1} Out of Shadows and Solitude
2} Quantum Quirks of a Quick Quaint Quark
3} Spectral Chimes/Enshrouded Hills

Those of you who appreciate the orchestral works of Allan Pettersson are most likely well-disposed and also pre-disposed to lend a sympathetic ear to the music of American composer Marga Richter. In particular, Out of Shadows and Solitude (1985) for large orchestra, seems to inhabit the same emotional space occupied by a Pettersson symphony. All of the idiosyncratic characteristics of Pettersson are, to a certain degree, present in this Richter creation. The long single movement form, the short two and three note repeated utterances, the micro-managed development, the emotionaly stoic outlook, the severe ABA structure, manifested overtly and creatively here where the lone trumpet tune near the beginning makes a memorable return right at the very end. It's a work whose myopic, straight-arrowed vision, keeps your interest involved from start to finish. So if you fancy the music of Pettersson, you should definitely give this a try.

These are not new recordings, but rather recent re-releases of recordings dating back to 1995/96 with Gerard Schwarz conducting the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra originally released on Modern American Classics. I missed them back then, but now thanks to Ravello Records, composer Marga Richter can benefit from this well deserved re-exposure of her important orchestral works.

Jean-Yves Duperron - May 2013