Zeitlin / Calloway / Guechev / Rabbani / Pittsburg - Yiddish Songs & Chamber Music & Declamations - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The English composer Steve Elcock spent years writing music without ever expecting it to be heard based in rural France, he worked as a translator, composing 'for the drawer.' A recent Toccata Classics recording of his Third Symphony and other orchestral pieces revealed him to be a major symphonic voice. The works on this first album of his chamber music show the same long-term control of harmonic tension, occasionally leavened by a mischievous sense of humor. The Clarinet Sextet and The Shed Dances are immediately appealing in their melodiousness and harmonic language, whereas the darkly aggressive String Trio No. 1 foreshadows the Third Symphony with it's stark juxtaposition of contrasts, and An Outstretched Hand offers a disturbing comment on our troubled 21st century condition. The Veles Ensemble is a string trio based in London, it's repertoire both exploring rarely heard masterpieces and bringing the classics to life. A special interest of the ensemble is in promoting new compositions and contemporary music.

Solomon Rosowsky was one of the founding members of the influential Society for Jewish Folk Music in St. Petersburg. The son of a prominent cantor, Rosowsky was an eminent scholar of synagogue chant in his own right. His instrumental and vocal chamber music reveals much wider influences, ancient and modern. From a whirling showpiece for piano trio via tender lullabies to the Mediterranean desert evoked in the Biblical drama Jacob and Rachel, Rosowsky's music embraces the rich and varied heritage of the Jewish people. This is the fourth album in the Toccata 'Russian Jewish Classics' series. The musicians of the Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival are the highest-caliber local professionals; players for the orchestral and chamber music concerts include members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Opera and Ballet Orchestras, and faculty members of the music departments from Carnegie Mellon and Duquesne Universities.

Album Tracks 1. 1. Allegro 2. 2. Scherzo 3. 3. Fugatto 4. 4. Presto 5. 1. Allegro 6. 2. Adagio 7. 3. Rondo Brilliante 8. 1. Allegro 9. 2. Andante 10. 3. Rondo