Bryce Dessner - Orchestral Stuff

[Oreb]

I think Alligator is one of the great albums of the last 10 years (closely followed by Boxer) so was interested to hear Dessner's orchestral music recorded by Copenhagen Phil and just out on DG.

It's very good indeed. Not fully-formed concert music, but he's a very skilled composer and the three works on this are excellent.

As a bonus it includes a suite of Jonny Greenwood's music for There Will Be Blood. Not at all bad, but IMO a bit too self-conscious, in a way that Dessner's stuff has avoided.

Worth checking out:

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[Sunhillow]

Love the Kronos Quartet disc. Haven't heard this one.

[Dr. Weber]

Both Dessner and Greenwood will appear with Steve Reich or associated groups this Sunday, March 30th at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee. Dessner will play / conduct Music For Wood and Strings, and Greenwood Electric Counterpoint. Yes, I'm attending.

[jkelman]

This should come as no surprise to any who followed dessner's tenure in Cllogs, a wonderful group led by violist/violinist Padma Newsome, wuth bassoonist Rachel Elliott and a percussionist whose name currently escapes me. They made a series if wonderful recordings on the Brassland label.