Thin Ice

“In his excellent program notes, Andrew Waggoner asks the key question for a composer who writes a concerto: “what to do with the soloist?” This is a CD that showcases three contemporary American composers who are also members of the chamber orchestra Sequitur. The concertos for cello, solo bass clarinet, and oboe on this disc answer the question in different ways, which makes this disc an inviting experiment in the contemporary concerto.

Ross Bauer’s Thin Ice for cello and chamber orchestra was composed as a collaborative effort with cellist Greg Hesselink. It’s a work where the cello leads but is primus inter pares with the other instruments. It’s distinctive because of Bauer’s creative orchestration – especially the percussion – and the integration of jazz elements into the four-movement structure. The 23-minute work expresses moods – ‘Shadowy’ mimics the title by using percussive sounds. The ‘Adagio’ meanders searching for answers that the ‘Animato’ collaboratively resolves in a quiet ending.

 The soloists on this disc play superbly and their colleagues in Sequitur accompany with panache and passion. This is a disc that is inviting, jazzy, creative, and lots of fun.”    

Robert Moon, Audiophile Audition Webzine 

Bust a Flame

“Californian composer Ross Bauer introduced his piece, Bust a Flame, in honor of his son explaining that the title is the camping survivalist parlance for creating a fire from sticks and stones. The piece opens with a violin bow drawn slowly against the edge of a hanging cymbal, introducing a staccato electric guitar and a jazzy conversation between the piano and sax. The piece is a showcase not only for each of the ensemble’s considerable soloing skills, but for how they can dive back together into a seamlessly harmonious fusion.”

Piano Quartet

“Ross Bauer’s Piano Quartet, in its West Coast premiere, also pits the one against the many, ….. in this case three strings versus one pianist….The first movement features solos in which the violist, cellist, and pianist each take turns musing with minimal interference, and the second movement offers extensive space to an achingly beautiful violin solo (played by Ana Presler). By contrast, the third movement has the most tension, both rhythmically and timbrally, with dancing, fidgeting passages in the piano, and wailing tones in the strings…Bauer’s fifteen minute quartet has moments of great promise, such as a beautiful texture with a high cello lines in the last movement ….”

This, That, and the Other

“As the very well-balanced program came to an end, however, it became clear that the most interesting work came through traditional formats: a chamber concerto for soprano sax, eight winds and percussion by Ross Bauer, and an enigmatic solo percussion work by Brian Ferneyhough.” Ross Bauer’s This, That and the Other was the other highlight. Victor Morosco excelled as the ‘jazzy soloist’ that the score calls for. His playing, if a bit rough in terms of rhythmic precision at the beginning, grew more and more persuasive as this spirited piece progressed. The last movement, in particular, left the public breathless as its bacchanalia of notes culminated in a surprising and energetic ending. Also worth mentioning is the beauty and precision with which the composer wrote for the soprano saxophone, which rapidly traveled to its virtuosic confines without ever sounding strained.”

Tribute

“Ross Bauer’s Tribute (2000) for cello and piano was written to celebrate the 80th birthday of composer Andrew Imbrie. It is a short piece — just five minutes or so — but packs a considerable amount of material and energy into its brief time span. Fontineau began it with a collection of short solo phrases. Only gradually does the part of the piano assimilate itself into the texture. The wonderful Eric Zivian entered with suave self-effacement, but his role gained independence throughout the work, until finally the two were glancing off each other in a driving sixteenth-note passage that led to the work’s dramatic coda. The concentration of material and the intensely compressed emotional arch make quite an impression.”

“Bauer’s passionate music appeared to be a more direct tribute to the Imbrie concept of proud intellectuality. It displayed a grand sweep of emotional vista from start to finish. Much the same proved true when Kim tore into Kirchner’s rhapsodic violin solo. Both of these works had Standard Repertory sounding out from their every note.”

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Heuwell Tircuit, The San Francisco Classical Voice

Nimbus

“Bauer’s tender but serious short piece, played with flattering aplomb by flutist Mathew Krejci, was full of difficult intervals, rhythms, and approachable motifs.”

String Quartet No. 3

“Bauer…writes in a musical language that has much in common with the expressionism of composers like Arnold Schoenberg. In his new quartet, the animated rhetoric of the music — much of the time resembling an agitated musical conversation — is continually engaging. Bauer’s skillfully crafted use of unisons and octave doublings throughout the first and last of the three movements provides punctuation within the ongoing musical dialog. Unison playing, on the other hand, is the major element of the central second movement. The piece has an attractive feeling of unity, largely because of the presence in the final movement of strong unison melody writing and rhythmic echoes of the second movement scherzo. Two passages in the work are especially striking. One occurs two-thirds through the first movement when closely spaced pianissimo chords are suddenly transformed into a strange, unusually colored tremolo cluster. The other is a passage of contrasting duets in the second movement, with the violins playing in the upper range and the viola and cello playing in quick, jagged rhythms. Much credit is due to Stanford Lively Arts for their role in commissioning and presenting this new work.”

“Stanford commissioned the String Quartet No. 3 by Ross Bauer, which got its world premiere on November 3rd. He is distinctive among today’s composers, with a sparse and atonal language influenced by the Second Viennese School, particularly by Anton Webern. In this nineteen-minute, three-movement work, Bauer builds on uneasy (almost nervous) cello-violin polarities in the first movement. The writing is so open that counterpoint plays a minor role. Viola legatos contrast with the skittish outer instruments.”

“The first movement of Ross Bauer’s Third String Quartet (2000), which opened the program, was the most absorbing. A tense, dramatic dialog was conducted between the main melodic voice and an increasingly independent accompaniment. The scherzo that followed … (featured) longer notes emerging effortlessly from a chain of fast sixteenths.”

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Jules Langert, The San Francisco Classical Voice

Motion

“Romantic and impassioned where Quatuor VI had been provocative, mysterious, and playfully coloristic, Bauer’s trio in three seamlessly-connected movements was propelled by long sinuous melodic lines, frequently played in octaves by violin and cello. Much of the writing added an harmonic underpinning that gave weight and urgency to the expansive, upwardly-tending melodies. This was a subjective, instinctual kind of music. There were striking episodes — one with interlacing string harmonies and another with solo piano come to mind.”

“Motion,” written in 1998, is characteristic of a late 20th century style. Abandoning romantic leanings as well as clashing harmonies, one hears a certain amount of pleasant dissonance in the short, fragmented statements, to make the music come alive. Spice with eerie harmonies and duets for the strings, Bauer… received from the trio some very animated and joyful playing.”

Pulse

“In a program yoking together the old and the new, one work stood out at the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble concert last Monday in the Green Room at the Verteran’s Building. Pulse, by Ross Bauer, was given its first performance in a dramatic, clearly articulated rendition by Mark Brandenburg, clarinet, Kurt Rohde, viola, and Eric Zivian, piano.”

“In this 12-minute, single-movement piece there is an interplay between quiesscent lyricism and agitated hostility. The clarinet and the viola behave as Jekyll and Hyde, often dogging each other’s footsteps, sometimes reversing roles, occasionally playing a line in unison. The piano has a supportive part helping first one side and then the other. But in at least one place, the piano takes over, as a passage of accelerating, cascading figuration lands on an important climax. The piece ends satisfyingly but inconclusively, with the dichotomy unresolved.”

“Ross Bauer’s interesting new bassoon concerto, Icons… managed to transcend those difficulties admirably — especially in the first movement, the most clearly and directly argued of the three. By interlacing dense orchestral episodes with sections in which the soloist’s music was highlighted, Bauer crafted an ongoing dialogue of real substance.”

“The last movement moved like the furies. The quick-changing coloristic displays…brought out the idea of a giant fireworks display. Icons was impressive, first note to last.”

“..wastes no time in exploiting the instrument’s capacity for gruff lyricism and its timbral idiosyncrasies. Wilson lavished enormous dollops of color on her part and drew out lines with tremendous reserves of breath.”

“…subtle flashes of instrumental colors illuminating a busy but not heavy score…(the bassoon’s) high range was brought out effectively by the 21 minute work, with the orchestra often echoing or responding to her musical gestures. The slow movement’s doleful, lonesome song for her lyrical bassoon was the most effective part of the work…”

“This is a MAJOR work for bassoon and orchestra. It was commissioned by the Berkeley Symphony, conducted by Kent Nagano, and written as a showpiece for the principal bassoonist Carla Wilson. Bauer’s style is quite international—somewhat reminiscent of the works of Schoenberg and Berg, but with an American love of percussion and percussive sounds in the manner of Edgard Varese. One of its best qualities is how the composer has skillfully composed and orchestrated the work, which is for LARGE orchestra, but scored in such a way that the bassoon can still be heard over the texture. Bravo to Ross Bauer for providing us with this major solo work for the bassoon.”

Ritual Fragments

“Soprano Susan Narucki’s distinctive timbre and penetrating lyricism were vital to the performance of Bauer’s Ritual Fragments (1995), which uses texts from an anthology of Native American songs and poems translated and edited by William Brandon. Filled with nature imagery, the texts are grouped around cycles of day and night and of the seasons. A greatly varied landscape of moods and textures was evoked by the accompanying six instruments, supporting and intensifying Bauer’s expressive vocal writing. The music was continuous, welded into an unbroken chain of nine songs by a series of imaginative and vibrantly scored instrumental interludes. Ritual Fragments was a beautiful and original work, heard in a performance imbued with poetic feeling and commitment.”

“Ross Bauer’s “Ritual Fragments”, played at the end of the concert, used the instrumentation…with imagination and poetry.”

“….most interesting in the cycle were the deftness and efficiency with which Bauer established a specific character for each song. These ranged from the slow-moving sensuousness of “The Rock,” set to an Omaha text, or the bouncing quality of a Quechuan fragment about a water bug, to the static nobility of an excerpt from the Navajo “Night Chant.”…Narucki lavished the part with such artistry that it proved gripping.”

Stone Soup

Stone Soup, an instrumental quintet, is one of the most often played of Bauer’s works. It exhibits an identifiable trait of the composer, namely his simultaneous juxtaposition of slow and fast music within the contrapuntal texture. Particularly active throughout is the lower end of the piano, etching out a vigorous, jagged line whose purpose is to anchor the highly chromatic harmony. A distinctive coloring is added by bass clarinet. (The lineup is that of Schoenbergh’s Pierrot lunaire).

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Phillip Scott, Fanfare CD review

Octet

“Here for example, is a CD produced by the Empyrean Ensemble of UC Davis, founded 11 years ago as that campus’ Contemporary Music Players. The five chamber compositions on it by three composers on the Davis music faculty have a freshness, immediacy and originality that recommend them in any company (Centaur CRC 2386, www.centaurrecords.com). 

“Ensembles composed of clarinet, bassoon, horn and strings…are blessed with some of the great chamber music masterworks (Schubert Octet, Beethoven Septet) and many other fine compositions, including some excellent 20th century works. However, I rarely encounter a concert (or even a new recording) by such a group. If and when I do, I hope that the Ross Bauer Octet will be on it. The piece has the same instrumentation as the Schubert Octet. It is dedicated to the composer’s wife, bassoonist Carla Wilson. As such, it features the bassoon, but the composer says that it is “by no means a bassoon concertino.” Most of the important bassoon passages contain long, lyrical lines. It begins quietly with a solo bassoon entrance. For the most part it builds in speed and intensity until the final section, when the opening material returns, this time even more serenely. It ends very quietly with long sustained chords. The score is well marked, revealing the skill of the composer’s instrumental handling and his interest in timbre and balance.”

Tributaries

“Lines of musical conversation cross over, smartly, in Ross Bauer’s Tributaries, for cello, piano and percussion. Feisty, interactive writing is key — one musician finishes another’s sentence, and all exude a seductive restlessness beneath the neatly structured surface.”

Highly Rubbery

“Its main action was in the shaping of a kind of duet between the high and low registers of the instrument. Lyrical, melodic writing in the upper range was complemented by a low-note punctuation of the line that added depth and rhythmic intensity. Later, there was a slow section with longer sustained notes plus added tremolos that created an effect of static oscillation. The finale was extremely agitated, with huge leaps and register changes taken at great speed, leading to a brilliant hurtling close. Peter Josheff gave a truly dazzling account of this demanding and difficult piece, composed especially for him.”

Romanza

“Ross Bauer’s intriguing “Romanza,” commissioned by the Symphony and written specifically for Terrie Baune, showed ingenious use of orchestral color. By grouping disparate instruments, and overlapping sections of music, Bauer created unusual tones and eerie shimmers.”

Aplomb

“…rhapsodic enough as well but always in a high-octane, let’s-move-it way. It’s final movement, “Inward,” was exactly and very impressively that. In sum, Ross Bauer knew what he wanted to say and exactly how to say it. And the admirable Cyrus Stevens knew exactly how to play it.”

“…strong emotional gestures behind the compositional shaping. There was a rhapsodic quality of the kind that violinists easily take to, along with a sense that event was leading to event in a necessary, cogent fashion. To these ears, the sense of inevitability in the workmanship has a curious and attractive mysteriousness in it. That may be a way of saying that your reviewer descried real substance in it, the unfakable genuine article, and would like to hear it again.”

Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orchestra

“The piece begins with a long, ruminative, generative cadenza for solo piano that set the tone for the most interesting things that followed, notably a dark, moody slow movement of considerable atmosphere – and formal interest. The rest of the piece continually sprang elegant surprises…”

Neon

“…as brightly colored as one might imagine from its title.”

“…showed a complex organization…yet it was very easy to listen to, with its sonic brilliance and soothing textures. The busy piece was like a platter with a lot of good seasonings. The work was an ebullient curtain-raiser, with many solos and uncommon sounds in the bass clarinet, tuba, piccolo and other exotica.”

“Vigor and animation marked Ross Bauer’s short overture, Neon, as light explosive puffs in the strings punctuated glistening exchanges between woodwinds.”

Oda al Olor de la Lena

“…it evokes the intense feeling of the poem…There is an appealing instrumental epilogue. Paul Hillier sang it well.”

“…an impressive world premiere…exceptionally well written. It uses the low range of the alto flute, muted cello, the soft tones of a vibraphone and marimba to accompany the Baritone voice. It has a sentimental, moody atmosphere…excellent music.”

Anaphora

“…obviously finely written, especially for its extensively ranging flute part…and the craft in its treatment of the supporting string trio and piano.”

“…should surprise anybody who thinks contemporary music can’t sing or furnish lovely ensemble sounds. Focused on the expressive solo flute and alto flute…in lyric lines that rose from quiet beginnings, it gives lyric phrases to the others, too, before turning to the quick, busy figures of the middle section. The quiet finish is beautifully scored, with long lines for the flute and a nice ear for the blend underneath.”

Tonarten

“…an aptitude both for extrovert gestures in the post-twelve tone, Stockhausen-influenced manner of piano writing and for delicate varied effects of color. The structure was weighty and real: it was possible to follow the argument as though one were reading a book. The piece stays in the memory as a thing distinctly achieved, a thing added to the world.”

Chimera

“…ably held the center of the concert’s first half…it proved one of those increasingly rare contemporary compositions that actually headed—and got—somewhere.”

“Ross Bauer, particularly, demonstrated with his Chimera that an atonal piece can be appealing to tonally conditioned ears as well as interesting.”

Along The Way

“The scoring is expert and idiomatic; there are condensed, notey passages that have a bracing intensity and beauty.”

Concertino for Chamber Orchestra

“…an impressive piece of music.”

“…offers the musicians a rewarding task…”

Chin Music

“…the writing is skillful, and the voice sure.”

Fisk, The Boston Globe