Notes and Editorial Reviews
This diverse collection of Dmitri Tymoczko’s music is introduced by the composer: “These days, we can carry the whole history of music in our pockets, Beethoven, Nancarrow, Coltrane and the Beatles rubbing shoulders on our phones. What sort of music should we write? Whatever we want, of course, but for me the answer has to involve this new diversity. I want to make music that weaves between stylistic poles in a way that is unexpected and entertaining—not pastiche, but an attempt to find hidden roads connecting the familiar places we love. A music that takes up the classical disciplines of harmony, counterpoint, and development with just the slightest hint of a raised eyebrow, so that listeners are confronted with a strange superposition of
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sincerity and irony.” Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
The Eggman Variations by Dmitri Tymoczko
Performer:
John Blacklow (Piano)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Corigliano Quartet
2.
Typecase Treasury by Dmitri Tymoczko
Performer:
Kevin Weng-yew Mayner (Double Bass)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Amernet String Quartet
3.
This Picture Seems to Move by Dmitri Tymoczko
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Amernet String Quartet
4.
Another Fantastic Voyage by Dmitri Tymoczko
Performer:
Daniel Schlosberg (Piano)
Conductor:
Stephen Taylor
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Illinois Modern Ensemble
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: 
( 1 Customer Review )
Great music, great fun August 5, 2013
By Ralph Graves (Hood, VA) See All My Reviews
"If I had to sum up Dmitri Tymoczko's music in a phrase, I'd say it's serious music that doesn't take itself seriously. At least, that's the impression this new release of Tymoczko's chamber music left with me. <br />
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All the works on Crackpot Hymnal are carefully constructed, with plenty of substance and depth. But the basic building blocks borrowed from rock, jazz, blues, gospel, and even movie soundtracks. It's all blended together in a heady mixture of high-energy gravitas that I found irresistible. <br />
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And then there are the titles: "Crackpot Hymnal," "This One was Supposed to be Atonal.. "(from Typecase Treasury), "A Roiling Worm of Sound" (from Eggman Variations)... Great stuff! <br />
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Each of the four works are musical gems. Another Fantastic Voyage, for chamber orchestra and piano, captures the essence of 50's sci-fi movie scores without resorting to either parody or quotations. Typecase Treasury, written for string quartet plus bass, is a compendium of styles, each movement exploring a different subgenre of music. The piano quintet Eggman Variations begins with a simple diatonic pattern and ends in, well, a roiling worm of sound. <br />
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Crackpot Hymnal is serious fun."
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