Margaret Brouwer’s music has for decades been admired for “inhabiting its own peculiarly bewitching harmonic world” (The New York Times). These recently composed pieces reflect her musical representations of particular events: Rhapsodic Sonata charts an internal journey of love, whereas Declaration is a set of songs that addresses ideas of violence and war. Composed at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, I Cry – Summer 2020 outlines a process of isolation and restriction. All Lines are Still Busy is a satirical monologue that should intrigue anyone who has been placed “on hold “during a telephone call.

REVIEWS:

Reactions – Songs and Chamber Music presents a rewarding glimpse into Brouwer’s rich compositional world and the broad tonal range it encompasses…[Brouwer] draws on her vast knowledge of classical music to create personalized expressions that render into compositional form the essence of a particular subject matter or emotional state.

-- Textura

Naxos presents a portrait CD of American Margaret Brouwer, born in 1940, featuring chamber music & songs. The program opens with an impassioned performance of the Rhapsodic Sonata for viola and piano by Eliesha Nelson and Shuai Wang. This pianist also acts expressively in the song cycle Declaration, sung very eloquently and sensitively by mezzo-soprano Sarah Beaty. The shorter pieces ‘I Cry – Summer 2020’ for violin & piano and The Lake for tenor & piano are also heard in very appealing interpretations.

-- Pizzicato

The American composer has the expressive skills to evoke the passions she sets out to describe – love, ecology, racism, even being trapped in telephone hell…Brouwer’s musical language – tonal with deft sprinklings of harmonic spice – draws the instruments into ardent and wistful conversations.

-- Gramophone