Albany Records: Three Generations of Music

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If you like Prokofiev and Shostakovich, you will find this family of composers in the same vein.

This disc is a most interesting family portrait. Aaron is the grandfather. He was born in Siberia, educated partly in Switzerland, and spent all of his creative life in China, where he was fascinated by the music and the culture. He was largely self-taught as a composer and his music represents largely a fusion of Chinese elements - scales, colors, legend - with western instruments and forms. While he lived in China, he supported himself as a bookman and for 15 years was the head of the Shanghai Municipal Library. In 1947, he came to the United States. Long associated with the Portland Youth Philharmonic, Jacob is Aaron's son. He studied with Ernst Toch, Bernard Rogers and Aaron Copland. Today he is a most respected man in the field of classical music, recognized across the nation for the work he had done with young people. Many of his Orchestral students play with the best Orchestras in the country and abroad. David, the son of Jacob, is a composer who was educated at Harvard. He was a timpani player who wanted to conduct. He studied with his father and then at Aspen with Morel and Blomstedt. He also studied at Tanglewood with Schuller, Bernstein and Ozawa. Today, he spends most of his time composing. Daniel is his brother and he is a violist who graduated from Juilliard. He has been principal violist for the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the American Composers Orchestra. Today he is the violist of the American String Quartet. All of the music on this disc has either been composed or arranged for him. So here we have a wonderful portrait of a very remarkable family in music.

Aaron Avshalomov, composer
Songs
Daniel Avshalomov, viola, Pamela Pyle, piano

David Avshalomov, composer
Torn Curtain
Daniel Avshalomov, viola, Pamela Pyle, piano

Jacob Avshalomov, composer
Evocations
Daniel Avshalomov, viola, Robert McDonald, piano

Jacob Avshalomov, composer
Sonatine
Daniel Avshalomov, viola, Robert McDonald, piano

Review:

"On it the music of an extraordinary musical dynasty: Daniel Avshalomov performs the music of his grandfather, Aaron; his father, Jacob; and his brother, David.David's substantial "Torn Curtain" was inspired by events that led to the fall of the iron curtain in 1989. The music is bold and rhythmically vital, with hints of East European folk tunes. Daniel's playing is equally big-boned, with a warm tone.Aaron's two "Songs" evoke Chinese landscapes with delicate, modal scales. The music is beautifully conceived." (The Oregonian)

If you like Prokofiev and Shostakovich, you will find this family of composers in the same vein.

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