Three String Quartets From China’s Avant-garde Composer Ge Gan-Ru May 27, 2008
From May 12 to 14, Modernworks! recorded three quartets by Chinese contemporary composer Ge Gan-Ru (1954). Known as China’s first avant-garde composer, Ge Gan-Ru studied violin and composition at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. He continued his education in the US, obtaining a doctorate from Columbia University. On his works the composer commented that he "often tries to combine contemporary Western compositional techniques with my Chinese experience and Chinese musical characteristics to create a new music world”.
Modernworks! was founded in 1997 in New York by cellist Madeleine Shapiro to focus exclusively on recent string repertoire. The ensemble has given premières of works by Berio, Gubaidulina, and Xenakis.
Recorded were String Quartets No. 5 'Fall of Baghdad', No. 4 'Angel Suite' and No. 1 'Fu' (Prose Poem). Sessions took place at St. Anne's Church in Toronto, Canada, and were produced and engineered by Norbert Kraft and Bonnie Silver.
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| Modernworks! and composer Ge Gan-Ru. Recording sessions May 2008, in Toronto. |
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