Draw the Strings Tight

Draw the Strings Tight

Description: 
A universal coupling
Composers: 
James Piorkowski
Edie Hill
Kevin Ernste
Hans Werner Henze
Jesse Jones
Nicolas Scherzinger
Performers: 
Kenneth Meyer
Catalog Number: 
#963
Genre: 
new classical
Collection: 
acoustic guitar
Location: 

Geneva, NY

Price: 
$15.00
Release Date: 
May 26, 2017
Liner Notes: 
View
1 CD
One Sheet: 

Draw the Strings Tight pulls together a range of new music composed for the acoustic guitar. It features premieres of newly commissioned musical discourses on love, reflections on the nature of memory, the search for truth in the many voices of reality, and meditations on sense and enjoyment. The album title is also an evocative phrase that reflects the challenges facing a composer, performer, instrument, and listener, as they work together to realize something of substance, meaning, beauty, and truth.

In addition to the premiere recordings of music by Kevin Ernste (whose work also includes the recorded voice of poet Pablo Neruda), Edie Hill, Jesse Jones, James Piorkowski and Nicolas Scherzinger, this album also features the Drei Tentos (1958) of Hans Werner Henze. According to Henze, these “three sketches” set to the writings of Friederich Hölderlin are, “…the vision of a poet who has clouds of madness around his head, and who stammers in fragments, with beautiful, seemingly dislocated, phrases.”

As Kenneth Meyer writes, “The Drei Tentos are included here as an homage to Julian Bream and the memory of how captivated I was the first time I heard his recording of these pieces. It opened my ears to the intimate language of my beloved instrument and placed a seed in my musical conscious.”

Kenneth Meyer, the national first-prize winner at the Music Teacher’s National Association Collegiate Artist Competition, is regarded by the Washington Post as, “A thinking man’s guitarist – who focuses on the inner structure of a piece…and plays with impressive gravity and power.”   The Buffalo News has called him, “Impeccably articulate with superb technique.” 

Reviews: 

CLASSICAL GUITAR MAGAZINE

"This album by Kenneth Meyer is in that category of decidedly modern but seductive works; five were commissioned specifically for this recording. Highly recommended for folks looking for something out of the ordinary!" [FULL ARTICLE] - Blair Jackson

JAZZ WEEKLY

"sophistication in style, grace and intricate sounds akin to modern classical. A sublime collection of guitar musings." [FULL ARTICLE] - George Harris

KATHODIK

"A good look at contemporary guitar." [FULL ARTICLE] - Stefano Oliva