Poems of Love & Other Works

Born in New York, David Chaitkin followed his early experience as a jazz musician with studies at Pomona College and the University of California, Berkeley, where he received its Prix de Paris. His teachers included Luigi Dallapiccola, Seymour Shifrin, Max Deutsch, Andrew Imbrie and Karl Kohn. He has taught at Reed College, New York University and Brooklyn College. Noted for his lyrical and harmonically adventurous music, Chaitkin has composed symphonic as well as a variety of chamber and vocal works. His music has been performed by the BBC Philharmonic, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, the DaCapo Chamber Players and St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble. Recent commissions include a Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and Orchestra, Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano, and a new work for the U.S. Marine Band. As he writes about this release, "The works on this disc share a harmonic language, one which can refresh a long line, allow for the possibility of setting a melody in a number of different contexts, and to extend the possibilities for progression and contrast, balance and rhyme. All of the music reflects my natural desire for clarity of line, harmonic recognition and a sense of phrase."