From Albany Records (TROY 513)
- Furies and Muses
Jeff Keesecker, bassoon
Cassatt Quartet - Devotion
Ransom Wilson, flute
Borromeo Quartet - String Quartet No. 1: Jests and Tenderness
Mendelssohn Quartet
“It is obvious on this recording of chamber music by Lawrence Dillon that smoke and mirror musical tricks and “classical” music pretension have been abandoned in favor of a pure mode of expression that layers lines so gracefully they seem to play themselves with an energetic fervor. Dillon’s painterly style carefully colors phrases with glissandi and subtle accents underneath an intricate tapestry of sound.” – Amanda MacBlane, Sound Tracks, New Music Box
“Rich, full-blooded, stylistically uninhibited…[the] performances are knockouts…[Dillon’s] fast music is great, [but] it’s the slow movements which really get to me: that of the bassoon quintet is really haunting, and the nocturne that ends the string quartet is similar – it makes me hang on every note, and hate to see it go.” – Robert Carl
“None of the music on this disc is dry or academic; the CD repays frequent listening. These works ought to be given repeated live performances. It would be wonderful if all new music received such meticulous care as these three quartets and the soloists invest in Dillon’s scores. It would be wonderful, too, if all new music were as worthy of such attention as these three compositions!” – William Thomas Walker, CVNC
“This CD is long overdue. It collects some of the best, most recent chamber music by Lawrence Dillon…The music is terrific…Every note demands the listener’s complete attention…It’s still difficult to believe that [Jests and Tenderness] was Dillon’s first crack at a string quartet – so complete is its mastery of form.” – Ken Keuffel, Winston-Salem Journal
“lovely…austere…vivid and impressive.” – American Record Guide
