timothy Schwarz, violin
David Osbon, composer
Still Waiting for the Revolution
Timothy Schwarz, violin; Jane Beament, piano; Lorraine Deacon, cello
Review:
"…The Anglo-American Duo, as its name implies, focuses on contemporary music of the U.S. and Britain, and features works by such composers as John Corigliano, Phillip Cashian, Lehigh University’s Steven Sametz and David Osbon. The duo’s new CD is focused entirely on the works of Osbon, whom Schwarz met in Philadelphia in the 1990s, when Osbon was studying composition under George Crumb. All four works on the disc share a sense of seething, furious energy. The first, “Prometheus Sonata,” is a work in five sections, composed in 2017. While the composer calls it the least abstract in the group, I found it a demanding, but fascinating, piece. Its opening discord resolves itself into a sort of furious surge of creative energy, tempered by softer, reflective sections with glistening glissandos on the violin and sweeping arpeggios on both instruments. Schwarz commands a lovely, open upper register in his playing, made almost visceral by the recording’s close miking — one can almost feel the silky texture of the strings. That’s especially true in the second piece, “Five Homages,” a minimalistic celebration of four composers and the renowned violinist Nigel Kennedy, from 1999…The Crumb section is simply marvelous, a tour de force of minimalism and percussiveness, and especially noteworthy for one of the longest, most purely sustained high notes on a violin one is apt to hear. Equally impressive is Schwarz’s ability to conjure that virtuoso trickster Kennedy with some jazzy flourishes and glissandos." (Morning Call)"…No matter where we hear it, this album, titled Anthems After Prometheus, is an excellent collection of David Osbon’s fascinating compositions played by musicians of great virtuosity." (Fanfare)
"David Osbon is a British composer who obtained his doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was one of the last students of George Crumb. Since then he has returned to the UK and is currently associate dean and head of graduate studies at the London College of Music. He also explored musical analysis at the University of Sussex. Violinist Timothy Schwarz offers a little note in Albany’s booklet about his fascination with creative couples (Robert and Clara Schumann, for instance), in response to the dynamic at play here: The pianist of the Anglo-American Duo, Jane Beament, is Osbon’s wife. There is certainly a pronounced feeling of rapport between violinist, pianist, and composition around the performance of Prometheus Sonata of 2017, in which the seven ages of man meet the seven deadly sins. The Five Hommages for violin and piano, premiered in 1999, celebrate Elgar, Beethoven, Messiaen, Crumb, and Nigel Kennedy respectively.…Timothy Schwarz’s control of his instrument in this movement (Messaien) is particularly impressive.…The solo violin piece Into the Sun again takes as its basis another work by the composer…All credit to Timothy Schwarz for providing a performance as gripping from first to last as this one. The violin is forward in the soundstage but, thankfully, not right in one’s ear. Osbon’s piece sustains its length via a core of intensity, an intensity that holds throughout the work’s silences (around half way through).…but the present disc indicates a deep thinker with a wide expressive palette and sound compositional technique. Even the title of the disc implies this depth of thought: Anthems after Prometheus (Fanfare)