2 cds for the price of 1
The South Shore
Disc 1: Anthems (2014) for cello and piano duo
Atmosfera di Tempo (2013) for string quartet
Profondo Rosso (2013) for piano trio
Per La Madre e La Nonna (2012) for string trio
Pasticcio per meno è più (2014) for piano solo
La Rugiada del Mattino (2013) for violin and cello duo
Tre Pezzi per Trio di Pianoforte (2014) for piano trio
Nel Nome di Gesù (2013) for cello and organ duo
Organum (2014) for organ solo
Tacca Prima (2013) for cello solo
Il Mento Tenuto Alto (2014) for violin solo
Disc 2: Ritratto (2013)
for sextet - flute, alto sax, electric guitar, viola, cello,
trombone
La Riva Sud (2014)
for piano and viola duo
Pupazzo di Neve Partitas (2013)
for cello solo
Variations for Quintet (2014)
for flute, string trio, and piano
Miniatures (2014)
for piano solo
Y per Henry Flynt (2012)
for cello solo
Capo Finale (2012)
for viola and piano duo
Vocalise (2014)
for flute solo
Arbitrage Deux (2013)
for clarinet solo
Arbitrage (2011)
for bass clarinet and gong percussion duo
"The music of Michael Vincent Waller offers a welcome and rare alternative to the tempo and noise of modern life. These touching miniatures employ the pure modal scales first described by ancient Greek philosophers and sustained through millennia in the folk song of many lands, in religious chant, and in the modern era by the works of composers such as Erik Satie (especially his monodrama ‘Socrate’) and Terry Riley (especially ‘A Rainbow in Curved Air’).
Waller’s music convinces us by its honest emotion, which avoids any artifice that would dramatically pull us toward some effect. Although it is the first time we have heard these works, we seem to immediately understand the intimate feeling they refer to.” ~ Blue "Gene" Tyranny [From the liner notes of The South Shore]
This kind of listening is for the brain to relax and enjoy: for the soul and emotions, together as art for the universal. Reveling in subtext and subtlety, a symbiotic exploration into the history and future of musical life.
“...sweetly lyrical" ... "pensive" - Steve Smith The New York Times
“...one of the most interesting composers in New York" - George Grella The Brooklyn Rail
"Waller holds everything on a tight leash" ..."disciplined restraint" - John Garratt Pop Matters
“...romantic trance fragments, revivifying counterpoint and drop-dead melodies, but holding seeds of potential endless expansion" - Jesse Goin Crow With No Mouth
Review in All Music by Blair Sanderson
★★★★
"quiet, lyrical expressions and subdued meditation. Waller's unhurried and gentle music is well-suited to introspection."
"Waller belongs to the generation of postminimalist composers who have absorbed the techniques and procedures of the avant-garde, yet he has moved on to find fresh resources in the use of Greek modes, traditional counterpoint, and the influences of impressionism, gamelan, and pandiatonicism."
Review in Examiner by Stephen Smoliar
★★★★
"exquisitely crafted" ... "striking"
"introducing a rhetoric of stillness (not to be confused with John Cage’s attention to silence), a rhetoric that Eno would continue to explore beyond the life of [his Obscure] label. In the selections chosen for The South Shore, Waller seems to be taking up the torch of that particular rhetorical stance, applying it to a wide diversity of sonorities by combining different assortments of instruments in chamber music settings. One might also consider Valentin Silvestrov’s “aesthetic of quietude” as a “bridge” between Eno and Waller.”
#1 Best Classical Art Music Recording at *FoolintheForest* (George Wallace, LA)
#7 Best Album at *Kicking The Habit* (Mark Van DeVoort, Netherlands)
Honorable Mention for Best New Music Recordings at *Big City* (George Grella, NY)
Album of the Month (March) Honorable Mention at *Textura.org*
Album of the Week, Staff Picks at *SecondInversion*.*org*