Michael Byron’s “Halcyon Days” is unique percussion (marimbas, xylophones, vibraphones, glockenspiels, tubular bells, maracas) and keyboard music that’s both wild and pensive, played by an all-star group of new-music performers that includes William Winant, the William Winant Percussion Group (Winant, Tony Gennaro, Michael Jones, and Scott Siler), Lisa Moore, Vicki Ray, and Aron Kallay. Except for the final track (a piano solo written in 2016), these pieces are from a previously under-documented period of Byron’s work—the mid-’70s, when he composed unique and remarkable minimalist-styled music. This album treats us to clangorous clouds of polyrhythms and simple, direct, quiet works, both of which explore rich harmonies and bespeak a sense of transcendent motionlessness.
Byron comments about the album, “Poet Anne Tardos wrote that ‘Time doesn’t pass. We pass.’ Most of the pieces on this CD were composed in the 1970s. It seemed like everything was beginning then. Lifelong friends were made, and improbable ideas were shared; composing neither began nor ended. This CD features virtuoso percussionist, and my oldest friend, Bill Winant. Over the last 50 years he has performed and premiered every percussion piece that I’ve ever composed.”.
Michael Byron’s music tends to be harmonically rich, rhythmically detailed, and virtuosic. It’s often praised for its ability to create dense constructions out of relatively limited materials. His works have been performed and recorded by such new-music champions as Sarah Cahill, Joseph Kubera, William Winant, FLUX Quartet, Kathleen Supové, and Thomas Buckner. The Wire’s Julian Cowley has written that Byron is “one of those contemporary composers who can justifiably be classed as crucial. . . . Byron’s music dances with tremulous iridescence.” (Byron’s music has appeared on seven previous Cold Blue Music albums.)
“One is reminded…of the mobiles of Alexander Calder, which are both fixed and moving. And, like Calder’s work, Byron’s music is immediately comprehensible and beautiful, while it remains experimental.” (“San Francisco Bay Guardian”)
“Byron’s music, like Ligeti’s, is instantly recognizable, perceptually challenging, beautifully proportioned and deeply satisfying.” (“Paris Transatlantic”)
“Percussionist William Winant has been the avant-elite’s go-to percussionist for more than 35 years.” (“SPIN” magazine)
“Winant is a dazzling virtuoso but also a catalytic presence in adventurous music, a percussive dynamo generating rhythms, colours and textures that blaze life into visionary scores.” (Julian Cowley, “The Wire”)
credits
released February 10, 2023
William Winant, tubular bells, maracas, marimba, xylophone, glockenspiel, and vibraphone
William Winant Percussion Group (Winant, Tony Gennaro, Michael Jones, and Scott Siler), marimbas, xylophones, glockenspiels, and vibraphones
Ray-Kallay Duo (Vicki Ray and Aron Kallay), piano four-hands
Lisa Moore, piano
Produced by Jim Fox, William Winant, and Scott Fraser
All music recorded, edited, mixed, and mastered by Scott Fraser.
“Music of Steady Light” recorded January 6–7, 2022, Littlefield Concert Hall, Mills College, Oakland, CA.
All other works recorded at Architecture, Los Angeles. “Tender, Infinitely Tender” recorded March 15, 2022; “Drifting Music” and “Music of Every Night” recorded June 8–10, 2022; “Starfields” recorded August 22, 2022.
Michael Byron is “one of those contemporary composers who can justifiably be classed as crucial.” (The Wire) His music tends
to be harmonically rich, rhythmically detailed, and virtuosic and is often praised for its ability to create uniquely dense constructions out of relatively limited means. “Byron’s music dances with tremulous iridescence.” (The Wire)...more
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