ROGER REYNOLDS



REVIEW of new Mode CD: Whispers Out of Time: Works for Orchestra:

BLOW UP Magazine, Italy
"In addition to the title score, the CD contains two other pieces for large orchestra, 'Symphony [Myths]' and 'Symphony [Vertigo]', to complete a triad of compositions which illuminate the two driving forces of Reynolds's music: on one side, the care for the specific and particular, the insistence on limited timbric coloration; on the other, an impressiveness of sound masses in constant motion which provoke outbursts of noteworthy force and power. Taken together, then, an apparent contradiction capable of evoking surprising results in the music as it is heard. The nearest point of reference here is Xenakis, for the universal and mythic grandeur that one hears, as well, in Reynolds's music. Reynolds, a figure not at all typical of the American scene, after scientific studies participated in Robert Ashley's ONCE group, interesting himself, as well, in electroacoustic and computer music. This is a front-ranking composer, the originality of whose work this intricately-layered Mode recording (three different orchestras and three different conductors, as well) permits one to fully appraise and appreciate."

– Piercarlo Poggio, June 2008, translation from the Italian: Harvey Sollberger