Original neo-romantic compositions for cello quartet

9 MP3 Songs
CLASSICAL: Contemporary, JAZZ: Free Jazz



Details:
4/4 Tet features original improvisational compositions by cellist Gil Selinger. Drawing heavily from romantic classical influences as well as a wide variety of other sources this CD features 7 new pieces for cello quartet and 2 for solo cello.
"classical improvisation" is a still relatively unknown style of music. There are very few involved in it, since it really requires all the knowledge and discipline of traditional classical performance practice, and also requires a fluidity with improv usually only associated with jazz and its related styles.
On this CD, cellist Gil Selinger's second as a leader, we enter into the composers private world of compositional improv as all parts are overdubs and there is only one musician crafting all 4 parts for the cello quartets. There are elements of Shostakovich, Ives, Prokofiev, Brahms, Mahler, Beethoven, Mozart as well as downtown improvisers - many which Gil has worked with such as Daniel Carter, Eric Eigner, Francois Grillot, Assif Tsahar, Marilyn Crispell, Walter Thompson, etc...
This music is a fusion of all these styles and sounds funnelled back through a 19th century romantic vision. Some of the tracks can be thought of in terms of "program" music - music which attempts to tell a story through the use of common devices which is still very popular in today's film music.