Chamber Music

This disc of chamber music by Ned Rorem (b. 1923) is an outstanding addition to the series. Rorem is both a composer and a writer, best known for his art songs. (A collection of Rorem's songs is available on another Naxos disc in this series.) The performers are a group of seven young British musicians who call themselves the "Fibonacci Sequence". There are three pieces on the CD dating from 1975 through 1987. The first piece, "The End of Summer" consists of three movements and was written in 1985. It is scored for clarinet, violin, and piano. The most striking aspects of this music are the long declamatory passage for solo violin which opens the piece, and the lyrical secondary themes that appear in the first and third movement. The music does indeed have a yearning, autumnal quality.