Piston: Chamber Music: Quintet for flute & strings / String Sextet / Piano Quartet / Piano Quintet - 4642

Amazon.com Walter Piston (1894-1976) was part of that famous generation of American composers of the 1930s and 1940s whose distinct brand of Romanticism set the tone for American music for the rest of the century. Piston studied with Nadia Boulanger and Paul Dukas in Paris, and their insistence on textural balances shows up in Piston's best music, including his chamber works, the best of which are on this disc. They range from public expressions of sheer joy (the Quintet for Flute and String Quartet of 1942) to the darkly private (the String Sextet of 1964). Piston also makes use of various postmodern techniques (atonality and serialism among them) where it serves the music, making it all the more interesting. This is an extraordinary collection of brilliant--and beautiful--music. --Paul Cook Product description "The art of composition is never completed. It is a lifetime's continuing pursuit", wrote the American composer, Walter Piston. Born in 1894, he was a self-taught violinist, pianist and saxophonist earning a living playing in dance halls, hotels and restaurants. He was twenty-six before he began to study composition, eventually moving to Paris as a pupil of Dukas and Nadia Boulanger. Though his music was influenced by their teaching, his individuality and Americanism is evident throughout his modest catalogue of music. Central to his output were eight fine symphonies, two violin concertos, and the famous ballet, The Incredible Flutist. Most of his chamber music comes from his later life, and combine his ready sense of good humour with an attractive melodic content.
ASIN: B00004VXDF
VSKU: GGV.B00004VXDF.LN
Condition: Like New
Binding: Audio CD